The following applies to private aircraft flights in small, general aviation aircraft only.

When leaving and returning to The United States, special procedures must be followed as prescribed by US Customs, US Immigration, the FAA and the Bahamian government. These procedures are simple and easy to follow, but must be done to avoid delays and large fines and penalties. Here at Platinum Aviation, we are all very experienced with these procedures and happy to help you make your Bahamas flying easy and enjoyable.

When leaving the US, no special procedure is required by US Customs. You DO NOT need to notify them or file any papers. You DO however have to file and open an International Flight Plan, either VFR or IFR with Flight Service. Many people do not realize that this is required outbound. The FAR’s call for you to be on a flight plan to fly in the ADIZ. The ADIZ is a zone, not a line. Therefore you fly in that zone outbound.

Flying to the Bahamas, your first point of landing must be an Airport of Entry with Bahamas Customs and Immigration Facilities. You DO NOT need to notify them in advance of your arrival. There are two different procedures, depending on if you are staying there where you first landed, or are planning on flying to other islands.

If you are staying there where you landed:
Once you land, simply provide them with (3) copies of the Bahamas Customs Department Aircraft General Declarations Form. Often you will here this referred to as your GENDEC or Form C7. Most of this form is self explanatory, except under the heading “place” and “number of crew” you put the names of the people on the aircraft including yourself. This doesn’t make any sense, but that’s how you do it. You will also need to fill out a Bahamian Immigration card for each person on the plane. These forms can be obtained and filled out there. This is a (2) part form. They will keep one part and you will retain the second part until you depart.

If you plan to fly on to other islands:
You will need to provide Bahamian Customs (3) copies of the Inward Declaration and Cruising Permit, Form C7A. The official will stamp it and keep two copies and give you one. This stamped copy must be carried with you as you fly to other destinations. You will also need to fill out a Bahamian Immigration card for each person on the plane. These forms can be obtained and filled out there. This is a (2) part form. They will keep one part and you will retain the second part until you depart.

Leaving the Bahamas back to the US
You must depart the Bahamas from an Airport of Entry. Present the Customs official with (3) more copies of the Bahamas Customs Department Aircraft General Declarations Form C7. This is the same type of form you used for your inbound. He will stamp it and give one copy back to you. You will also need to give Immigration you departure card you had retained from entry. Each person will have to pay a $15 departure tax to the Bahamian Government.

You MUST notify US Customs of you arrival time before you leave the Bahamas. This notice MUST be given by telephone to the Customs office at the airport you plan to arrive at. This time MUST be accurate to within an hour before or after your proposed time. Also, you cannot give the notice more than 24 hours in advance. The Customs officer that takes your notice of arrival will give you a code to prove you called. Write this down in case they later claim you did not call them. Some people put the letters ADCUS in the remarks section of their flight plan. Flight Service is under NO obligation to notify customs for you and Customs says that the only suitable notice is one given by phone by the pilot.

Helpful hints on giving Customs notice.
Special Blue phones are located in airports of the Bahamas for pilots to check weather, call US Customs, file flight plans, etc. These phones never work! Your cell phone most likely will not work either. This makes giving US Customs notice difficult. If you are only going on a day trip, give the arrival notice before you leave. On multiple day trips, you can call from the hotel, or buy a BATELCO calling card. This is a prepaid long distance card that can be used in payphones.

You can depart IFR or VFR. The method of activating the flight plan varies with the location in the Bahamas. See our helpful hints for each location on our destinations pages. You MUST however have the flight plan open and be squawking an assigned transponder code prior to ADIZ penetration. The FAR/AIM Section 6, 5-6-1 gives specific regulations that require ADIZ penetration to be within 15 minutes of the proposed time and 10 miles from the centerline of the filed flight path. In reality this is not a problem so don’t worry so much about it. IFR it’s no problem at all and VFR just file direct routing. You will be fine.

Monitor 121.5 all along the way. If by chance you do something wrong, this will be the frequency they will try to contact you on.

You also MUST land at a US Airport of Entry and you MUST land at the first available airport of entry. As an example you CAN NOT fly from the Bahamas directly to Tampa.

Landing in the US
When you land at your US destination, taxi directly to the Customs building. Remove all of your luggage, flight bags and cargo from the plane and take it inside with you. You can leave airplane specific items in the plane like life jackets, rafts, etc. Leave all doors and hatches unlocked and open.

Have filled out the Private Aircraft Enforcement System Arrival Report, Customs Form 178. Most of this form is self-explanatory. The only part that needs a little clarification is the bottom, “Crew and Passenger Information” part. Do not put your name there as pilot. Your name is already in the “Pilot Information” box. Each person will also need to fill out a US Immigration Card. Present the Form 178, the immigration cards and all of the passports to the Immigration officer. Once cleared by Immigration, Customs officers will need to see the same forms as well as your pilot certificate and medical.

That’s all there is to it!

A Platinum instructor will be happy to help you with all of this and go on an introductory Bahamas trip to get you acquainted with the procedures on your first trip. Give it a try it’s easy and fun.