Filing a Flight Plan with AIS

When flying out of Guatemala City, you have to file a flight plan. Usually I file my flight plans through the Aeroclub. I know that most of the pilots file through the Aeroclub or the Circulo Aereo. But what if you want to file a flight plan after office hours. Before my instrument rating that never has never occurred to me (night VFR flight in Guatemala is not possible and sunset is around 6:00 PM all year around). But last week I wanted to file a night flight with a fellow pilot friend and I called just after office hours and everyone was gone. I asked around and was told that I should be able to file my flight plan directly with AIS. So there we went at 8:30 PM to the DGAC in Guatemala, next to the terminals. Most pilots will know the building for the yearly license renewal. At first I wasn’t let through the entrance gate. This must be a very rare occasion for someone to actually file a flight plan with AIS at night. After calling AIS, they arranged for us to be let in. The flight plan filing was quick, the staff was friendly and everything went perfectly fine. All in all it took us around 15 minutes. There you have it… there is an alternative way of flying a file plan, even after the Aeroclub and the Circulo Aereo are closed.