Section 06
Getting the runways into your name
The airfield is the reason this estate is worth more than the sum of its stones — and it is the one asset that does not come with the deed. A French aérodrome à usage privé exists by an arrêté préfectoral granted to a named holder; it is not sold, inherited or assigned. You will be applying for your own authorisation over strips that already exist. That is the easy version of this procedure, but it is still a procedure. Track it below: every step takes a status and your own notes, saved on this device.
Steps tracked
19
Across four phases
Completed
0/19
Excludes 'not applicable'
In progress
0
0 blocked
Realistic timeline
6–10 months
Filing to published chart
Overall progress
0%
The honest odds
75–85% that you get an equivalent authorisation, if you run the process properly
In your favour — you now hold the arrêté itself
The 2012 arrêté préfectoral is on file: named holder, the twelve cadastral parcels of the strips, the conditions of use, the consulted services. You are no longer arguing from hearsay — your own application can be a near-copy of a file the Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres has already signed, with the same parcels, the same circuit and the same private, low-intensity use.
In your favour — the right is attached to owning the land
Article 1 authorises the holder to use the field on land belonging to him. Buying the estate puts you in exactly that position, and removes the most common ground for refusing a private field: no title, or a landlord who has not consented.
In your favour — the field already exists
This is not a creation on virgin ground. The strips, the circuit and the airspace interaction have already been accepted once by the same administration, and the field is published. Re-issuing to a new private owner for identical use is the easy case.
In your favour — the authorisation is now unlimited in time
Granted first for 2 years, renewed twice, then converted to durée illimitée. That progression is the préfecture's own verdict on the site: three positive instructions, no incidents, no objection strong enough to keep it on a leash. Your application starts from a file the administration has already blessed four times.
In your favour — private use, low intensity, no neighbours at the thresholds
53.89 ha of your own land, PPR-only operation, no commercial flying, no night use. There is very little for a consulted service to object to.
Against — the holder is a natural person, so nothing carries across
The arrêté is in the current owner's own name, not in the estate's or the gîte company's. Buying the company does not buy the airfield: there is no share-deal shortcut, and the chart's 'Château de Bournizeaux' operator line is descriptive, not legal. You will file your own application, from scratch, in your own name or your company's.
Against — it is a new decision, not a transfer
The préfet is not obliged to reproduce the old terms, and 'unlimited' does not mean inheritable. Rules, obstacle standards and environmental sensitivities have moved since the original order; expect at least the possibility of tightened conditions — and note that an unlimited authorisation can still be withdrawn if the field falls dormant.
Against — "précaire et révocable", in black and white
Article 8 of the arrêté says the authorisation is precarious and revocable. Unlimited duration is not permanence: the préfet can withdraw it, and a future complaint, a change of use or a dormant field can trigger that. Never capitalise the airfield as a permanent asset in your valuation, and never lend against it.
Against — you are flying under military restricted airspace
LF-R 149C « Touraine » and LF-R 149D « Vendée » sit over the field and carry very-low-level, very-high-speed military training. Article 3 makes avoidance mandatory when active, checked before every flight. It does not threaten the authorisation, but it does constrain how casually anyone can drop in — factor it into any fly-in guest offer.
Against — timing risk more than refusal risk
The realistic failure mode is not 'non' — it is nine months of silence while your completion date passes. Give the condition suspensive a generous window and an extension mechanism.
