Europe in the summer is a lovely thing. Sunshine, beaches, ice cream… and then the downside – parking restrictions!

Let’s talk about some of those known airports that always have parking problems – where they are, what your options are and anything else which we can think of that might help.

Why so tight?

We mean parking spots for private and corporate biz jets, not the swim trunks of French beaches.

Anyway, the problem is a simple one – everyone wants to go where it is nice, which means a lot of traffic converging on places which have minimal parking. Add on some summer sporting events and a few summits are it gets even tighter.

So here is a list of (some of) the places to think about in advance.

ITALY

Italy is a hugely popular tourist destination and during peak season many of its smaller airports fill up as fast as an elephant at a breakfast buffet.

In addition, some of the southern airports have been used in the past for overflow parking for the equally busy Greek airports.

Peak season is generally July through September.

You also have the Italian Grand Prix September 9-11 to contend with. This is held at the Monza circuit (south of Lake Como) so your Milan airports, particularly LIMC/Malpensa, are going to see extra traffic around this time.

Italy have quite specific charter permit rules. For non-EU registered aircraft which are applying for the first time, or which haven’t operated in during the last two seasons, then you’re going to want to submit well in advance. It can take 20-45 days for approvals to be issued.

Naples

LIRN/Naples generally only allow turnarounds during their peak weeks – overnight parking is hard to come by.

Their traffic is predominantly international scheduled aircraft (64%), domestic scheduled (32%) and then  charter and general aviation/transits making up the last few percent. The totals have risen from just over 6000 total in 2015 to just under 11,000 (10,860) in 2019.

So this airport has seen a major increase in traffic, without a major increase in capacity ability. With Covid “ending” and everywhere opening up, 2022 might prove as busy.

Milan

Milan is generally considered a good spot for General Aviation.

LIML/Linate is Milan’s “city” airport with easiest connections into the city, while LIMC/Malpensa is the bigger but further away one (although closer to the lakes).

LIML/Linate has a dedicated GA terminal and ramp and can accept all types of aircraft, but you will need to pre-arrange parking on the local apron. During peak peak (during the Italian F1) remote areas might be utilised, and charters may be restricted to 36 hours on the ground (actually, this is across all of Italy). Hangar space is harder to come by.

Bergamo

LIME/Bergamo is also only about 40 minutes drive from the Monza track so a good one to consider if you’re heading over for the F1.

Other Airports

LICC/Catania and LIRA/Rome Ciampino also might be an issue. Check for parking availability as early as possible.

Members have suggested looking into LIBP/Abruzzo and LICJ/Palermo as reposition and parking options in previous years.

GREECE

Anywhere and everywhere in Greece seems to have parking problemos. 

Slot coordination for Greece is handled through the Hellenic Slot Coordination Authority and, we don’t want to say it, but the first half of the name should tell you what slot getting in peak season can be like here…

Here are their guidelines.

There are 17 coordinated (IATA level 3) airports which you need to get a slot for prior to operating in, and you can organise this with the coordinator at slot@hsca.gr between 0800-1600LT Mon-Fri. 

The earliest you can request a slot is 14 days in advance. Oh, but before you do that, you need to organise a PPR with the airport operator.

The most popular destinations (from previous years) seem to be:

• LGSR/Santorini
• LGMK/Mykonos
• LGKR/Corfu
• LGRP/Rhodes
• LGSA/Chania
• LGIR/Heraklion
• LGKF/Kefalonia
• LGTS/Thessaloniki

During peak times most of these will have a 60 minute on the ground restriction (sometimes less!) meaning you can drop and go, but not stay and park. LGRS/Santotini, LGMK/Mykonos and LGZA/Zakynthos have had this in place for the past few years so you can count on it at them.

Mykonos

Your only airport here is LGMK/Mykonos and it is small and it has very limited parking space (3 spaces available). It is also popular which means you are going to have to
a) get a slot to land and
b) probably coordinate parking somewhere else.

The slots are fought over by GA and scheduled ops, and guess who gets priority…

The GA slot requirements came in July 2015. So, you’re going to want to request a slot as early as you can (which is 14 days before because they restrict that for GA).

During peak times you will only get an hour on the ground – this is between June and September (but they have been known to extend it if the sunny weather sticks around).

So, what are the options? Well, fly somewhere else and then organise a helicopter or boat transfer. Or drop your pax off, refuel fast and then go drop the airplane somewhere else until it is needed again.

So, where can you go?

LGAV/Athens is sort of the biggest so, unsurprisingly, is one of the best option for somewhere to go park. However, Athens gets busy too. They have started to issue Notams for the peak season requiring a PPR if you wish to remain there more than 2 hours.

Your next best options are going to be Croatia or Montenegro which are not the same country (in case you hadn’t noticed). So early planning is a good plan.

SPAIN/IBIZA

Ibiza in the summer is a very busy spot.

LEIB/Ibiza is often reported as having parking issues in the summer season, while at LEBL/Barcelona you may find slot restrictions in place.

As an alternate try LEVC/Valencia.

TURKEY

Members reported cancelling trips to smaller airports like LTFE/Bodrum due to lack of overnight parking. The major airports should be able to accommodate but costs will be much higher.

Local FBOs advised there is a 3 hours max applied during busy periods. Watch out though, they may recommend flying to nearby Greek island airports to overnight instead, but you’re going to find them just as busy.

WHERE ELSE?

All the above are based off reports from members from previous years, so if we have missed one let us know!

If you have any secret spots which are good for parking please do share (although you might want to keep it a secret if it’s a really good one or everyone will be trying to use it). You can send us an email at news@ops.group.

What do railways and airplane fuel shortages have in common? Well, at FAOR/Johannesburg Airport, it turns out quite a lot.

Chapter 1. Trains.

The railway lines which run through KwaZulu-Natal (the province on the east coast where FADN/Durban International airport is) were badly damaged in flooding earlier in 2022. Unfortunately, these train lines are how jet fuel is generally moved from the Port of Durban refinery to Gauteng (the province where FAOR/OR Tambo international airport is).

The train lines are only expected to be repaired to 50% capacity by June 2022, and 100% capacity by October 2022. Unless further flooding occurs.

Which means FAOR/Johannesburg isn’t getting the 16 million or so litres of fuel a week which it normally needs.

The railway lines between KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng were damaged.

Chapter 2. Planes

We should say the 16 million or so litres of fuel a week which the airplanes need.

Currently (as of mid-May), the airport’s stock sits at around 3-5 days worth.

Domestic and regional airlines will be less badly impacted by this because they can tanker more easily, or visit one of the other South African airports and uplift their fuel there. 

Unfortunately, Durban (where the fuel is) lies on the southern eastern coast and for most international flights, this would require a fairly substantial diversion (fuel burn) to go simply to pick up more fuel.

Chapter 3. Fuel-mobiles.

It just rhymed…

Actually, the plan isn’t to drive more fuel there in tankers, but to pipe it. A shipment of 20 million litres is on its way, while another 1.5 millions litres is being arranged directly with airlines that have been hit by the ‘force majeures’ of their normal fuel providers.

Epilogue. Where else is an option?

The fuel situation will be ongoing until October, although should ease up as plans are put in place. In the meantime, international operators do have options for fuel stops.

• AEG +1 305-913-5253 / dispatch@aegfuels.com is a worldwide fuel supplier, worth contacting for up to date info on the fuel situation and availability at most airports.

FBSK/Gabarone, Botswana

• Puma Energy +267 3 951 077 / Botswana@pumaenergy.com
• Airport contact +267 368 8200

FVRG/Harare, Zimbabwe – receives fuel supply from Mozambique (Beira). Rumour has it there is a growing shortage here though, so check in advance.

FQMA/Maputo, Mozambique

FYWH/Windhoek, Namibia

• Airport Manager shipuatal@airports.com.na / info@airports.com.na

And ones to avoid?

GOBD/Dakar and GOOY/Dakar (old one) Senegal – these are no go. They have a severe shortage and international flights have been cancelled.

Anywhere in Nigeria – There is a pretty serious fuel shortage going on here right now.

We wrote a post on the fuel shortages worldwide here which you can have a read of if you need.

In Southern France, two of the biggest events of the year are taking place almost simultaneously – and it’s the perfect storm for an influx of private jet traffic to the region’s main airports.

The Cannes Film Festival has just started, and will run until May 28. This is followed by the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix on May 29.  As one of the most famous events in motorsport, it attracts huge crowds. Both these events are happening within 50nm of each other.

As a result, the nearest major airports, LFMD/Cannes and LFMN/Nice will see much higher traffic volumes than normal – and both airports are heavily restricting operations.

Three AIP SUPs have been issued for the events . Don’t feel like delving into all of them? We don’t blame you. Here’s a quick summary of what they cover.

LFMD/Cannes

AIP SUP 052/22 has the deets here.

The apron is going to be full. The airport isn’t normally coordinated, but you’ll need a slot if operating in or out between May 17 – 30. You’ll get a slot ID that needs to go into Item 18 on your ICAO flight plan.

Even if you like to manage things yourself, the use of handling agents will be mandatory during this time.

