KZWY/New York Oceanic FIR last month published a NOTAM requiring Flight Plans to be submitted with MACH crusing number, rather than TAS in Field 15A for the flight plan. So far, most operators are not doing this. But you should!

This includes flight departing TXKF/Bermuda.

A0178/18 – ALL ACFT ENTERING THE NEW YORK OCEANIC FIR (KZWY), INCLUDING THOSE DEPARTING BERMUDA (TXKF) , MUST FILE A MACH NUMBER INSTEAD OF A SPEED OF KNOTS IN THE EXPECTED CRUISE SPEED FIELD (FIELD 15A) OF THEIR FPL. 03 MAY 17:08 2018 UNTIL 31 MAR 23:59 2019. CREATED: 03 MAY 17:09 2018

Reports are that compliance so far has been low.

So why do it?

NY ARTCC tell us:

This minor adjustment enables the ATC computer system to effectively probe flight plans and proactively offer more favorable routes and/or reroutes.

Help ATC out! Thank you.

Africa has inched closer to achieving a broad Upper Area FIR  following the move by 19 regional states to adopt an airspace agreement at the end of May.

Ministers of Justice and the Attorney Generals from Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) adopted the legal instrument on common airspace in Lusaka.

The regional airspace agreement aims at achieving a seamless upper airspace for the region which will lead to enhanced competition in air travel and efficiency.

Zambia Minister of Justice, Hon. Given Lubinda, who opened the May meeting said the COMESA seamless airspace programme will contribute to bringing down high costs.

“The draft legal instruments aimed at the implementation of the COMESA Seamless Airspace programme speak to this.”

Extra Reading:

• Africa’s dream for seamless airspace almost taking off
• COMESA Airspace Integration Project

Jet noise! It seems that Londoners are sick of it. Corporate operators watch out; London basin airports of EGGW/Luton, EGSS/Stansted, EGKK/Gatwick, EGLL/Heathrow, EGKB/Biggin Hill, EGWU/Northolt, EGLF/Farnborough and EGTK/Oxford airports are now effectively closed or restricted for overnight flights.

EGGW/Luton is the biggest hit with a curfew this summer: from 1 June to 30 September, arrivals/departures will be prohibited between 23-7 local time each night.

Over at EGSS/Stansted, where local authorities have already reduced the number of night-time slots for GA/BA to just 10 per week, new noise restrictions have also been introduced which mean that aircraft rated above QC1 are unlikely to receive slot approval at all during the night period:

Who’s to blame?

Local airlines, mainly the low-cost ones. Late arrivals have used up much of the cumulative noise footprint at both airports.

So, what’s left?

• EGMC/Southend (40 miles away) & EGBB/Birmingham (115 miles away) are the only airports with no restrictions (thus far).
• EGLL/Heathrow & EGGK/Gatwick: Pretty much a no-go zone for business aviation these days
• EGLC/London City: closed from 1030pm to 0630am
• EGWU/Northolt: closed from 8pm to 8am on weekdays
• EGLF/Farnborough: closed from 10pm to 7am on weekdays
• EGKB/Biggin Hill: closed from 11pm to 6.30am on weekdays, and 10pm to 8am on weekends

Who’s most affected?

Transatlantic crossings that plan to arrive in London late at night (after a morning departure from the US) or late-night London departures. Plan ahead and speak with your FBO so you don’t get stuck in a noisy bind.

Extra Reading:

• Noise complaints hit record high at Luton Airport but same five people make half of them

An eruption at Guatemala’s Fuego volcano on 3rd June resulted in the deaths of 25 people, and forced the temporary closure of MGGT/Guatemala City Airport. After the military cleared ash from the runway, the airport re-opened on 4th June, with the warning of delays due to ongoing runway inspections.

On June 3, Guatemala’s Institute for Vulcanology (INSIVUMEH) published a map showing the volcanic ash distribution (shown on the map as the area in orange, labelled ‘Ceniza’):

Further reading:

• Guatemala’s Fuego volcano erupts, killing 25 and injuring hundreds

Actually, he already knows.  He’s seen more than 2 billion of them, read through them, grouped the words, and in the same way that you or I would, learned what different Notams look like, mean, and what they are about.

What Norm has no idea about though, is how important any particular Notam is. Until he learns from the people that know, he won’t know the difference between grass-cutting times, and airport closure times, in terms of criticality to crews.

Norm (full name Norman the Notam Organizational and Recognition Model) is an Artificial Intelligence ‘bot’ being built by ICAO and FSB. Calling him a bot does him a disservice; he’s already much smarter than a bot, but needs more training.