The field as it stands today
- Aerodrome
- Bournizeaux (ZZZZ), lieu-dit "La Plaine de Bournizeau", Pierrefitte 79330
- Status
- Aérodrome à usage privé (AUP), not open to public air traffic
- Strips
- 04/22 480 × 25 m · 12/30 1,120 × 50 m · 08/26 650 × 25 m, grass
- Arrêté on file
- Arrêté préfectoral des Deux-Sèvres of 23 July 2012, signed by the Directeur de Cabinet Laurent Simplicien — a renewal, obtained by the owner on his own application
- Holder of the authorisation
- M. Edwin R. Boshoff, in his own personal name, at Château de Bournizeaux (Article 1 of the arrêté)
- Legal hook to the land
- Article 1 authorises him to use the field "sur un terrain lui appartenant" — the right is tied to owning the strips, which is exactly the condition you will satisfy after completion
- Cadastral parcels of the strips
- Section B nos 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 110, 122, 417 and 524 (Article 2)
- Validity
- Durée illimitée today — first granted for 2 years, renewed twice (the 2012 arrêté is one of those renewals), then made unlimited in time
- Precarity clause
- Article 8: the authorisation is "précaire et révocable" — unlimited in time, but withdrawable at any moment
- Airspace constraint
- The field sits under restricted areas LF-R 149D « Vendée » and LF-R 149C « Touraine », used for very-low-level high-speed military training. When active, avoidance is mandatory: check SIA/DGAC or the free line 0800 24 54 66 before every flight (Article 3)
- Standing obligations
- Movements register kept and available for inspection (Art. 6); free access at any time for control, PAF and police (Art. 5); incidents reported to the PAF zonale in Bordeaux; strips cleared of livestock; no overflight of houses below legal height, Geay village named explicitly (Art. 4)
- Legal nature
- Préfectoral authorisation, intuitu personae — re-issued, not sold
- Insurance today
- None. Pilots land at their own risk (seller's words)
Phase 1 — Establish what actually exists (before any offer)
Now, 2–4 weeksMost of this phase is now done. The arrêté préfectoral of 23 July 2012 is in hand: it names M. Edwin R. Boshoff personally, lists the twelve section-B parcels the strips sit on, authorises him on land belonging to him, and declares itself precarious and revocable. The authorisation has since been made unlimited in time. What remains is the paper trail after 2012 and the choice of who applies next.
1. Complete the paper trail after the 2012 arrêté
criticalNot startedYou hold the renewal signed on 23 July 2012 by the Directeur de Cabinet, Laurent Simplicien, for the field at « La Plaine de Bournizeau ». Still missing: the original creation order, the second renewal, and the later decision converting the authorisation to durée illimitée — plus any correspondence with the DSAC since.
How: Request in writing through the mandated agent, quoting the 23 July 2012 arrêté as the reference. If the seller cannot find them, the préfecture and the DSAC both keep them on file and will release them to the holder on request — or to you under CADA access once you are a party with an interest.
Timing · 1–3 weeksCost · Free2. Accept that no share deal preserves the authorisation
criticalNot startedThe chart names the AD operator as 'Château de Bournizeaux', but the arrêté is held by the owner as a natural person. Buying the gîte company therefore does NOT carry the aerodrome across: the right dies with the holder's departure and a fresh arrêté in your name is the only route. Decide now whether you or the acquiring company should be the future holder.
How: Have your notaire confirm in writing that the right is personal, then choose the holder for your own application — a natural person is the simplest and fastest; a company is cleaner if the estate is later sold on. Ask the seller to co-sign your application and to keep his own authorisation alive until yours is signed, so the field is never dormant.
Timing · 1 weekCost · Free3. Informal call to DSAC Sud-Ouest, Aviation Générale / Aérodromes
criticalNot startedA pre-application sounding: same strips, same use, new owner — what do they require, and do they see any obstacle (obstacles, servitudes, protected species, an urbanism change since the original order)?
How: Phone +33 5 57 92 81 10, ask for the aerodrome desk, then confirm the conversation by e-mail so you have it in writing. Mention the field by name and the ZZZZ chart.
Timing · DaysCost · Free4. Check the servitudes aéronautiques and the PLU / carte communale
Not startedWhether the strips and their approach funnels are recorded in the commune's urbanism documents, and whether anything (a hedge, a hangar, a neighbour's building, a planned solar farm) has grown into the clearance surfaces since the field was authorised.
How: DDT 79 for the servitudes; the mairie for the PLU and any pending permits within 1 km of the thresholds.
Timing · 2–4 weeksCost · Free5. Get the seller's written undertaking to co-operate after the sale
criticalNot startedA signed commitment to (a) request withdrawal/renunciation of his own authorisation only at completion, not before, and (b) support your application, including signing any joint letter to the préfecture.