Also, if you’re planning on a short hop to LFMN/Nice on May 28-30, no bueno. More on that below.

Monaco

Monaco itself doesn’t have an airport. In fact, it is the second smallest country in the world and is found on France’s Côte d’Azur – its south-eastern coast. Inside Monaco is the district of Monte Carlo, where the race is taking place.

The majority of passengers for the Grand Prix will enter via LFMN/Nice which is found around 20nm further west along the coast.

LFMN/Nice is the closest major airport to Monaco. Further west is LFMD/Cannes.

LFMN/Nice

AIP SUP 058/22 is the one to check here.

• All arriving and departing aircraft operating at Nice from May 24 -30 will also need to co-ordinate a time slot. You can either request one directly, or ask your handling agent to get one for you.
• You won’t be eligible for a slot unless your handler has guaranteed you a parking space when you get there – so make sure there is room for your ride first.
• When filing your flight plan, commercial operators won’t need to include their slot ID number. But if your arrival or departure time is outside your allocated slot, your plan will bounce back.

Restricted airspace.

Info on this is published in yet another SUP – this one: AIP SUP 107/22

• From May 28 – May 30, special restrictions will apply to all traffic.
• All VFR ops will be banned, and IFR flights will not be allowed between LFMN/Nice and LFMD/Cannes, which is a little further west along the coast.
• There will be intensive low level helicopter traffic to look out for. For IFR traffic departing on a SID, it is important to follow published climb gradients and altitude requirements.
• If you don’t think your ride will make it, you’ll need to let ATC know with your start up request. In that case you may get hit with a delay, but don’t spring it on them at the last minute.
• A temporary restricted area will be in effect which will primarily affect traffic over the event, and at LFMN/Nice airport, and will apply from surface to 3,500’.
• If you’re operating on a valid flight plan, the impact will pretty minor. Just make sure you are in contact with Nice Tower on 122.375, and follow their instructions. You’ll need permission to enter it.

Temporary restricted airspace will be in effect – make sure you’re in contact with Nice Tower before entering.

The big question, who will win?

Not only is he the championship leader, but Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc is also a local to Monaco. He’s the home favourite to top the podium on race day.

Some useful contacts.

LFMD/Cannes Airport Authority +33 (0) 4 89 88 98 28.

Handling

Skyvalet  +33 (0) 4 93 90 41 10, operations-acm@cote-azur.aeroport.fr

LFMN/Nice Airport Authority +33 (0) 4 93 17 21 18. If you’re looking to get a slot approval directly from them, email nice-caz-agta-ld@aviation-civille.gouv.fr.

Handling

Menzies +33 (0) 4 83 76 26 02, Florence.augustyniak@johnmenzies.aero

Signature +33 (0) 4 93 21 82 18, NCE@signatureflight.fr

Swissport  +33 (0) 4 93 21 58 12, nce.operations@swissportexecutive.com

Hi Members,

It was another busy OPSCHAT this week!

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

Here’s a roundup of what we talked about:

The Big News

• Europe – Some Schengen Area countries have extended their internal border controls for another six months due to “security concerns”: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and France. The EU aren’t happy about this because it’s questionable whether there’s really any new threat here. The impact to ops is essentially delays – all passengers and crew will have their passport details checked thoroughly as if they were arriving from outside of the region.
• United States – There are ops updates for several airports. KCOS/Colorado Springs has been affected this week by grass fires, KASE/Aspen is open again, there are long delays at KIAD/Washington Dulles due to runway work, KHTO/East Hampton has new operating rules, and PPR is needed for non-sched ops at KBOS/Boston until late June.
• Switzerland -The World Economic Forum is happening from May 20 – 26. Airport and airspace restrictions will apply. We take a look in more detail.
• Jamaica – The entire MKJK/Kingston FIR went ATC zero on May 12 due to a strike. More are possible. Be familiar with contingency procedures if headed there. We talk about what they are, and where to find them.
• Sri Lanka – There is widespread civil unrest, a notam has been issued advising operators to tanker fuel as it is unlikely to be available. Security is a problem for layovers – avoid if possible.

Unsolved Mysteries

Can pilots use contingency procedures on the NAT when refusing a climb/descent clearance from ATC? We get various points of view from the group.

Danger Club!

We’re holding our next session on Wednesday, May 18 at 1900z and we think it is going to be a good one. Click to register here, and feel free to invite a friend!

As always, we’re 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!

SATVOICE. Satellite voice communications. The most expensive phone call you can make (probably). But also an incredibly useful bit of kit to have onboard because it lets you talk to folk much further away than VHF and HF generally do.

But just because you have it doesn’t mean you can count in it, at least not as one of your official LRCS (that means longe range communication system in case you didn’t know).

So, there is a great system which lets you talk over long ranges, but isn’t always approved as a long range communication system?

Before we get to the ‘why not?’…

A quick recap on what SATVOICE is.

It is exactly what the name suggests – a system that allows voice communications, via satellites. So your voice message zooms up, bounces off the satellite and zooms back down to wherever you’re aiming it. And because it heads up and then down, it can go further.

OK, it might be a little more scientific than that, but that’s a basic description.

There are some things it doesn’t do though.

It doesn’t replace VHF or HF as a primary means of communication. One of the reasons being not every ATC has the facilities to receive or call you via it.

It doesn’t always work at high latitudes because not all satellite providers have coverage up there. Iridium satellites are ok – they are in low earth orbits rather than geostationary ones so they don’t get that SATCOM shadow you might have heard mentioned.

It doesn’t always avoid the impacts space weather – the stuff that affects HF, particularly at high latitudes, can also disrupt your satellite comms.

SATCOM frequency range.

You probably know all this already.

If you don’t then you can read some more about it here.

Now, let’s get down to the real question…

Can you count your SATVOICE system as a LRCS?

OK, well firstly where do you actually need LRCS?

In short, anytime you’ll be flying for extended periods over watery regions or remote regions where VHF stations probably aren’t possible (so anytime you’ll be outside the ‘line of sight’ of ATC). Like the NAT HLA for example.

In these regions you generally require two LRCS, and one of these must be HF. Where you only require one, this must be HF.

The FAA published this which covers some info on comms requirements in oceanic airspace.

They also published this – AC 91-70B – which is the full guidance on Oceanic and Remote Continental Airspace Operations, and this has a whole section on SATVOICE that is pretty handy.

So if one LRCS is HF, what does the other need to be?

Because of frequency congestions and solar conditions that often make HF annoying to use in oceanic and remote spots, other systems can be approved as an LRCS. It doesn’t only have to be HF.

CPDLC is on option that is considered suitable. The FANS 1/A+ with its RCP 240 system satisfies the requirements.

And (finally) what about my SATVOICE system?

Well… just because you have SATVOICE doesn’t mean it meets the criteria…

This hasn’t answered the question at all!

No, we know. We’re trying…

Basically, it has to meet a whole bunch of criteria in order to be IAW 20-150B certified, and this certification should be reflected in your MMEL/MEL.

In case you don’t know what that is, the info is all covered in this FAA advisory. 

AC 20-150B

There is a whole looong list of requirements. We won’t list ’em all here, but some of the top ones are:

• Whatever you say on SATVOICE has to be recordable on the CVR
• You have to have considered whether it will work if you’re in a “load shed” situation (ie will it still be available in some hideous emergency power lever situation?)
• It has to be able to tell the pilots things like if its broken, if someone is trying to call on it, etc
• It has to meet certain RCP criteria (RCP400)

RCP monitoring and alerting criteria

• Oh yeah, and it has to have priority, preemption and precedence abilities (PPP).

Say what?

PPP. Priority, preemption and precedence. Preemption is defined by the FAA as the “immediate and automatic seizure of resources allocated to a lower priority call”.

It might be easier to look at this table, but in short calls have to be routed through the CMY and filtered according to this –

If it can’t prioritise, it won’t be certified.

Tell me which ones are?

Well, that is a very big question and really not something we can answer. Yep, we made you read all that and still don’t actually have an answer for you.

What we do know, because other people told us, it that:

• Typical AirCell installations do not meet the criteria
• Latitude SkyNode S200-12 ATC Safety Voice Systems generally do
• The Aspire 300 SATCOM system also generally does
• And there are possibly a whole bunch others but the surest way to find out is to talk to the manufacturers and ask them directly.

Anything else?

Well, we definitely don’t want to get your hopes up, but a little birdie told us that a change might be coming to the “one of the LRCS systems must be HF” requirement. This is in part due to the reliability and practicality of SATVOICE systems.

When this will happen we ain’t sure, but listen out.

Hi Members,

If you’re planning a trip somewhere, you might have used the search tool in the Dashboard. We’ve just added a new feature, so read on.

Let’s plan a quick flight to Auckland, NZ. So, on the main Dashboard page, just type “NZAA“, or “Auckl …”

You’ll get this panel showing all the things we know about Auckland in OPSGROUP.

Click on the Alerts tab to see what’s been happening lately, from a flight ops point of view.

Until now, we’ve been showing current alerts, and those that expired in the last 3 months.

But now, we’ve added the option to see all historical alerts.

