10AUG: Is Japanese airspace at risk? New North Korea missile threat to civil aviation – Weekly Ops Bulletin – International Ops 2024

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LEBL/Barcelona Security staff at Barcelona airport have announced Industrial action for Fridays, Sundays and Mondays starting from 4th August, with the following time schedule: 0330-0430, 0830-0930, 1430-1530, 1630-1730 UTC.

HAZZ/Ethiopia The government lifted on Aug. 4 a state of emergency that has been in place since last October, AP reported.

DISP/San Pedro, Ivory Coast is closed for two weeks since August 2 to renovate the runway, which is in urgent need of repair, according to Ivorian authorities. The runway has been renovated in the past; however, past repairs were insufficient to prevent the runway from deteriorating to its current state of disrepair.

KZZZ/USA The eclipse is coming! As the moon moves in front of the sun on August 21st, a “path of totality” will develop in portions of Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina. This rare event has created intense demand for airport services in these areas, and operators should expect delays to ground support, parking and possibly even approach sequencing to busier airports. NBAA has published some useful guidance for business operators in the US.

DFFD/Ouagadougou is reporting some capacity issues, and would prefer not to be filed as an alternate until August 19th.

EDDK/Cologne is PPR for non-scheduled traffic, apply 72 hours prior to flight: +49 2203 40 4310, flightinfo@cgn.de.

VTBD/Bangkok On August 7th, authorities stated that they were conducting an investigation into Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport (VTBD/DMK) following reports that approximately 5,000 passengers were forced to stand in lines for four to five hours at the facility’s immigration checkpoints. The 4 August incident occurred when several delayed flights resulted in increased passenger traffic at the facility. Heightened security measures in place at the airport — resulting in extended immigration screening — exacerbated the security processing delay. Several passengers required medical attention due to poor ventilation in the immigration checkpoint area and lack of available food or water. An airport official stated that the facility would open more immigration counters in response to the incident, which will allow authorities to process at least 1,800 visitors per hour.

YZZZ/Australia Further details have emerged about the foiled attack targeting commercial aviation in Australia, which authorities first revealed on July 30. An Australian Federal Police (AFP) official stated that two Lebanese-Australian nationals plotted to place an improvised explosive device (IED) on an Etihad Airways flight departing Sydney Airport (YSSY/SYD) on 15 July. One of the suspects brought the luggage containing the IED to the airport but then left before reaching the check-in counter. Officials have not yet established why he abandoned the attempt. The man intended to give the luggage to his brother, who boarded the aircraft. Officials stated, however, that the passenger was likely unaware of the contents of the luggage, and therefore have not charged or arrested him. The components used to manufacture the IED, which officials described as a “high-end military-grade explosive,” originated in Turkey and were transported to Australia via air cargo. This development prompted officials to enhance security measures employed to screen cargo aircraft.

LPZZ/Portugal Planned strike action by Portuguese immigration officers on 24 and 25 August 2017 may cause delays entering/exiting.

OTZZ/Qatar It had been reported that Bahrain and UAE authorities had lifted the ban on Qatar registered aircraft using their airspace, but this has been denied by both authorities and the ban still exists. Qatar aircraft have been using airspace above international waters which is managed by GCAA UAE but not airspace above their territory.

KTEB/Teterboro has a new RNAV SID – The Ruudy 6 – effective from August 17th, in response to ATC concerns over pilot deviations – 112 reports filed – on the previous version of the SID.

HSZZ/South Sudan The FAA has extended the warning on South Sudanese airspace for another year. Review the full page at http://safeairspace.net/information/south-sudan/

KZZZ/USA The FAA has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) – operators with aircraft equipped with ADS-B out systems and meeting specific altitude equipment requirements may no longer need to go through the lengthy and challenging RVSM approval process. Comments due by 06SEP. ADS-B will be mandatory in most US Airspace by Jan 2020.

WIHH/Jakarta Halim The Indonesian government has announced it has decided to transfer all Jakarta outbound Hajj flights from Jakarta Halim to Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta Airport effective immediately. A statement issued by the Ministry of Transportation said it had taken the decision after a departing B777 ripped a hole measuring 3x2x0.25m in Halim’s runway on Friday last week. The aircraft was the first of three such flights scheduled to depart from Jakarta Halim during the first day of charters. Repairs to the affected strip took three hours to complete resulting in light delays to other departing flights.

RKSI/Seoul is introducing High Intensity Runway Ops (HIRO) at Incheon, new procedures, review the related AIC here.

VHHH/Hong Kong is now doing the CDM thing (Collaborative Decision Making), so have a read of AIC 12/17 for the details if you’re operating in there and want to know what TOBT and TSAT mean.

10AUG: Is Japanese airspace at risk? New North Korea missile threat to civil aviation – Weekly Ops Bulletin