Frequently Asked Questions

Courtesy Cars and Car Rentals

1. Do you have a courtesy car at the airport?  No, sorry. But we do have courtesy bicycles! Click here to learn more.

2. Are there any car rental services that provide service to the airport? Not at this time. But some pilots have been creative and dropped a passenger off at a nearby airport that does have service and then continued on to our airport where they met up again. Nearby airports with car rental service include KLEW, KAUG and KPWM.

Airport Fees

1. Does the Airport charge any fees for landing or parking?  Absolutely none! In fact, we don't charge fees for tie-down on our ramp even if you are here long-term AND we don't even charge if you want to plug-in to our electrical outlets on the ramp for your plane's tanis heaters, battery tender, etc.

2. I would like to use the Conference Room at the airport. Is there a fee for that?  No, we do not charge for use of the conference room, unless there is damage or the room is left a mess. Click here for details about the room.

IFR Clearances and Flight Plans

1. What is the best way to get my IFR clearance at Bethel Regional Airport?  You have a number of options. The best, most efficient option is to call Portland Approach by phone when you are ready for takeoff (within 5 minutes) just before taxiing. Their number is 207-874-7320. Alternatively, you can call the National Clearance Delivery Line at Flight Service by dialing 888-766-8267. You give them your information, they'll put you on hold and contact ATC for you, then relay your clearance to you. Your third option only works if you can depart and maintain VFR conditions to at least 3,000 ft MSL (roughly), and that is to contact Portland Approach by radio on 125.5. If that frequency doesn't work, try 128.35 or 119.75 in that order. Keep in mind that because of distance from ATC transmitters and quicly climbing terrian, Portland's radar and radio capabilities will be limited. The minimum vectoring altitude surrounding Bethel varies greatly depending on position and heading, ranging from as low 4,000 ft. MSL to 8,000 ft. MSL and higher, especially to the west and northwest. To avoid getting into a trap when it is not good VFR, you should consider calling for your IFR clearance by telephone while safely on the ramp!

2. How do I close my IFR or VFR Flight Plan at Bethel Regional Airport?  For IFR cancellations, call Portland Approach at 207-874-7320 (your best option) or Flight Service at 800-992-7433. To close out your VFR Flight Plan, you must call Flight Service at 800-992-7433.

3. Can I reach Flight Service or ATC by radio on the ground or in the traffic pattern at pattern altitude?  No.

AWOS / Weather Reporting

1. How do I retrieve the current conditions from the Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS)?  Bethel's AWOS-AV is a non-federal (non-FAA) automated weather reporting station that provides essentially the same METAR information that a traditional AWOS/ASOS does with a few differences. First of all, they call it an AWOS-AV system because only the altimeter and visibility sensors are "certified" by the FAA for IFR operations. All other sensors/components that report the weather on this station are considered "advisory" in nature. This doesn't mean you don't get all of the usual METAR data, it just simply means that the FAA doesn't certify it and worse yet, doesn't allow the data onto their weather network. So this means if you ask ATC or Flight Service for the current METAR for Bethel, they will not have it and if you try to obtain the METAR from your onboard systems via ADS-B FIS-Broadcast, you won't get it either - again because the FAA doesn't allow non-federal AWOS data onto their network. However, if you are using something like ForeFlight while airborne and are connected to the Internet at the time, you should be able to get Bethel's METAR (because it's being fed to ForeFlight by the Internet instead of the FAA). Some online flight planning sites like ForeFlight and FltPlan also provide Bethel's METAR. How to receive the METAR? In flight, you can tune to 119.075. If you have a cell phone and signal, you can call (207) 512-2516 or access the METAR online at www.DigiWx-0B1.com 

Hangars

1. Does the Airport have any overnight hangars for rent?  Unfortunately, not at this time because we don't own any hangars on field yet - they are all privately owned. This may change some time in the future. In the meantime, click here to read information about hangars that may be available for lease or short-term rent.

Winter Operations

1. How does the Airport handle snowstorms and plowing?  This is one of our most costly operations at the Airport and one procedure that we're quite proud of and get plenty of complements for - winter maintenance. In order to keep costs down, our philosophy is to wait for the storm to end, then we go out and clean it up. This gives us the best chance to have a bare/dry runway when it's over, rather than compacted snow or ice because we've been driving all over it during the storm (but then sometimes we are not that fortunate). More often than not, if the storm has passed overnight, our snow crew will begin clean up at around 5:00 a.m. local and depending on the amount of snow, may be done 5 hours later for light accumulations or significantly longer for larger accumulations. Unless otherwise stated in a NOTAM, the airport is generally closed during snow removal operations. As for an estimate of when clean-up will be done and the airport re-open, we take that into consideration when issuing the closure NOTAM. At the end of the NOTAM, you will see an effective time. This is our best-guess based upon experience and snowfall as to how long it will take to re-open. It is not a guarantee and sometimes we're off the mark, but we do our best. Our best advice is to continually monitor the NOTAMS as we stay on top of things by posting in a very timely manner. We participate in the new Digital NOTAM System as opposed to calling them in to Flight Service like in the old days. This means that the moment we enter the NOTAM, they instantly go live - no more delay! You can check local NOTAMS for Bethel here. 

2. What about snow on and around my plane on the apron? Will you remove that for me?  No. Snow removal from on and around your parked airplane is the owner's/pilot's responsibility. The airport is unattended and due to liability issues, we cannot provide that service. That being said, there have been some local pilots/owners that while clearing off their airplanes, they may run a snowrake over your plane, just be to friendly and neighborly. Airport snow removal crews will do their best to plow snow away from as close to your airplane as possible. If you are there when the snow plows are there, they will work with you to clean up your spot on the apron. If they are not there, usually the best option if possible, is to move your airplane to a clean spot so they can get your spot cleaned up later. The crew that does the plowing are super friendly and accommodating .