For both the Airport and Country search pages, you can go back in time to the beginning of OPSGROUP, and see everything ever said about that place. This might be handy to get an overview when operating to somewhere new.

What else?

Keep scrolling down and you’ll see the rest of the tools that will help you with that particular airport.

Airport Spy reports from other members …

Run a quick Route Check to see what bothersome changes might affect you enroute … and your fuel, time, distance.

Here we’ll plan a flight from Port Moresby to Auckland …

The documents tab usually has some goodies. Excellent, looks like Bec has made a Lowdown for NZAA!

The articles tab should find any blog posts or articles the OPSGROUP Team has written affecting this airport or country.

Not interested in Auckland? Don’t blame you. The rest of New Zealand is far better! 😉 Try a search for NZCH, NZDN, or NZQN – or anywhere else in the world, in the search box at the bottom.

Enjoy! Let us know if you have any questions or we can help at all. We are always adding new features and that works best when you tell us what you need 🙂

Cheers,
The O.G. Team.
team@ops.group

Full ATC service is returning to Somalia! The HCSM/Mogadishu FIR is currently Class G uncontrolled, which means a lot of fairly annoying IFBP calls to make. This is about to change though…

(Well, not the IFBP thing sadly, they recommend you continue these even during the trial period).

From May 11 to September 21 they will be running a trial which will see the airspace from FL245 up become Class A controlled airspace.

The trial will only be between 0300-1800z (so during the day), but will cover the entire FIR including oceanic areas.

Notam A0051/22 (A0028/22) advises on this, whilst AIP SUP 02/22 has all the info (we’re still waiting for a copy!)

The entire FIR will be Class A at and above FL245

Who to talk to in Class A?

The following frequencies are your best bet:

• VHF 132.5 MHz if within 240NM of position MOGDU.
• HF (Mogadishu Control)
  ▪ Day Primary 11300Khz
  ▪ Day Secondary 8879Khz or 13288Khz
  ▪ Night Primary 5517Khz
  ▪ Nigh Secondary 11300Khz or 3467Khz
• CPDLC for those FANS1 equipped, logon address HCSM

If you lose comms, then the procedures are pretty standard. These are available in the Somalia SUP 05/2018. Or you have the full contingency plans to follow in SUP 03/22.

SATCOM

Mogadishu have also re-confirmed their dedicated SATCOM numbers. Here they are:

• +252 6133 50047
• +252 6233 50047
• +252 1857 390
• +252 1857 391
• +252 1857 392
• +252 1857 393

What’s the difference between Class A and Class G?

In a nutshell, Class A doesn’t have VFR traffic in it, and you do need ATC clearances. Traffic will be provided with 10mins lateral/longitudinal separation and 2000′ vertical separation at and above FL410, 1000′ at and below FL400

Class G is uncontrolled which means it is all procedural, deconfliction services and traffic advisory services only.

What’s (less) new in Mogadishu.

• Somalia still isn’t the safest region to fly through. Major authorities prohibit flights below (generally) FL260, and recommend sticking to the oceanic routings rather than overflying the land. All the up to date airspace warnings are available on Safeairspace.
• IFALPA also published a bulletin back in 2018 talking about procedures in the Mogadishu FIR.
• We shared a bunch of stuff on the general security threats and risks in Somalia here. Currently airports in Somalia are basically off limits though due big safety concerns.

The Mogadishu FIR provides a major routing region for southern Africa.

What is going on around Mexico City (or should we say ‘Mess-ico City) at the moment? Aircraft near misses, security and safety concerns, ATC errors…

IFALPA has issued a new safety bulletin for MMMX/Mexico City airport, highlighting several concerns.

• Aircraft have been landing with low fuel due to unexpected holding
• Diversions (due excessive holding) have increased
• There have been reports of EGPWS warnings
• And reports of confusion over STAR clearances

IATA report there have been at least 17 incidents of EGPWS warnings in the past year, and have written to the Mexican Airspace Navigation Services expressing concern –

“As you know, these alarms, without the quick action of the flight crew, can lead to a scenario of controlled flight into terrain, CFIT, considered by the industry to be one of the highest risk indicators in operational safety, and with the highest accident rate, as well as fatalities,” their letter said.

The situation seems to be compounded by the recent opening of nearby MMSM/Felipe Ángeles which is causing control challenges for ATC (more on that below).

The Mexico City Airports.

The near-miss incident at MMMX/Mexico City

On May 7, two Volaris aircraft had a near-miss, potentially due to controller error, when an aircraft was cleared to land runway 05L while another had been cleared to depart 05L. The last minute go-around was prompted by crew in another aircraft:

What’s being done about it?

The Mexican Government have launched an investigation, but have already commented that the incident was most likely caused by an ATC mistake, noting Mexico has a shortage of about 250 controllers, which means they work longer hours.

They have also said that the airport will reduce capacity by 25% over the next 12 months while the situation is sorted. This is reportedly due to start in August 2022, with flights transferring to Mexico City’s new MMSM/Felipe Ángeles airport as well as MMTO/Toluca airport.

The MMSM problem

MMSM/Felipe Ángeles (formally known as Santa Lucia) opened in March 2022. The government decided to upgrade an existing airbase following the scrapping of the Texcoco airport project.

MMSM boasts three runways, all with CAT I ILS approach facilities, and two 4,500m (14,764′) in length. The airport sits at an elevation of 7362′, and has an MSA of 15,700′ making it a relatively challenging spot (although MMMX/Mexico City is arguably more challenging).

The proximity to MMMX

Both airports serve Mexico City and are only about 40km apart meaning ATC have suddenly found themselves dealing with much more complex airspace, and still have that pesky terrain threat to contend with as well.

According to air traffic controllers cited in local press, the number of aborted landings has doubled at MMMX/Mexico City airport this year due to the redesign of airspace to allow MMMX and MMSM airports to operate simultaneously. Insufficient training and lower than standard phraseology are not helping the situation. You can read more on this here.

Overlaying the departures for MMSM with the arrivals for MMMX shows how messy the airspace now is.

Reports on MMSM

Sometimes folk write in with reports on airports. Someone did this about MMSM, and it wasn’t great.

We have paraphrased below –

“The airport is still not fully constructed from the sounds of it, having been opened speedily by the government. The airport is not ready to support international operations and to reach it from Mexico City involves a pretty bad 2 hour drive through so rough neighbourhoods. Be safe – don’t use this airport.”

Safety and security

Mexico does have some safety and security issues, and these do impact operations, particularly into MMMX/Mexico City international.

The airport comes out one of the highest for:

• Security incidences at the airport – from illegal cargo being loaded to passenger documents not adding up
• “Follow-home crime” (ie getting followed back to your hotel and then robbed)

Both airports lie near (or in) neighbourhoods with high crime rates, so crew security if on a layover should be taken seriously.

Mexico, overall

The FAA downgraded Mexico’s safety rating back in June 2021. Here’s our post on it if you want a read.

This downgrade doesn’t mean the FAA thinks the country isn’t safe to operate into. It is generally aimed more at the safety of the airlines registered there. But it is often based off the level of oversight, quality assurance and maintenance in the country.

Which means when you see a downgrade, you should have a little more caution because the infrastructure, training for the likes of ATC etc, or general regulatory oversight might not be up to scratch and this could have some safety impact for you.

What to do with all this info?

Well, avoiding going would be extreme, but being extra cautious when you do – especially with regards to looking out for other traffic, and paying special attention to your terrain clearance – might not be a bad call.

You might want to carry extra fuel as well to deal with those holding issues as well.

Please send us your reports.

We can only share on the info we receive from folk heading there so if you do, we would love a report from you (and will keep it anonymous if you want) – news@ops.group

Hi Members,

We had another busy OPSCHAT call this week!

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

Here’s a roundup of what we talked about:

The Big News.

• Mexico – Trouble reported at MMMX/Mexico City. New IFALPA Safety Bulletin: unexpected holding and low fuel events, EGPWS and aircraft proximity events. The new airport MMSM/Santa Lucia is causing extra challenges for ATC. Be aware of clearances using non-standard phraseologies, and pay extra attention to your terrain clearance.
• Africa – ASECNA airspace (the folk responsible for 6 major FIRs in Western and Central Africa) have ‘Free Route’ airspace available until at least October 2022. All info included in AICs. In other news ADS-B will be operational from May 19th (but it’s not mandatory yet – that’s coming next year).
• Somalia – ATC services are back in Somalia. They’re returning to Class A above FL245 across the entire HCSM/Mogadishu FIR, including the oceanic portion (starting from May 11) 3am-6pm LT. VHF, HF, CPDLC and SATCOM. Outside of these hours, it reverts back to Class G again.
• Europe – Spill over risks from the Ukraine/Russia conflict. EASA has published a report identifying no less than twenty risks (highlighted by operators and other authorities). Some interesting (unconsidered) ones as well, so it’s worth a read.

Unsolved Mysteries.

LRCS – Is my SATCOM approved in the NAT HLA? Here is the FAA info on it. Watch this space for a post tomorrow.

Radar vectors – who is legally responsible for terrain clearance?

The OPSQUIZ.