Norm  has one job: identify critical NOTAMS and highlight them, so that crews and dispatchers don’t miss the important stuff.

For this, FSB needs human pilots and dispatchers to teach him what is critical and what is not. When presented with a new NOTAM, Norm can then give it a criticality rating. He needs a sample of at least 10,000 NOTAMS to become usable, and 20,000 to become smart.

FSB is using the power of OpsGroup to train him – a collective of 4,000 airlines, operators, pilots, and dispatchers that work together and share information on changes, operational challenges, security, risk, and …. fixing Notams.

There are over 30,000 NOTAMS out there at any moment in time. Some are critical, most are not. Norm will ensure that crews have the option of seeing only the critical ones first.

As of May 24, Canada has expanded its ADIZ to include all its national territory in the Arctic Archipelago.

Requirements for operations in the ADIZ remain the same. You’ll need a transponder with altitude reporting and a working two-way radio. Remember, you’ll need to include the time and location of ADIZ border crossing in your flight plans RMK section.

Full AIC 2/18 for the detailed lat/long of the expanded area here.

KZZZ/USA Since May 3, all aircraft entering New York Oceanic (KZWY) and those departing Bermuda have been required to use a mach number instead of knots when filing their flight plans. The FAA has reported a low level of compliance since the Notam was issued.

EDDH/Hamburg In the last few days, both an A320 and a B737 have overrun Runway 05 at Hamburg. It’s shortened, but clearly that information is not being effectively received by flight crews. The most recent incident occurred on May 15. More info here.

LLBG/Tel Aviv In addition to the standard daily restrictions on GA ops, on May 24 there will be no GA ops allowed from 04-12z.

EHRD/Rotterdam The runway will be closed for repair overnight from 22-04z on June 4, 11, 18 and 25.

WIZZ/Indonesia The Mount Merapi volcano in central Java erupted again on May 20, but the ash cloud has since dissipated, and operations at nearby WAHH/Yogyakarta Airport have not been affected.

LIML/Milan Expect delays on May 26 at both LIML/Milan-Linate and LIMC/Milan-Malpensa airports, as some ground handling staff will be on strike all day.

SBBR/Brasilia Fuel may not be available at the moment, due to ongoing tanker driver strikes. A Notam claims fuel is available on request until May 25, but local reports indicate this may not be accurate.

LKMT/Ostrava The airport will be closed for runway maintenance on the evenings of May 23 (20-04z) and 24 (2130-3z).

KGYY/Gary The main Rwy 12/30 has reopened after a three-week closure to rebuild much of it.

EGGW/Luton Strike action by airport staff originally planned for May 25-30 now looks to have been cancelled. Some ground handling staff are still planning to strike on May 26-27, but the airport expects only minor delays on those days.

VTZZ/Thailand Reports of at least 20 bombings by militants across Thailand’s southern provinces on May 20. Travel warnings are in place for the entire region from VTSS/Hat Yai and VTSH/Songkhla airports in the north, to the Malaysian border in the south.

SVZZ/Venezuela Deepening crisis in Venezuela. Both the public and private medical systems can now provide only basic medical care. More info here.

OEGN/Jizan Another missile attack launched from Yemen on May 21, this time targeting OEGN/Jizan Airport. Saudi media reports that the missile was intercepted. This was the third attack by Houthi rebels since the start of Ramadan, which started last week.

VABB/Mumbai No ILS until Jun 5, due to repairs. The airport has said if the visibility drops below 2400 metres, ops will switch to the secondary Rwy 14, and if the visibility drops below 1200 metres (the minimum requirement for that runway) then the airport will have to be closed.

HLMS/Misrata The airport reopened on May 21, having been closed for 4 consecutive days, as ground staff went on strike after an attack by local militia at the customs office on May 16.

DNZZ/Nigeria With concerns about Ebola spreading from DR Congo, screening measures are now in place at all of Nigeria’s international airports: DNMM/Lagos, DNAA/Abuja, DNKN/Kano, DNPO/Port Harcourt, and DNEN/Enugu. Suspected passengers will now be quarantined in isolation clinics at the airsides of these airports.

LYTV/Tivat The airport now requires PPR 36 hours prior to your flight. Email dispatch.tivat@apm.co.me, or call at +38232670976 for approval.

ULLI/St.Petersburg There have been reports of unstable GPS near the airport (within 70NM), so be prepared for vectoring if you lose coverage.