How: Drafted by your notaire, annexed to the compromis de vente.
Timing · With the compromisCost · Included in notaire fees
Phase 2 — Protect yourself in the contract
At the compromis de venteThe authorisation is personal. It cannot be sold to you with the walls, so the only real protection is contractual: you must be able to walk, or re-price, if the new arrêté does not come.
1. Insert a condition suspensive on the new arrêté in your name
criticalNot startedCompletion conditional on the préfecture of the Deux-Sèvres issuing an authorisation for private use of the aerodrome in the buyer's (or buyer's company's) name, on terms no more restrictive than the current one, within X months.
How: Your notaire drafts it. Realistic delay: 4–6 months. Add a fallback: if the arrêté is refused or materially restricted, either the buyer withdraws with deposit returned, or the price reduces by an agreed amount.
Timing · At signatureCost · Included2. Decide the holding structure with the aerodrome in mind
Not startedPersonal name, SCI, or the operating company. An SCI holding the land plus a private-use authorisation in the individual's name is the common set-up; if the existing authorisation sits inside the transferred company, keeping that company alive may avoid re-issue altogether.
How: Notaire + accountant, decided before signature — changing later means re-doing the aerodrome file.
Timing · Before the compromisCost · Advisory fees3. Price the runways at zero until the arrêté is in your name
Not startedNegotiating position: the airfield is a conditional upside, not a paid-for asset. Everything above the château-plus-land value is what you are paying for a right you do not yet hold.
How: Carry this into the offer letter explicitly; it is the cleanest justification for the €1.82M opening number.
Timing · With the offerCost · —
Phase 3 — File the application
Immediately after the compromis, 1–2 months to assembleThe dossier is filed with the préfecture, which sends it out for avis (DSAC, armées, DDT, mairie, sometimes ARS and DREAL) and then signs. There is no national form: the DSAC will tell you the exact list, and it is broadly the same as a creation file — but with a field that already exists, most of it is copy-and-confirm.
1. Assemble the technical dossier
criticalNot startedApplicant identity and capacity; proof of title or of the compromis; cadastral plan and site plan at 1/25,000 and 1/2,500; the three strips with dimensions, headings, thresholds and surface; obstacle survey in the approach and take-off surfaces; type of aircraft and estimated movements; nature of use (private, PPR, owner + guests); the existing ZZZZ chart and special instructions.
How: Most of this already exists — reuse the current chart and the seller's file. A geometer or an aviation consultant can produce the obstacle plan if the DSAC asks for a fresh one.
Timing · 3–6 weeksCost · €0 if reusing existing plans; €2,000–€6,000 if a fresh survey is required2. Prove you have the right to use the land
criticalNot startedThe préfet must see that the applicant controls the ground: title deed after completion, or the compromis plus the seller's consent before it.
How: Attestation from the notaire. Also settle the farmer's mowing arrangement first — a bail rural verbal over the strips would undermine your control of the very land you are asking to fly from.
Timing · With the fileCost · Free3. File with the Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres and log the receipt
criticalNot startedFormal submission, with an accusé de réception giving you a dated start to the instruction.
How: Recommandé avec AR to the Direction de la citoyenneté et de la légalité, copy to DSAC/SO and to the Délégation Poitou-Charentes.
Timing · Day 0 of the instructionCost · Postage4. Support the consultations
Not startedDSAC (safety and airspace), Armées/DIRCAM (military traffic), DDT (land use), mairie (local avis), occasionally DREAL/ARS (environment, noise, protected species near the moat and woodland).
How: Be reachable and quick. Offer a site visit. Volunteer the mitigations before they are demanded: PPR only, no night use, no based commercial operations, mowing regime, noise-sensitive circuit.
Timing · 2–4 monthsCost · Free
Phase 4 — Obtain, publish and operate
4–8 months after filingThe arrêté is only the start of being an aerodrome operator. Publication, insurance and a written operating regime are what turn a legal right into something you can safely let friends land on.