Mark’s back to host, and we have a second time champion this week! Congratulations! Here is a sample question from this week: Who publishes the eastbound NAT Tracks? Join us next time as we have great prizes on offer, all hand picked by the team!

As always, we’re 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!

ADS-B is quickly becoming mandated around the world – especially for IFR aircraft operating in busy controlled airspace at higher levels.

One of the major benefits of this is it provides ‘radar-like’ coverage where radar isn’t possible. They no longer have to wait many minutes for the next bit of info about where you are. Now aircraft can be tracked  “as good as” live.

But this means you are trackable by, well, anyone, and it’s got some wondering whether this is an issue?

‘B’ equals Big Benefits.

The ‘B’ stands for broadcast and this is what makes this system so great. Your aircraft continually broadcasts its precise GPS position, along with other info through a Mode S transponder, to any receiver listening.

The biggest benefit seen so far is probably over the North Atlantic where ADS-B allows controllers to “see you” a lot better. Not literally see you, but receive info on where you are with a lot of accuracy and most importantly in a decent time frame (a mere snippet of a second).

The benefit is it allows for reduced separation.

But the Problem is also the ‘B.’

Anyone with the right ears (including near airports) can listen in, and see who you are, where you are and what you’re doing. You can literally buy ADS-B receivers on Ebay for less than a hundred dollars.

Take a look at FlightRadar and select the ‘ADS-B’ visibility on and suddenly the map fills up with many, many aircraft.

ADS-B on.

But this isn’t the main concern.

An aircraft’s ADS-B broadcast also contains a unique ICAO aircraft address –  specific to every airplane and directly linked to the tail number. Which means folk can not only track an aircraft, but see a lot of information about it that the operator might not want any old Joe Bloggs seeing.

If someone knows your tail number, it is pretty easy to discover who owns the aircraft, and even the address of the person registered to it.

And this is the concern. ADS-B has created a privacy and potentially even a security issue.

How can we be less visible?

If you are flying in USA domestic airspace then the FAA have two systems you can sign up to.

First up LADD, which stands for ‘Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed’.

This came into place from the ‘2018 HR 254 FAA Reauthorization Bill: Section 566, Right to Privacy When Using Air Traffic Control System’ as a replacement for the old BARR (Block Aircraft Registry Request) system.

This scrubs your data out of the FAA SWIM feed – the place where commercial tracking providers get their info.

You have two levels of privacy you can opt for. One that removes it all so these sites get none of your data, and one that allows tracking providers to still track you (the airplane owner or operator might like this), but not publish the data to the general public.

Then there is PIA – the Privacy ICAO aircraft address program where you can request an ‘alternate, temporary ICAO aircraft address which will not be assigned to the owner in the Civil Aviation Registry’.

Member of LADD/PIA vs not.

Let’s Talk Hexes.

How does the PIA program work?

Well, your aircraft has a HEX code assigned to it – the unique 24-bit ICAO address. This is linked to the registration number which is registered in the Civil Aviation Registry, along with a bunch of private information about the aircraft and its owner.

So via the PIA system, you can get a different code assigned to your aircraft. One that isn’t linked to the tail number. This doesn’t stop your aircraft being tracked, but does mean not identifying data will be published because no-one can find it now.

These don’t solve the whole problem though.

There are several big limitations to know about.

Firstly, the FAA can only tell the commercial providers what to do with the data they receive from SWIM. Unfortunately, there are a lot of random trackers out there who have their own ways of tracking you, and the FAA has absolutely no power to stop them. Which is why getting the HEX changed is useful.

But, both LADD and PIA also only work in US domestic airspace which means as soon as you leave this and head into somewhere like the Deep Waters routes for example (which is Oceanic and managed but not owned by the US) then the FAA can no longer stipulate what is available and what isn’t.

The Atlantic, Pacific, off the East coast of the USA, and of course anywhere else in the world, still has the same problem.

Then there is the actual hassle of changing your ICAO HEX code. It has to be changed within a lot of your aircraft systems and involves a fairly lengthy maintenance process.

The NBAA are on it.

As usual, the very helpful NBAA are looking out for you already, and are working with the FAA to improve the timeframe it takes for your PIA request to be processed (currently within 60 days). And they are working to see if things like multiple codes could be an option.

There is also discussion as to how the programs can be extended into non-US domestic airspace.

So if you want to register, how can you?

All of it can be done via the FAA website.
File your LADD request here.
Head to this page for more info on the PIA.

If you want some more info?

The NBAA did an excellent podcast on this not so long ago which you can listen to here.

There is a good article on it here as well courtesy of ‘Plane and Pilot’.

Hi Members,

We had another busy OPSCHAT call this week, with the return of our weekly OPSQUIZ and a new champion.

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

Here’s a roundup of what we talked about:

• Poland – A mass ATC walkout has been avoided. Ops normal for now, but look out for July 10 which is the new deadline for an agreement.
• Europe – An alarming fake Notam has been doing the rounds alluding to big restrictions on foreign operators due to a fuel shortage. EASA has confirmed it’s fake. Also, look out for big military exercises happening in Italy, France and Finland.
• China – Entry rules are still super restrictive. Flights to Guangzhou and Beijing are being cancelled. Unknown impact for crew.
• Amsterdam – Ongoing disruptions at EHAM/Schiphol due to runway closures, strikes and staff shortages. Has anyone been there recently?

Unsolved mysteries

Crew quarantine in China: We’re still looking for answers. Is there anyway to avoid three weeks in a hotel? And if so, where?

Fuel prices on the US East Coast: They’re soaring, but we’re hearing rumours of great deals. Do you know where to find them?

Approach bans: Can ATC stop you from flying an approach due to the weather, or is that specific to the UK/Ireland?

Pringles: Bec’s cautionary tale.

OPSQUIZ

Mark’s back to host, and we have a new champion this week! Congratulations! Here is a sample question from this week: When receiving radar vectors, who is legally responsible for terrain clearance? Join us next time as we have great prizes on offer, all hand picked by the team!

As always, we’re 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!

There are a bunch of military exercises scheduled in Europe for May. Normally we would just pop out a few little alerts on them, but there are enough big ones that we thought a post combining them might also be handy.

Or you can go look on the Eurocontrol Operations Portal.

The Operations Portal hurts my eyes. Just tell me now.

Athena 2022

First up, starting with the biggest, is ‘Athena 2022’. You know its a big one because it is named after the Goddess of War…

This takes place in France between May 3rd and 13th, with the main exercises on the 10th and 11th.

It involves a lot of aircraft at all levels, and live firing which means some prohibited airspace in the affected FIRs – namely LFFF/Paris, LFRR/Brest and LFBB/Bordeaux. That said, the live firing is all scheduled to take place at night so the operational impact is only low to medium.

Read all about it here in the French AIP SUP 083/22.

Small area, but lots of levels

Mare Aperto

Another big military exercise, ‘Mare Aperto’ takes place in Italy from May 3-27. The LIRR/Roma, LIBB/Brindisi and DTTC/Tunis FIRs are the main ones to be impacted.

It is described as a ‘multinational large scale exercise, involving naval and air assets’ and is expected to have a low to medium operational impact.

Again, there are some forbidden areas which will be activated at different times to keep an eye out on normals or read all about it here in Italian AIP SUP S3/22.

Which means “offshore”. Whoever names these…

Swift Response 22

Less big, this takes place in Lithuania from May 3rd to 16th and is only expected to have a low impact.

Lithunia’s AIP SUP 004/2022 tells you all about it.

Ilmataktiika

Last but actually not least is ‘Ilmataktiika’ which I thought might mean something exciting, but actually just translates as ‘Air Tactics’ (quite obvious in hindsight).

This takes place in Finland daily between May 2-6. There are the usual danger zones, but they also have some big buffer zones in this one so it impacts quite a large chunk of the EFIN/Helsinki FIR.

AIP SUP 04/2022 from Finland has the full info.

They published some flight planning ideas for this one, which are useful if you’re going to be below FL110:

Lots of buffering on this one

What is CANPASS? Who can use it? How do you use it? Where do you use it?

Normally we write these things because the original ‘things’ with all the info are rubbish and unreadable. The CANPASS site is surprisingly good, but we’ll tell you it in a slightly different way and with some pictures.

So, what is it?

CANPASS is a Private Aircraft program designed to make clearing the Canadian border on Canada-US flights easier.

It is made for private aircraft (that means non-revenue) with no more than 15 people onboard. That includes the crew. 

The idea is it provides expedited clearances, at more airports, for anyone deemed low-risk and who is pre-screened. This makes life easier hopefully for everyone – customs folk and private aircraft flying between the US and Canada.

Which airports are signed up to it?

A fair few now. You can see the full list here.

You can turn up to Airports of Entry and any of the CANPASS approved airports at anytime basically.

Tell me more!

If you’re a CANPASS member you can land at any airport of entry in Canada, anytime it is open (even if the local customs and border folk aren’t in).

One big point – everyone onboard must be a CANPASS member or there are some other procedures you’ll need to follow.

So how do I join this elite sounding membership?

You have to be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada or the US, and have lived in one or the other for at least the last 3 years. There are some other criteria as well like not being a criminal, not having been caught trying to sneak in through immigration illegally ever.

