Member's Home Forums General Discussion Central America Central America Aeronautical & Regulatory Belize requires prior permission to fly there

Due to problems with illegal immigrants entering their country, Belize has enacted a restriction on private aircraft requiring them to obtain prior approval before entering the country. Any aircraft wanting to fly to Belize that did not depart from the United States must request permission at least 24 hours prior to arrival and obtain permission. Be aware that the 24 hour period is during working days so if you plan to land on a Monday or over the weekend you need to obtain permission the week prior.

Specifically, any aircraft (including US registered aircraft) that DID NOT make their last takeoff from the United States prior to arriving in Belize must obtain permission.

To obtain permission, you need to request it from:
Mr. Torres or Mr. Carter and provide:
Names of persons on board and their nationality
Type of aircraft
Arrival date
Purpose of visit

Requests must be FAXed to: +501 225 2533

We now have the recently issued circular on procedures as follows:

NEW AIRCRAFT ENTRY PROCEDURES FOR BELIZE


The aviation public is hereby notified that with immediate effect the following new aircraft entry procedures have been implemented at the Philip S. W. Goldson International Airport.

All flights being private, non scheduled (charters) for passengers or cargo of which the point of origin is not the United States of America or Canada will be required, apart from what is stated in the Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), to provide 24 hours in advance, information about:

 The purpose of the flight to Belize
 The names/nationality of all passengers, date of birth, nationality, along with their respective passport numbers, date of issue, date of expiration or type of cargo on the aircraft if it is a cargo flight.

In the event that a flight wants to operate on a Saturday or Sunday, the information should be provided not later that midday on Friday. In the case of a holiday, it should be provided not later than midday on the day prior to the holiday.

Having complied with these requirements, the Department of Civil Aviation will proceed to issue a permit to operate to and from Belize.

A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) has been promulgated.

Any further queries can be directed to the Belize Department of Civil Aviation.

This AIC Series A007/2010 cancels AIC A006/2010

A reminder to all members that this requirement continues in force.

Also, although the new procedures indicate that this requirement does not apply to aircraft arriving from the USA or Canada, the authorities are actually requiring that aircraft arriving from the USA and Canada obtain permission.

This is the current NOTAM for the latest on this topic:

A2113/10 - ALL FLIGHTS BEING PRIVATE, NON SCHEDULE (CHARTERS) FOR PASSENGERS
OR CARGO OF WHICH THE POINT OF ORIGIN IS NOT THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA WILL
BE REQUIRED, APART FORM WHAT IS STATED, IN THE AERONAUTICAL INFO RMATION PUBLICATION
(AIP), TO PROVIDE A REQUEST TO LAND IN BELIZE VIA AFS TO MZBZYAYX OR TELEFAX
ON (501) 225- 2533 OR THROUGH A GROUND-HANDLING AGENT IN BELIZE. THIS REQUEST
MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION:
PURPOSE OF THE FLIGHT ( WHY ARE THEY COMING TO
BELIZE), THE NAMES AND NATIONALITY OF THE ALL PASSENGERS, THEIR DATE
OF BIRTH ALONG WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE PASSPORT NUMBERS, DATE OF ISSUAN
CE, DATE OF EXPIRATION OR IF IT IS A CARGO FLIGHT, THE TYPE OF CARGO
THAT IS ON THE AIRCRAFT.
FOR FLIGHTS DESIRING TO OPERATE ON SATURDAYS AND
SUNDAYS THE REQUEST MUST BE SENT NO LATER THAN MIDDAY ON THE LAST
WORKING DAY PRIOR TO THE HOLIDAY.
HAVING COMPLIED WITH THESE REQUIREMENTS, THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL
AVIATION WILL PROCEED TO ISSUE A PERMIT TO OPERATE TO AND FROM
BELIZE. THIS ENTERS INTO EFFECT IMMEDIATELY. 29 NOV 16:11 2010 UNTIL PERM. CREATED:
02 OCT 11:32 2011

I had a great experience faxing and receiving a clearance very quickly, my first time, however, when I needed to ammend the tail number, I could not get a response back from Gil Torres. If you don't get a response in a timely manner, call (501) 225-2014 and ask if you can speak to Gil Torres or Nigel about your landing clearance. They are very friendly and helpful but if they have something else going on, it appears that landing clearances for foreign aircraft are a low (zero) priority.