1. Receive the new arrêté préfectoral and read the conditions
criticalNot startedCheck every condition against the old one: permitted aircraft, movement limits, hours, seasonal restrictions, PPR wording, any obligation to inform the préfet before use.
How: If a condition is materially worse than the seller's, that is a re-pricing event — and the reason the condition suspensive exists.
Timing · On decisionCost · Free2. Notify the préfet before resuming use (R.6311-4 control)
Not startedA private-use aerodrome may be used as soon as it is fit, without a separate mise en service, but the préfet must be advised so his inspection right can be exercised.
How: Simple letter, with the date use resumes under your name.
Timing · Before first flightCost · Free3. Update the AIP / VAC entry and the special instructions with the SIA
Not startedReplace the operator's contact details, PPR phone and e-mail, and re-verify the mowing/serviceability note that today says the grass is cut irregularly.
How: Through the DSAC to the SIA, on the AIRAC cycle — allow around two months from request to effective chart.
Timing · 1–3 monthsCost · Free4. Put aviation liability insurance in place — day one
criticalNot startedPremises/third-party liability as aerodrome operator, covering visiting aircraft, passengers and neighbours. The current 'use at your own risk' notice does not exclude your liability as landowner and operator.
How: Quote from an aviation broker before completion; bind it for the completion date, not for the first landing.
Timing · Before completionCost · ≈€1,000–€3,000 / year for a private grass field5. Write a one-page operating manual and a PPR procedure
Not startedWho may land, how permission is requested and recorded, runway serviceability checks, mowing schedule, wind indicator, obstacle and livestock checks, incident reporting.
How: Keep a written log of every PPR granted and every movement. It costs nothing, it satisfies any DSAC visit, and it is the first thing an insurer asks for after an accident.
Timing · Before first flightCost · Your time6. Set the maintenance regime for the strips
Not startedRegular mowing (the chart already flags irregular cutting), rolling in spring, drainage on 12/30, threshold markers, windsock, and a written seasonal serviceability decision after wet spells.
How: Either keep the neighbouring farmer on a formal, terminable prestation de services contract — not a bail rural — or buy the mowing in with the tractors that stay with the estate.
Timing · OngoingCost · €3,000–€6,000 / year including fuel and machinery time7. Run the standing conditions written into the arrêté
criticalNot startedThe 2012 order already tells you how the field must be operated, and your own arrêté will repeat it: a movements register open and available to inspectors (Art. 6); free access at any time for control agents, the police aux frontières and the force publique (Art. 5); every incident or accident reported to the direction zonale de la police aux frontières in Bordeaux; approach and departure axes kept clear, no overflight of dwellings below legal height — Geay village named by name; livestock cleared off the strips before movements (Art. 4); the préfecture advised if the field ever ceases activity (Art. 7).
How: Fold all of it into the one-page operating manual, add a pre-flight LF-R 149C/149D activity check on 0800 24 54 66 or the SIA site, and keep the register in the hangar as a bound book. This is what a DSAC or gendarmerie visit actually looks at, and it is what keeps a precarious, revocable authorisation from ever becoming a question.
Timing · Ongoing, from first flightCost · Your time
Ask the file
Runway questions, answered
Ask anything about the airfield, the arrêté, the procedure or the aviation rules. The AI answers with the whole dossier in context — the 2012 arrêté, the parcels, the process below and the property itself — plus its knowledge of French aerodrome regulation. Keep the answers you want; delete the rest. Saved answers stay on this device.
Who to call
The contact list
Deux-Sèvres sits in the DSAC Sud-Ouest region, so the technical instruction runs through Mérignac rather than Nantes — a detail that wastes weeks if you get it wrong. Verify direct dials before writing; DGAC desk allocations move.
Decision-maker — signs the arrêté
Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres — Direction de la citoyenneté et de la légalité
The préfet of the département where the aerodrome sits grants (and withdraws) the AUP authorisation. Your dossier is filed here; everything else is an avis fed into this file.