You need to fill out an E672 form. You can find that form and a bunch more info on how to apply here.

How does it work?

Long story short, you call 1-888-CANPASS (1-888-226-7277) at least 2 hours before, and not more than 48 hours before to let them know when you’ll be arriving in Canada. 

The pilots need to do this – you’re responsible for yourself, the rest of the crew, and everyone onboard. You have to provide a whole bunch on info like what you have onboard, when you’re arriving, the people info, etc. Someone has set up a handy PDFable form here that you can use.

The pilot also should call up on landing before you open your doors in case they want you to wait and have an agent meet you. 

What if I’m not a member?

Well, then you need to enter the old fashioned way, and at a time when the local CIQ is open and available.

There is a slightly different program for Corporate aircraft. 

Remember we said on the private aircraft everyone needs to be a member? Well, if you’re a corporate aircraft (corporate but still private, so no charter operators) then you can get approval for up to four non-CANPASS registered travellers to be onboard.

This is still for private (non revenue) flights.

Any other things that might be handy to know?

We saw a question on non-scheduled international licences the other day. So here is the info on that.

First up, this isn’t anything to do with CANPASS. A non-scheduled international license means you can operate a public air charter service between your country and Canada (not around Canada though. Land and leave again. No internal airport hopping).

If you want this, and you aren’t Canadian, then you have to have all the documents you’d expect in your home country (where you’re registered) and then go read the Application Guide here, which also have all the legal mumbo jumbo you need to know, and apply.

It takes about 7 days to get your licence. This is applicable to revenue flights. CANPASS is for private non-revenue flights.

We’ve not done it ourselves…

So if you’ve seen anything odd, experienced anything unusual, or just have something to share on it please do at news@ops.group

Update – April 29:

Poland’s air navigation agency PANSA issued a statement late on Apr 28 confirming that the dispute with controllers has been resolved (at least for now), averting mass flight cancellations that had been expected from May 1.

“The management of the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency and the representatives of the Air Traffic Controllers Trade Union have signed an agreement which will ensure the continuity of air traffic service in Poland and passengers will carry out their trips as planned. The agreement is valid until July 10 this year. During this time, the parties will conduct dialogue in order to work out the final shape of the cooperation.” – PANSA.

The majority of air traffic controllers were threatening to quit by May 1 after a long dispute over salary and working conditions. The new agreement basically means that controllers will keep working until at least July 10, giving them more time to hash out a deal with PANSA.

🔴Dear Passengers, we would like to inform you that due to the signing of an agreement between the PANSA and the ATC Trade Union, after May 1st, flights will not be canceled due to staff shortages among air traffic controllers. #ChopinInfo #IMPORTANT #ImportantForPassenger

— Chopin Airport, WAW (@ChopinAirport) April 28, 2022

Update – April 26:

Disruption to flights could start on May 1 – the day after the end of the notice period for controllers who chose to quit rather than accept the new deal they say threatens safety. If they don’t reach a new agreement preventing the walkout, here’s the likely impact to flight ops from May 1: 

• Around 300 flights crossing Polish airspace will need to be controlled by other sectors. It isn’t clear yet how this will be handled, but the Polish CAA issued an announcement saying “flights over Poland should proceed without sudden disruption”. In other words, don’t expect to get a sudden massive detour. Despite the staff shortages, for the time being the Polish CAA and Eurocontrol are still not planning to launch the ‘massive cancellation procedure’ for flights transiting Polish airspace (see below for more details on that).
• EPWA/Warsaw Chopin and EPMO/Warsaw Modlin will both operate restricted hours – 0930-1700 local time only, due to controller shortages. So don’t expect to use them outside these hours, and expect to see some Notams advising against their availability for alternates.

Original Story – April 21:

The Current State of Polish Airspace

Poland has some 600+ air traffic controllers, around 216 of which work the ‘Warsaw Approach Area’ which is some very busy airspace around EPWA/Warsaw International and the region above it.

If you’ve routed across Europe, to and from Russia in particular, then chances are you’ve used Polish high level airspace because it provides a major routing region due to the (historic) cautions and prohibitions in Ukrainian airspace.

With the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the already busy airspace is now even busier with NATO and military aircraft utilising it due the proximity to Ukraine, and with flights utilising Polish high level airspace with the closure of many surrounding airspaces.

Eurocontrol Concerns

Eurocontrol have a “live” map showing the current network situation for the region, and southern and south east Poland regularly show as having high delays. The main reasons for these are ATC staffing (causing 26% of the delays) and ATC capacity (causing 15% of the delays).

Eurocontrol Network Status Map

With a concern that 84% of ATC in the Warsaw control area might not be available come May 1st – a 30% reduction in total ATC staff numbers – Eurocontrol has published a plan which sees the cancellation of all connections to and from Poland.

Eurocontrol’s ‘Nothing Over Poland’ plan.

The Potential Impact

Currently around 1,850 flights a day are forecast for the summer season. During peak hours, this requires 8 ATC sectors to be running, while during quiet night hours only 1 is required. If only 1 of the 8 sectors is staffed, at peak times this will mean nearly 1000 flights will require redirection through neighbouring airspace. With only 4 sectors open, 500 flights a day will have to re-route.

The Warsaw FIR covers the airspace across Poland as well as part of the Baltic Sea. If flights are redirected, it may mean significant extra pressure on the ATC centres in Karlsruhe, Prague, Malmö, Bratislava and Vilnius.

The main Polish airports may also experience staffing problems, leading to capacity issues, particularly at EPWA/Warsaw International. This may lead to flight cancellations at the airport, as well as an impact on availability as en-route alternates.

What are the Unions saying?

Well, you can watch the video here yourself. This is of course representing the ATC side of the conflict. What does stand out though is the potential impact on safety if mass layoffs do occur. 

When similar staffing shortages happened in 2020, there was an increase in incidents from 7 to 173.

The union also published this press release warning Polish ATC soon to be unmanned.

What is happening now?

A major conference is taking place to try and resolve the issues. This includes ‘Emergency Plan PA 8B’ – a “plan in the event of a threat to operational continuity”.

A full breakdown of current discussions was published by a Polish news site (which you can read if you have a translator on your computer, we use Chrome).

Have we seen this before?

Albanian ATC went on strike back in 2021, and it resulted in the “farming out” of controllers. We wrote about it here because the practice is a big safety concern.

“Why? Because safe Air Traffic Control is predicated on deeply-learned local familiarity with the airspace, the terrain, the boundaries, and above all, how the traffic flows.”

PANSA have acknowledged that it is not possible to simply bring other controllers in because of the risks involved in using non-regional trained ATC. However, military control of airspace might be required.

What do we think?

Talks are underway and hopefully the situation is resolved before May 1st.

Eurocontrol provide the most up to date information on airspace availability and should be monitored closely over the next few days.

We aren’t talking about a bad rash, or the trendiest new club in town… We’re talking about those spots at airports where you’re most likely to mess up and get in the way of another aircraft.

Why is this a hot topic?

The FAA are standardising their symbology so we thought it would be worth sharing with any folk based in the US who haven’t spotted it yet, and for anyone who flies into the US for that matter, just to make sure no-one misses a Hot Spot warning.

What is a Hot Spot?

It is a location on an ‘airport movement area’ which has a history of incursions, collisions and confusion. Or which has the potential for all the aforementioned mess. Basically, anywhere there is a risk of an aircraft going the wrong way or get in another aircraft’s way.

What do these spots currently look like?

They look like a really confusing bit of taxiway, often near a runway…

On the charts this might be shown with a circle, a square, an ellipse, a rectangle, an octagon, even an octopus if the chart maker so fancied. There is no standard shape for marking these which means if you aren’t familiar with an airport (or its chart) then you might not notice the spot to watch out for.

What will they look like going forward?

From May 19 2022 they will become only a circle or an ellipse, with the details in a little rectangle linked to it.

Here is a picture of the before and after:

The chart of today (before)

The New of tomorrow (May)! Circles and Ellipses only

These are in line with the symbology that the likes of LIDO and Jeppesen already use.

But also…

The FAA will be issuing Arrival Alert Notices (AAN) at airports which have a particularly bad history of misalignment risk. 

This is all to do with the runways and the risk of aligning the wrong one (or not one for that matter). The new symbology will show ‘wrong surface’ hotspots in ellipses.

Which airports have this problem?

Here’s a list of the known baddies:

• KIDA/Idaho Falls
• KRNO/Reno
• KRHV/Reid-Hillview
• KPSP/Palm Springs
• KTUS/Tucson
• KHNL/.Honolulu
• KFCM/Flying Cloud
• KTKI/Dallas McKinney
• KPDK/Peach Tree DeKalb
• KROC/Rochester

Why isn’t KSFO/San Francisco on this list? Who knows. Actually, we do – it is because these occurs most often with GA aircraft, so just because there isn’t an AAN, don’t assume there isn’t still some risk if there are parallel runways, taxiways, or even nearby airports with similar orientation. These are generally noted on the charts in text format anyway.

Read about it direct from the FAA

You can find the link to their page on it here.

