Opschat Summary April 26

Hello Members.

It was another busy OPSCHAT call this week, along with our new quiz!

You can watch the full replay on your Member’s Dashboard.

Here’s a roundup of what we talked about:

Poland – An ongoing ATC industrial dispute may lead to big controller shortages in the EPWW/Warsaw FIR from May 1. There may be knock on effects for neighbouring airspace. See our article for more.
Singapore – There are new crew Covid rules. The main change is that vaccinated crew no longer need a pre-arrival Covid test, and they are no longer limited to the three approved layover hotels – you can chose from any now. But be careful of this gotcha: if one crew member is unvaccinated, the whole crew must follow those rules (which means isolating in an approved hotel).
Hong Kong – From May 1, fully vaccinated foreigners will be able to enter for any reason. But the quarantine rules aren’t changing – they will still need to stay in approved hotels for at least seven days. You can check the official page on pax rules here. Local agent HKBAC have told us that there’s currently no official plans for any changes to the crew rules – which are pretty restrictive: crew must be must be vaccinated, take a pre-arrival test, another test on arrival, isolate in their hotel on layover until their outbound flight, and wear a wristband for location tracking.
Africa – Fuel shortages at big airports are spreading. They’re now reported at DNMM/Lagos, FAOR/Johannesburg and GOBD/Dakar. More may soon follow.
Netherlands – There have been big delays at EHAM/Schiphol thanks to multiple runway closures and an unexpected strike. Things are expected to improve from Apr 27 onwards, but keep an eye on the Eurocontrol NOP website and the Notams for updates.

Unsolved mysterious

Crew quarantine in China. You can enter but will be stuck in quarantine for weeks, or drop your pax and leave. Does anyone have a clever alternative solution?

Russian alternates. Is anyone still using Russian airport for ETOPS alternates? Most folk seem to be saying no. We discuss some other options in more detail, including lesser known PADK/Adak Island and PASY/Shemya. We also talk about Part 91 ops and risk tolerance when ETOPS doesn’t apply.

A new mystery – where do you actually need to call in in advance? Where have you been that doesn’t match the AIP? China, Myanmar, Pakistan, Iran seem to still want you to… basically any of the ADIZ.

Opsquiz!

Congrats to the reigning ruler who now has a two in a row streak and will shortly claim his prize – his own little piece of Scotland. As a taster, here is the toughest question from this week: If you are talking to Shanwick on HF, who are you actually talking to?

As always, the team is here to help with any operational support, info or questions. You can reach us on news@ops.group, or via the slack channels #flightops and #questions.

To watch the replay of the OPSCHAT in full: head over to the dashboard. We hold a new one every week on Tuesdays at 2000z, click here to register and join us live. See you next week!

Opschat Summary April 26