05OCT: PR Ops, French Strike, Shanwick Closure

Weekly International Ops Bulletin published by FSB for OPSGROUP covering critical changes to Airports, Airspace, ATC, Weather, Safety, Threats, Procedures, Visas. Subscribe to the short free version here, or join thousands of your Pilot/Dispatcher/ATC/CAA/Flight Ops colleagues in OPSGROUP for the full weekly bulletin, airspace warnings, Ops guides, tools, maps, group discussion, Ask-us-Anything, and a ton more! Curious? See what you get. Rated 5 stars by 125 reviews.

 LFZZ/France Looks like another French ATC strike is on the cards for next week. Several ATC unions have called for a work stoppage, affecting French airports and airspace from Monday evening (Oct 9) through Wednesday (Oct 11). There are no specifics just yet as to impact on FIR’s or specific airports, but this follows a previous pattern with French strikes that tends to have a high impact – meaning Ops to or over France are best avoided next Monday evening and Tuesday. DGAC/DNSA will hold a teleconference in French at 1130Z  this Friday (on +33 (0) 1 49 94 80 41, no PIN required), followed by a Eurocontrol teleconference in English at 1300Z. We will post any further information here as soon as received. Read the full article.

MHZZ/Central America Tropical Storm Nate is currently just off the northern coast of Nicaragua, moving NW at 8 kts with sustained winds of 35 Kts. Forecast to move towards Louisiana over the weekend as a Cat 1 Hurricane. Heavy rain expected across Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, Belize and Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsular. No airport closures anywhere yet, but keep an eye on the forecast for MMUN/Cancun, as that’s directly in the path of the storm.

TJZZ/Puerto Rico We got a ton of useful reports in the last few days from OPSGROUP members that have been to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. OPSGROUP members can login to Aireport for the full reports and latest additions as we get them – just view the latest reports and scroll through to see all.

GLZZ/Liberia On Oct 10th presidential and general elections will take place in Liberia causing political rallies and large gatherings to become more frequent during this time, particularly Oct 6th-8th.  Expect road blockages and disruption to traffic in the area of Monrovia, and disruptions and delays along the airport road on Oct 7th.

TJSJ/San Juan As of Tuesday night, slots are now only required if you’re using the contingency ramp at San Juan – for that, call MFOC at 001-850-283-5994 and for all other flights file FPL normally.

UACC/Astana is experiencing a fuel shortage. The airport authority has restricted refueling until further notice, operators should tanker though. If tankering isn’t possible, you should advise estimated uplift requirements as early as possible, so coordination can begin ASAP.

LSZZ/Switzerland In 2018, Switzerland will be launching their own emissions trading scheme, to integrate with the rest of the European ETS. All domestic flights, flights from Switzerland into Europe, will require this ETS. Read the full article.

VTZZ/Thailand A travel advisory has been issued to visitors and tourists, regarding the cremation ceremony of late King Bhumibol Adulyadej on Oct 25-29th. The ceremony is expected to draw 250,000 people to Bangkok and 70,000+ security personnel. They are expecting large crowds to disrupt traffic in Bangkok, and warned that some routes may be closed to traffic. The ceremony may affect services on 26 October, which officials have declared a national holiday.

VISR/Srinagar, India On Oct 3rd, three Islamist militants launched an attack on a Border Security Force (BSF) compound near Srinagar International Airport (VISR/SXR), located in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Soldiers killed all three militants in a 10-hour gun battle. One soldier was killed. There were no casualties or damage at the airport, but the facility was closed for more than five hours.

EDDK/Cologne Airport is PPR for non-scheduled and GA Traffic until Dec 27th. You can get your PPR 72 hours prior, +49 2203 40 4310 or flightinfo@cgn.de.

EETN/Tallinn Parking PPR is required from Oct 2-12 if you’re going to be on the ground for more than 3 hours. ad.apron.control@tll.aero.  Exempt for scheduled and home based aircraft.

KLAX/Los Angeles From Oct 2-3, one of the 4 runways at KLAX will be completely closed for repair – RWY 24R/6L on the north side of the airport. During this time, the parallel RWY 24L/6R will be used for both arrivals and departures. Expect longer taxi times and departure delays throughout October, particularly at peak times.

LTZZ/Turkey GPS signal outages continue, expect interruptions to service within the Ankara FIR.

UTTT/Tashkent Sounds like there might be a fuel shortage again – until the end of the year, the airport is only available as an alternate for aircraft ‘with enough fuel on board for onward flight to their intended destination’. Although the airport is still fully serviceable as an en-route alternate, aircraft that use Tashkent as a destination alternate and end up having to divert here will face ‘extremely’ long delays for refueling.

ANYN/Nauru No HF radio coverage at Nauru until the end of the year. If you’re operating there, maintain HF contact with Brisbane  until you can make VHF contact with Nauru on 118.1MHZ or 126.MHZ. For overflights in the region outside of VHF range, you can contact them on satphone: either +61 147 148478 or +61 147 163879.

URSS/Sochi On Oct 10-21 Sochi will be hosting this year’s World Festival of Youth and Students. 2hr maximum ground time for flights not connected with the event. Expect long delays for fuelling – tanker in if possible.

LYBE/Belgrade Oct 8-11: No ad-hoc commercial or GA flights allowed, and you cannot use as an alternate, due to a mysterious “government event” Notam (it’s actually just an official state visit by the Turkish President).

MKZZ/Jamaica The airspace has now pretty much returned to normal, but ATC are moving over to a new system after deciding not to repair their radar which was damaged in a lightning strike last month. For now: 40 miles between aircraft on the same route regardless of flight level, and 40 miles between arrivals to MKJP.

Weekly International Ops Bulletin published by FSB for OPSGROUP covering critical changes to Airports, Airspace, ATC, Weather, Safety, Threats, Procedures, Visas. Subscribe to the short free version here, or join thousands of your Pilot/Dispatcher/ATC/CAA/Flight Ops colleagues in OPSGROUP for the full weekly bulletin, airspace warnings, Ops guides, tools, maps, group discussion, Ask-us-Anything, and a ton more! Curious? See what you get. Rated 5 stars by 125 reviews.