There are also links to PDF documents containing lists and details on all the hotspots at the major airports. Like these for the Northeast US states.

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!

A second international airport has officially opened in Nepal. Here is the lowdown on it.

Introduce us.

It is called VNBW/Gautam Buddha, and it is located in Bhairahawa, approximately 250km west of VNKT/Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu.

The airport was officially inaugurated on April 22, 2022 but won’t see any international flights until May 16. It isn’t entirely new – an old airport was located here, and the original runway now serves as a taxiway.

The new airport lies on the border with India.

What’s the lowdown on it?

The airport has a 9834′ (3000m) runway with a RNP approach to 10 and 28, and a VOR approach to runway 10 as well.

You’re going to want to watch out for the high terrain which lies to the north of the airport. The MSA is 9600′ in the northerly sector, and 7000′ for the rest, all of which makes for some altitude restrictions on the way in and out.

The airport itself is relatively small – just a few stands of the international apron and a few on the domestic apron.

The airport is RFF 5.

It isn’t a 24 hour airport though. The tower is only operational daily 0600-1845 local time (0015-1300z) and the general operational hours are Sunday-Thursday 1000-1700 local, 1000-1600 Wednesday and Friday 1000-1500.

Watch out for some serious terrain nearby.

Who can we talk to there?

We have a few contact details for you. Starting with the general airport info:

• Telephone: +977 71 507 110
• Email: gautambuddha_cao@caanepal.org.np
• Tower: 122.5
• AFTN: VNBWYDYX

There is an agent based in Singapore who can offer some support if you want to operate in:

• Telephone: +65 6592 7623
• Email: ops@aerogon.aero

Fuel is expected to be suppled by AEG, and they only have Jet A1.

Want some more info?

The AIP section for the aerodrome can be found here. It’s valid today, but might not be tomorrow so don’t use for operational purposes.

And they are building more…

Pokhara International Airport is expected to open later in 2022, offering connections to neighbouring countries whilst Nijgadh International Airport is expected to open sometime in 2025.

Cornwall in the UK is getting its very own rocket launch site, which is due to go live sometime in the not to distant future. June in fact.

 Here’s what you might need to know about it when it does.

First up, why Cornwall?

Actually, we don’t really know the answer to that. The UK just wanted to get back into the space game and picked Newquay.

It is going to be used by Virgin – something they laid out in their “Virgin Orbit Statement of Need” which you can read in its entirety here should you wish too.

What’s it look like?

Well, it looks like an orbital rocket strapped under the wing of a Boeing 747-400, which takes off from said site in Cornwall and flies out to a drop point somewhere over the ocean.

You might know of ‘Spaceport Cornwall’ by its other name, which is EGHQ/Newquay airport. The active civilian airport is becoming a “horizontal” launch site. Which basically means the rocket takes-off strapped to a Boeing 747.

The rocket launching “platform”.

The bit we are more interested in.

The bit we are possibly more interested in, international ops impact-wise is the drop site. This is located approximately 135nm west of Spaceport Cornwall (Newquay airport), and is about 73nm x 73nm. The drop site is where the B747, at 35,000′ or so, releases its space bound load. 

In order to keep it all safe and to make sure no-one else is in the way during rocket drop, there will be temporary danger areas established, probably active for around an hour to enable the 747 to drop the rocket safely.

The full danger area is extended depending on various factors on the day to allow for the rocket movement and debris fall. The overall area is expected to be around 310nm x 35nm in size, and the debris falling back down danger area will probably be about 230nm x 86nm.

It’s a lot of random numbers – basically, check Notams as they will advise of the specific areas for each launch.

Does anyone operate around the affected areas?

Yes, sometimes. These areas actually have a bit of an impact on Shanwick OCA and on Shannon, Scottish and Reykjavik FIRs to the north, and Lisboa FIR and Santa Maria OCA to the south. 

When launches are taking place Notams will of course be issued advising of the relevant danger areas, size, altitude and timings.

Right now, we are waiting for AIRAC 2207 to come out in July which will have more info on the launches and airspace changes.

The world is steadily emerging from the pandemic, and the Northern Hemisphere has arguably been leading the charge.

South-East Asia on the other hand has been lagging behind. The region’s countries have resisted joining the world’s ‘new normal’, instead relying on strict ‘zero-covid’ strategies that kept foreigners out, citizens in hotel quarantine, and crews cooped up in hotels. Until now.

In recent weeks and months, we have seen several major announcements from these countries that at last, they are willing to re-join the rest of the world – and that’s good news for the industry.

Here’s a rundown of the biggest changes happening right now.

Singapore

The News

From April 1, fully vaccinated foreigners (from anywhere) are once again be able enter the city-state without quarantine.

The existing ‘Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL)’ scheme has been scrapped. For operators this means that passenger flights flying into the Lion City will no longer need approval to operate under strict VTL protocols.

Passenger Rules

For fully vaccinated passengers, click here.

For non-vaccinated passengers, click here. *Special approval is required, and in most cases non-vaccinated foreigners will not be allowed. Seven days of self-quarantine also applies.

Crew Rules

There are new rules for crew – one set for vaccinated crew (no restrictions on movement), and another set for unvaccinated crew (you have to stay in one of three approved hotels, and you’re confined to your room!).

But watch out for one important stipulation: if any crew are unvaccinated, ALL of you have to follow the unvaccinated set of rules.

Check new CAAS Circular 18/2022 Rev 2 for full details.

Malaysia

The News

It’s also good. From April 1, the country completely reopened to fully vaccinated passengers with no quarantine. Foreigners also no longer need to seek approval before travelling.

Passenger Rules

They’re complicated. And depend on vaccination status (they also take into account whether you have received a booster dose).

You can find that information here, but here’s a picture, because pictures are always better:

Crew Rules

Crew can only enter Malaysia through WMSA/Subang, WMKK/Kuala Lumpur or WMKL/Langkawi airports.

In all cases they require a PCR test that is less than 72 hours old at time of arrival. Subang seems to be the best option, with no quarantine or maximum stay. In Kuala Lumpur crew can only stay for 24 hours and must isolate in the hotel, while in Langkawi crew can stay for 72 hours and don’t have to isolate if they follow the same rules as tourists.

Indonesia

What’s the news?

They’ve dropped quarantine for both passengers and crew throughout the entire country. This follows a successful trial on the holiday island of Bali.

Passenger Rules

They’ll need a PCR test taken within 48 hours before departure for Indonesia. Keep in mind this can be a tight turn around for busy labs – the global standard seems to be 72 hours.

Crew Rules

You’ll need a certificate or card proving you are fully vaccinated, along with a PCR test. The rules are a little easier for crew – you have 72 hours to get that done before you leave for Indonesia. There will also be a travel declaration to fill out, but you’ll be free to leave the hotel and enjoy your layover.

Vietnam

What’s the news?

Borders are now open to all foreigners, with no quarantine, as long as they hold a valid visa. Watch out for this gotcha though: the only visas available on arrival are currently for business travellers (not tourists). Everyone else will need to apply beforehand online. There’s a long list of countries that this applies to (including the US, Canada and UK) which you can access here. There are also visa exemptions available for select countries, see the image below.

Countries with visa exemptions in Vietnam, all other travellers require a visa.

Passenger Rules

They’ll need to get tested first, and there’s two options. A PCR test that is less than 72 hours old, or a rapid antigen test that is less than 24 hours old – both at time of departure for Vietnam. There’s an opt clause too, if they can’t provide proof of a test they can still travel but will need to get tested within 24 hours of touching down.

Crew Rules

Local agents advise that all the same requirements apply to crew as for passengers (including a valid visa or exemption) – that is if you want to enter the country.

Japan

What’s the news?

Ok, so not really South-East-Asia but we thought we’d include it anyway – given that Japan lifted its entry ban on foreigners from over a hundred countries on April 8 (including the US and UK). One big gotcha though – tourists will still have to wait. Pax will need to be entering for business, study or some other essential reason.

Passenger Rules

Depending on their vaccination status, where they are travelling from, and whether they are identified as a close contact of a positive case, they may be subject to up to 7 full days of quarantine and/or self-isolation on arrival.

For Japan’s horribly complex entry rules in their official format, click here.

Crew Rules

The crew rules remain a bit of a mystery. We’ve had some reports from crew saying they were unable to apply for any of the visas available to passengers (business, study, etc).

We haven’t seen any published rule changes here from how it worked before – crew can enter on a ‘shore pass’ arranged through their handler, but must self-isolate in the hotel for 7 days or until departure.

Opsgroup members have reported the following: “The guidance we received from our company is that crew members must stay in their rooms but can leave the hotel for exercise and to obtain food to bring back to eat in the room. No dining out, no shopping for anything other than food to eat in your room. We enter on a shore pass. For quarantine, we fill out two forms that ask about where we have been in the world and if we are feeling healthy, where we are staying, and if we have transportation (another quarantine requirement is that we don’t use public transportation). We also sign a pledge that we are going to follow the rules. They then give us a quarantine card to go with our shore pass. When we arrive for our return trip, we initial a paper saying that we followed the rules.”