Technical instruction — the real gatekeeper
DSAC Sud-Ouest (DGAC) — Deux-Sèvres falls in this interregional directorate
Bordeaux-Mérignac Aéroport, Bloc Technique, TSA 95003, 33688 Mérignac Cedex
+33 5 57 92 81 10
www.ecologie.gouv.fr/direction-generale-laviation-civile-dgac-0
DSAC/SO covers 16, 17, 19, 23, 24, 33, 40, 47, 64, 79, 86, 87. Ask for the division Aviation Générale / Aérodromes. Call them BEFORE the compromis: a 20-minute call tells you whether they see any obstacle, and their informal 'no problem, same strips, new name' is the single most valuable piece of intelligence in this whole file.
Local DGAC relay
DSAC/SO — Délégation Poitou-Charentes
Aéroport de Poitiers-Biard, 86580 Biard
Closest DGAC office to the estate. Useful for a site familiarisation and to route paperwork; the decision still comes from Mérignac + Niort.
Consulted service — land use
DDT des Deux-Sèvres (Direction départementale des territoires)
39 avenue de Paris, CS 70000, 79022 Niort Cedex
+33 5 49 06 88 88
Gives the préfet an avis on compatibility with the PLU/carte communale and on any servitude aéronautique. Also the office to ask whether the strips are recorded as agricultural land (they are mown for hay) — that matters for both the farmer and the aerodrome file.
Consulted service — commune
Mairie de Pierrefitte (79330)
The mayor's avis is asked for. A friendly mayor is worth more than any document: get the visit in early, before the neighbours hear about a new owner and aeroplanes in the same sentence.
Consulted service — military airspace
Ministère des Armées — DSAE / DIRCAM (circulation aérienne militaire)
Standard consultation for any aerodrome creation/renewal. Bournizeaux already exists on the charts inside the same airspace, so this is a formality unless a low-level military route has changed.
Publication — the chart with your name on it
SIA — Service de l'Information Aéronautique (DGAC)
Bordeaux-Mérignac, CS 90003, 33698 Mérignac Cedex
Once the new arrêté exists, the AD administration block and 'special instructions' page (PPR contact, phone, e-mail) must be updated. AIRAC cycle: 28 days, with a cut-off roughly 8 weeks before the effective date — plan for it, do not be surprised by it.
Your side — deal structuring
Notaire (buyer's own, in addition to the seller's)
Drafts the condition suspensive on the new arrêté, and decides whether the AUP holder should be you personally or the acquiring company. If the aerodrome is held by the gîte company being sold, a share deal can preserve continuity — check this before choosing the structure.
Your side — aviation liability
Aviation liability broker (e.g. Verspieren Aviation, Gras Savoye Aéro, Albingia, AXA XL Aviation)
Third-party / premises liability for a private grass strip is a small line item — typically low four figures a year for a private-use field with PPR. The 'at your own risk' notice the seller relies on has no value against an injured passenger or a neighbour.
Counterparty — the current holder
Current owner / holder of the arrêté (via the mandated agent, 3%)
Do not contact agents directly, per the seller's request. Ask, in writing, through the mandated channel for: a copy of the arrêté préfectoral, any renewal or modification, the last correspondence with the DSAC, the field's operating log, and a written undertaking to co-sign the request for re-issue in your name.
The one thing to do this week
We now have the arrêté itself: 23 July 2012, Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres, in M. Edwin R. Boshoff's own personal name, over section B parcels 11 to 18, 110, 122, 417 and 524, on land belonging to him — and precarious and revocable under Article 8. So the question is no longer what the paper says. Call DSAC Sud-Ouest on +33 5 57 92 81 10, quote the 23 July 2012 arrêté, and ask what they would need from a new owner applying over the identical strips for identical private use. In parallel, ask the mandated agent in writing for the missing pieces: the original creation order, the second renewal and the unlimited-duration decision. Both actions cost nothing, take a week, and decide whether the airfield is worth €0 or €250k in your offer. Until your own arrêté is signed, keep the runways priced at zero behind a condition suspensive.