A pilot reads the CBP fact sheet for Lakefront and the March 2026 passenger figure for Louis Armstrong International, with the caveats a careful flier needs
Pre-Flight Diary: Lakefront Airport’s Customs Rules, 1.1 Million Passengers at Armstrong, and a Pilot’s Checklist
A pilot reads the CBP fact sheet for Lakefront and the March 2026 passenger figure for Louis Armstrong International, with the caveats a careful flier needs
By Siobhan ODonnell, historian and pilot, New Orleans
Tuesday, 6am, Hangar
Dear diary, I fly small aeroplanes for pleasure, and I read the paperwork the way other people read novels. Today I read the Customs and Border Protection fact sheet for Lakefront Airport, dated January 2025 by its file name, which describes the arrangements for international general aviation arrivals. I am not an international pilot, and I give the sheet as information and not as advice.
It says Lakefront is serviced by CBP from MSY airport in Kenner, Louisiana, and the address is 601 Stars and Stripes Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70126.
What the Sheet Says
CBP office hours are 0800 to 2200 Central Time, seven days a week, according to the sheet. Pilots must request permission to land from CBP before departing the foreign port and at least 24 hours before arrival. Permission is granted with a tolerance of plus or minus 30 minutes, and if the ETA changes beyond that, the permission is invalid and must be re-secured.
Inspection services are limited and handled case by case. Aircraft park at the ramp by the FIS area, where a CBP officer meets the aircraft.
What to Carry
The sheet says travellers should have passports, visas if needed, pilot’s licence, medical certificate, aircraft registration and any user fee decal. Commercial operators departing the US must get outbound clearance directly from CBP. Live animals, weapons, hunting trophies and commercial imports must be declared when requesting permission to land.
The sheet does not name the airport’s operator, runways, traffic figures or history. It lists two FBO contacts. I do not repeat their phone numbers here, since they may have changed.
The Big Airport
On the passenger side, the Centre for Aviation headline says New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport handled 1.1 million passengers in March 2026. The page gives that figure only in the headline and has no year-to-date totals or comparisons, so I do not interpret it.
For historical colour, a 2017 report by Biz New Orleans says the airport served 11,139,421 passengers in 2016, a record at the time. I mention it because a historian cannot resist a figure from the past. It is old and I do not compare it to today.
A Pilot’s Rules
I check the weather, the NOTAMs, the fuel and my own head. I do not fly when I am tired, cross, or distracted by a clever thought. I tell my mother where I am going. These rules are not in the articles. They are in my logbook, in my own handwriting, and they have kept me alive.
If you have any plans to fly, do the same, and do it with a person who knows more than you do.
History From the Air
The thing about flying over New Orleans is that you can see the history on the ground. The river bend, the levees, the grid of the old city, the long lake. A historian in a small aeroplane is a happy woman. I have seen the French Quarter from a thousand feet, and it looks like a handkerchief on a table.
I will not say more. It would sound like boasting, and my mother reads the diary.
Church Notes
On Sunday our priest blessed the pilots of the parish, which is two of us. He said fly low enough to wave and high enough to be safe. I do not think this is in the regulations. I took it as a general principle.
He gave me a medal. I put it in the glove box. It is next to the sandwiches.
Night
The hangar door is shut. The checklist is on the wall. The log has one more entry.
Goodnight, diary. Clear skies.
A Short Glossary
NOTAM: a notice to pilots about hazards and changes, as I use the term. FBO: a fixed-base operator, the service company at a general aviation airport; the sheet lists two. FIS: the federal inspection services area where customs processing happens, as the sheet says. ETA: estimated time of arrival, which the sheet says must stay within the permission tolerance.
Glossaries are a historian’s pleasure and a pilot’s duty.
A Caution
I have not flown internationally into Lakefront and I cannot vouch for the sheet’s current accuracy. Anyone who plans to do so should consult CBP and the airport directly, because rules change, and the sheet I read carries a file date of January 2025. This is a diary, not a flight briefing.
Hangar Notes
Between archive boxes and pre-flight checks I read the comic papers, because the coffee is slow. This week the big joke was property: Manila News on slow condo sales in Cebu, the London Prat on retirees asked for character references (it is at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and Bohiney on a realtor with unsellable beachfront listings. Exaggeration all the way down, but anchored to a real market story. More at prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try The Daily Mash, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/