If you’re considering a trip to Japan, try contacting a local handler (iajops@interavia.co.jp and fltops@aeroworks.jp are decent options) and check if there’s any update to these rules – especially those for crew (and please let us know what you find out!)

A note on Thailand.

Borders have been open to foreigners for a while now via three main entry schemes:

• Test and Go (a quarantine free option)
• Sandbox (restricted movement)
• Alternative Quarantine Scheme (quarantine reduced to five days from April 1).

The main news is that in all cases the requirement for passengers to get tested before arriving has been scrapped from April 1. Crew can make use of the same schemes and enter under the same conditions as pax.

For more info on passenger entry rules, check out the official page here, as well as the handy checklist document put together by local handling agent Asia Flight Services (eff Apr 6).

Still closed for business.

Not all of South East Asia is open to foreigners yet, watch out for these ones:

Myanmar – International passenger flights are still not allowed to land. Visas are not currently being issued for foreigners.

Brunei – Entry is still severely restricted. Any foreigner needs approval first and non-essential travel is off limits.

Laos – Special permission is still required for foreigners, and tourism is a no-go.

Unsure? Ask the team.

Entry rules change quickly and can be frustratingly confusing to get your head around. If there is a specific country you are looking for info on, try the #questions channel in Slack, or reach out to us at team@ops.group and we’ll do our best to help you find the answers you’re looking for.

You may have heard the news. Long story short, KHTO/East Hampton airport is being de-activated as a public use airport, and then re-opened as private use only. The US FAA have given the plans a green light. A raft of new rules will come into effect on May 19 that will heavily affect how commercial operators can use the airport.

Here’s a rundown of what we know.

Wait, where?

KHTO is found 90nm-ish northeast of the Big Apple, towards the end of Long Island. The airport itself is well equipped, with two runways, jet fuel and an FBO.

The most common commercial traffic connects passengers with New York City.

KHTO/East Hampton Airport

It will close, and then re-open.

In January, East Hampton itself voted unanimously to convert the airport to private use only.

It’s going to close on May 17 for two days, and then re-open on May 19 subject to local control under the FAA’s ‘prior permission framework.’ Or in other words, there will be new (very) restrictive rules for commercial operators who want to fly there. Its ICAO identifier will change to KJPX on reopening.

Why though?

Simply put – noise. There have been years of complaints from residents, and even calls to close the airport completely.

So special flight procedures are being introduced to turn the volume down on ops there. Disclaimer alert: these are still subject to change until the official re-opening date.

How will the new rules work?

Prior Permission – All individual tail numbers will need specific approval from the airport authority first. Any commercial operator will also be restricted to only one return flight each day.

Noise Curfew – The airport will have new operating hours: 08:00 – 20:00 LT (Mon – Thurs), and 09:00 – 19:00LT (Fri – Sun). Outside of these times there will be no exceptions. They’re not mucking around either – any rule breakers will be banned from using the airport.

Noise Abatement – This will be introduced on all runways for both departures and arrivals, and at all times.

Weight Restriction – Aircraft with a MTOW of over 50,000lbs (22,679kg) won’t be allowed. Which rules out most Gulfstream and Global series aircraft.

New Instrument Approaches – Special IFR ‘M’ procedures will be put in place that operators will need specific permission to use. An FAA-approved third party is busy designing these, and they are expected to be published in time for the reopening on May 19. They won’t be publicly available via normal FAA databases though – you’ll need to ask first, but the good news it won’t cost anything. Applications need to be submitted the relevant FAA Flight Standards District Office.

The existing RNAV-Z approaches will be replaced for both Runway 10 and 28, but with fairly few changes other than minor design adjustments. Just don’t try and use the old ones.

What about blast off? – There will be no changes, existing rules will stay in place along with visibility and ceiling minima.

Where else can I go?

KFOK/Westhampton Beach is a good option at only 20nm away. Instrument approaches available, and the longest runway is 9000′ (2,743m).

For handling we recommend you contact Sheltair Aviation. You can reach them via fokcsr1@sheltairaviation.com.

Another options is KMTP/Montauk (but be aware of these gotchas: there’s no weather reporting, and no jet fuel available).

Two alternatives for East Hampton.

I still have questions, who can I call?

The East Hampton Airport manager, Jim Brundige on Brundige@EHamptonny.gov, or via +1 631 537 1130 ext. 5.

Please keep the team updated.

If you operate into KHTO under the new rules, we’d love to hear from you. There’s a couple of ways to get in touch – either by filing a spy report via Airport Spy, or by contacting the team directly on team@ops.group.

Hi Members,

We had another busy OPSCHAT call this week, along with our new quiz!

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

Here’s what we talked about:

• USA – Fuel prices are on the up. We talked about why, and what this means for ops. The CDC mask mandate – they extended it, and then stopped it. We try and make sense of things.
• Europe – There are some big aviation events coming up. Aero 2022 and EBACE. Get your parking spots booked soon!
• Peru – There was a major ATC strike last week. For now it’s back to ops normal, but keep an eye on contingency procedures – you may need them.
• Pacific – More Russian rocket firings on April 27. A slightly confusing picture, but basically two possible spots where the debris could fall, the PACOTS aren’t affected.
• Bermuda – It will be downgrading its RFF until July. Does anyone have info on when this becomes an issue? 

Unsolved Mysteries

The EASA Environmental Portal. Yep. Still a bit of a mystery. Should you hear back when you’ve submitted your info? Share your ordeal registering if it can help others.

MMEL to MEL – Has the UK changed the rule since leaving EASA? If you’re operating somewhere with an MMEL, have your LOA (O95) with all your Ms and Os in order and you should be ok.

New Mysteries

GMMX/Marrakech – has anyone been recently?

Recovery documentation after catching Covid – how can I get back to the US?

OPSQUIZ

Congrats to this week’s winner! We have a whole load of new prizes to choose from (we promise they’re cool!). Tune in next week for the next OPSQUIZ.

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!

The FAA are changing up some flight planning codes, and they’ve published their plans in a handy little guide entitled ‘Filing for advanced capabilities using the ICAO flight plan (FPL)’.

We thought we’d take a look at what these new things coming into the FAA flight plan filing code world might be. When we say take a look, we mean literally type up the presentation and add some thoughts of your own.

This just applies to FAA flight plans, right?

Yes. No. Maybe…

We think it is a yes because the US is implementing a lot of RNP1 SIDs and STARs (basically stuff that requires advanced Nav capabilities) and for reasons we’ll mention below, they need new codes.

You can expect to see a load of new items which relate to NAV/ and also DAT/, SUR/ and COM/. ICAO has “frozen” Items 10 and 18 for PBN/ unless it is a safety critical thing.

What’s more, in the FAA presentation there is a lot of talk about the STAYY SID into KSNA/Orange County (guessing because it will be the first RNP 1 SID published?). So, from Septemberish to Novemberish, if you’re flying there and are planning on flying this approach then you’ll need to be filing these.

So it’s all about RNP1?

Mostly, yes. RNP 1 SIDs and STARs require Radius to Fix (RF) capability. There is some mention of RNP2, which is used in the UK and Australia. The FAA are working with them to clarify this because there are actually two different RNP2 standards so it is currently a bit ambiguous.

What are these codes?

We are seeing a ‘Z’ which will go into Item 10a and a Z1 which will go into NAV/

What else?

Here is a table. Lots of new letters with a 1 after them (or a 2) confirming your various RNP capabilities.

What do we use at the moment?

Let’s take a quick jump back and talk about ‘Relevant Flight Plan Fields’.

If you’ve ever filed a flight plan, you are probably fairly familiar with Item 10 – Equipment and Capability (with 10a for your Nav, Comms and Approach Aids and 10b for your Surveillence). Then there is Item 18 – Other Information, and this is where you enter your PBN, NAV, DAT, SUR and COM stuff.

So, depending on the type of routing or what-have-you that you plan on doing, you need to add info in item 10 and item 18 to confirm you’re capable of doing it.

Here is a handy table for you. Basically, if the plan is to fly a ’T-Route’ for example, then your airplane needs to be capable of RNAV 2, which means you’ll want to whack a ‘GR’ into Item 10a and a ‘C2’ into Item 18.

Current AIM instructions

GR of course means GNSS and R means PBN approved. C2 means RNAV 2 GNSS specifications.

If any of this is totally new to you…

Maybe take a read of FAA Appendix A. FAA Form 7233-4 ‘International Flight Plan’ which covers all the boxes and their respective what’s and why’s.

PBN/ is limited.

Something else mentioned in the presentation is the limited number of PBN/ entries that you can make on your flight plan. This limit means the automation which “reads” your plan might make some assumptions. For example, if you enter a D1, D2, D4, O1 or O2 code, it is going to assume you are RNAV 2 capable.

There are also certain PBN/descriptions which don’t align with any OpSpec authorisations.

C3, D3, O3 – DME/DME is not adequate for RNAV 2, RNAV 1, RNP 1 and O4– DME/DME/IRU alone is not adequate for RNP 1.

All of which means changes are needed!

A reminder on using NAV/RNV to suppress a PBN segment

The automation (and this is a direct quote from the presentation) ‘bases route eligibility on PBN information but overrides that with the NAV/ information when provided’.

Right now, putting RNV means RNAV, so if you file NAV/RNV the automation won’t think you’re eligible for an RNP routing. In fact, 50% of flight plans which include RNP1 capability are only seen as RNAV 1 eligible. If this has happened to you, stop putting RNV in the NAV/ string.

The main point here is that the majority of users should be using PBN/ only.

There is more.

There is more, but it might be easier to read it in the FAA presentation itself. 

When all the FAA documents are changed and updated to include the new stuff, then this is what to look out for:

• New NAV/ descriptors are coming in, including info on how to file them
• Documentation on the new descriptors they’ve come up with will be there
• Instructions on how to file RNP routes, including ones which require RF capability will be included
• Instructions on how to use NAV/RNV to exclude PBN routes on a single segment will be removed (but there will be a web page and FAA contact info if you still need help).

Remember the 100ml rule? The one that’s been there since 2006, causing endless hassles at security. Well, its changing!

Why does that matter for air crew?

Good question. Is this really an operational issue to talk about? We are ‘Opsgroup’ not ‘VaguelyInterestingInfogroup’ after all…

Well, the rule is here for crew too and if you’ve ever operated through a UK airport you will know they can take it very seriously indeed. I once had my healthy hummus lunch taken from me because hummus is slightly more liquid than solid.

So, the change will mean:

• An easier time going through security for Air Crew as well as passengers
• Possibly some changes on what you can stock up on during layovers (if you don’t check your crew bags)
• The option to have better coffee than what you might get onboard
• General security changes

No more of this!

Let’s take a quick look at the security side of things.

Passengers and crew will be able to carry whatever liquids they require, so long as they fit in their hand luggage. Remember though, if you are transiting another airport, their liquid limits will still apply.

There are a few liquidy products worth looking out for as well. The top two we are aware of are peanut butter and Frankfurter sausages in jar available in EDDF/Frankfurt airport duty free.

Why?

Well, the liquid explosive scanning machines work off detecting a range of chemical elements, and also look at density. Fun fact – the molecular makeup of peanut butter is actually very similar to nitroglycerin, while the juicy sausagey water in frankfurter jars is apparently of a density that some scanners struggle with.

Then there are actual banned substances.

Possibly more important to remember – these are, obviously, still banned. There is no change to the dangerous goods restrictions.

Toxic, flammable, infectious, over 70% alcohol, paint etc is all still not allowed.

Toxic, flammable, infectious stuff… still banned!

Shannon Airport

EINN/Shannon is of course a gateway airport for the USA. The US Pre-clearance status means you can undergo all immigrations, customs and agriculture inspections here.

Which is why we thought this was worth mentioning because it will be a nice change for a lot of folk heading through, but those agriculture restrictions remain in place.

All travelers entering the United States are required to declare anything with meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, soil, animals, as well as plant and animal products – including soup or soup products.

Check out the USA CBP website for more info. There is quite a handy “what can I bring in for my own personal guzzling purposes” list here, published by them.

Where else are the scanners going to be?

Well, the UK is planning to have them installed in all their international airports by December 2022.

TSA in the USA is also planning on having over 1000 of them active for Summer 2022. So watch this space.

From Laos to Lima there is a growing fuel shortage and while the shortages (and fuel price hikes) have mainly been impacting road users, the problem is beginning to be felt in aviation as well.

So we figured we’d take a look at the situation.

What’s causing it?

The Ukraine Russia conflict.

Russia is the third largest supplier of oil behind the USA and Saudi Arabia, supplying around 12% of the world’s needs.

The conflict is seeing oil prices zoom up, recently hitting $139 a barrel (a 14 year high). Spot prices in New York Harbour went over $7.30 a gallon which is double what it normally would be this time of year.

But why is the USA short?

Good question.

The USA gets its fuel from lots of places, predominantly domestically and from across the border in Canada and Mexico. What you might not realise though is it also sources almost 10% of its supply from Russia. It’s a big number when you consider 329 million people live in the US. Take into account that Europe is also feeling the pinch of this ‘tightening global energy market’, ‘ it’s no wonder prices are on the charge, and supply running thin.

A particularly uninspiring graph

Back in 2021…

Back in 2021 the USA suffered fuel shortages at a bunch of airports. This was actually due to a bunch of reasons:

• There weren’t enough truckers to drive it around
• The pipelines had all been shifted during covid and hadn’t been shifted back again
• There was a cyber attack on one of the main pipelines disrupting the supply
• Some supplies were diverted away from leisure airports and to airports where wildfire fighting aircraft needed it
• Leisure routes were getting busier as Covid restrictions loosened

Fast forward to 2022 and while flying levels are around 95% of the peak 2019 levels, fuel production is still only around 80%. So there is, simply, a shortage.

Let’s talk about the East Coast.

The East Coast has been particularly hard hit for two reasons:

• One, because the California refineries suffered some technology issues earlier in 2022 and couldn’t make as much,
• Two, because they receive their supply mostly from Texas and also Europe – and Europe ain’t sending much at the mo.
  • Distallite PADD 1 imports (the stuff a quick google search showed me is used for Kerosene – Jet fuel) is down 60%.

Where it comes from

What are we seeing, where?

• Smaller, regional airports are reporting shortages
• Leisure routes are being cancelled due rising costs
• International shortages/rising costs leading to security situations
• Uncertainty as to ongoing availability
• And of course, the rising costs globally…

In the USA

We have seen reports for several spots across the USA, and expect to see more particularly for the east coast airports.

• KEYW/Key West has reported rising costs
• KAUS/Austin has seen surge in passenger number and operators were asked to tanker where possible for at least the next few weeks.
• KSDL/Scottsdale had a report from member of fuel shortages. One FBO confirmed their supply was ok, but other FBOs were running low.

If you have visited an airport recently which has fuel supply problems, or where costs are rising significantly, please let us know.

Elsewhere in the world

Nigeria and Russia have both had reports of aviation fuel shortages. The other countries on the list are seeing fuel shortages and rising costs leading to protests and security situations, however whether there is an impact on aviation fuel supplies is currently unknown.

• Russia started to see fuel shortages around the start of March.

Whilst Russia are a major oil producer, much of their supply may be getting redirected for military operations. One major operator cancelled flights to UUDD/Moscow due being unable to uplift. With the current situation and lack of operators heading in, it is hard to get any clear picture of the situation though.

• Nigeria have a big, ongoing shortage.

Although initially due to a batch of poor quality fuel, the situation has been growing as the costs of buying in more keep rising. This has been impacting domestic and some Interational airlines for over a month now. We wrote about it here.

• Laos have a nationwide shortage but reports are not clear as to whether this impact aviation fuel as well.
• Peru have seen protests and strikes in the transportation sector over rising fuel prices. There are no reports of this impacting aviation yet.
• Sri Lanka has also been seeing an increase in protests over rising economic issues including fuel shortages. An FBO at VCBI/Colombo-Bandaranaike informed us that jet fuel supplies are good.
• Pakistan are seeing rising demand, but are struggling to buy in fuel from their suppliers as Europe call in additional supply.
• DRC has a shortage in ground transport fuel. No impact reported on aviation fuel, but significant security issues due protests.
• Sierra Leone have a notam advising Jet A1 only available for scheduled flights at GFLL/Freetown until at least April 20.

Fuel Shortage Map (12/4/2022)

What to do about it?

• Keep an eye on notams
• Confirm availability with agents prior to heading in
• Consider signing up to services such as AvHopper that can keep updated on fuel costs and availability
• Tanker where possible to maximise cost efficiency
• When planning alternates consider fuel availability
• Think about crew security on the ground if laying over, and crew transport issues
• Share it if you operate to an airport or region and experience fuel issues.

You can let us know about it on team@ops.group and we will post an alert so others know about it as well.

Hi Members,

It was another busy OPSCHAT call this week – with a fun new addition.

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

Here’s a quick summary of what we talked about:

• Russia – SITA are cancelling their VHF services from April 11. So no more SITA run VHF/VDL or datalink. There was also an air prox event between a civilian airliner and military fighter near the Latvian border – spill over effects from the conflict in Ukraine are still a big issue!
• Europe –  Strikes and staff shortages. The perfect post-Covid storm. Suddenly the industry isn’t quite ready for Easter, so now it’s one big mess. UK fuel shortages hopefully resolving by end of the week. GPS jamming, yep still an issue, we’ve written a handy Opsicle about it you can find here.
• Japan – It’s opening to rest of world, but not for tourists yet. Crew entry rules are causing confusion. No clear answer on this yet. If anyone has news, please share it with us.
• USA – Big closures at KASE/Aspen and KJAC/Jackson Hole. Russian military exercise has been affecting NOPAC routes in the Anchorage FIR. Alphabet Soup – the FAA are changing up their flight planning codes to cover new PBN RNP1 NAV advanced capability stuff. Watch this space for an update on it.
• And something for fun. Opschats now have a quiz involved! And there are prizes to be won (good prizes, exciting prizes, prizes worth winning. Well, we think so.) All ops related questions of course.

Congratulations to our first ever winner!

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!