LDPL/Pula From May 17 until June 17, PPR is required 48 hours in advance due to congestion. Email operations@airport-pula.hr and ppr@airport-pula.hr for your PPR and parking assignment.

SAZS/San Carlos De Bariloch The GA parking will be limited to 2 hour stays during May 17 – Aug 17. If you want overnight parking, contact them 24hours prior at brc-facturacion@aa2000.com.ar, or +5402944405016.

FZZZ/Democratic Republic of Congo The Ebola outbreak in the DR Congo has spread from the countryside into a city, prompting fears that the disease will be increasingly hard to control. It’s now reported in FZEA/Mbandaka.

SAZZ/Argentina From May 21, Argentina will be implementing an Air Traffic Flow Management service (ATFM) in its northern SAEZ/Ezeiza FIR. More info here.

MNZZ/Nicaragua Canada is now advising against all nonessential travel to Nicaragua due to civil unrest, which has been occurring throughout the country since April 2018.

OBZZ/Bahrain With the blockade of Qatar still ongoing, Bahrain has published some required routes for aircraft transiting it’s FIR, as well as routes to/from Bahrain airports that avoid the Qatar landmass. Check the OBBB Notams for details.

SKZZ/Colombia Canada has updated its warning for Colombia, advising against all travel to within 20km of the borders with Venezuela and Panama due to the risk of kidnapping and violent crime by armed groups in those areas.

KZZZ/USA There are some Presidential TFR Notams in place for New York on May 23. Basically, no GA ops allowed at KJFK/Kennedy from 1845-2000 local time, and at KLGA/La Guardia from 1500-1930 local time.

There’ll soon be a new CPDLC procedure on the NAT, designed to prevent pilots from acting on any old CPDLC messages that might have been delayed in the network.

ICAO have published a new Bulletin for all the NAT Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSP’s) to use as a basis for implementing this new procedure. They recommend that all aircraft should receive a message immediately after they enter each control area telling them to “SET MAX UPLINK DELAY VALUE” to a certain number of seconds. The idea is that this will prompt the pilot to enter the specified latency value into the aircraft avionics, so that it will ignore/reject any old CPDLC messages.

So far, only Iceland’s BIRD/Reykjavik FIR have implemented this procedure, effective May 24. All other sectors of NAT airspace (Gander, Shanwick, Bodo, Santa Maria, New York Oceanic) are busy writing their own AIC’s and will implement later in the year. 

So when entering the BIRD/Reykjavik FIR, expect to receive a CPDLC message from ATC instructing you to “SET MAX UPLINK DELAY VALUE TO 300 SECONDS”. A copy of their AIC with more guidance can be found here.

The latency monitor function varies from one aircraft type to another: some just automatically reject old CPDLC messages, some will display a warning to the pilot that the message has been delayed, some have deficient equipment, and some do not have the message latency monitor function implemented at all.

Because of this, ICAO note that “it is impossible for ATC to tailor the uplink of the message… to different aircraft types. It has therefore been decided among the NAT Air Navigation Service Providers (ANSPs) to uplink this message to all CPDLC connected aircraft immediately after they enter each control area. An aircraft may therefore receive this message multiple times during a flight.”

So here’s the lowdown on what you need to do:

1. Work out in advance what kind of message latency monitor function your aircraft has, and what it is designed to do when it receives the CPDLC message “SET MAX UPLINK TIMER VALUE TO XXX SECONDS”.

2. When you receive this message, respond with the voice message “ACCEPT” or “ROGER”. If your aircraft has a functioning message latency monitor, punch in the specified number of seconds. If you don’t have functioning equipment, respond with the free text message “TIMER NOT AVAILABLE”.

3. If anything goes wrong, revert to voice comms.

Back in November 2017, we reported on an equipment issue with Iridium satcom that prompted a ban by a number of Oceanic ATC agencies. Some aircraft were receiving massively delayed clearances sent by ATC via CPDLC – and one took the instruction and climbed 1000 feet, even though the message was meant for the flight the aircraft operated previously.

Although the bans were dropped after Iridium fixed the problem at ground level (by ensuring the system no longer queued CPDLC uplinks for more than five minutes), this new CPDLC procedure on the NAT should ensure this kind of situation doesn’t happen again. It’s officially being brought in as one of the safety requirements for the roll-out of reduced lateral and longitudinal separation minima across the NAT, which is predicated on Performance Based Communication and Surveillance (PBCS) specifications – that means having CPDLC capable of RCP240 (4 minute comms loop), and ADS-C capable of RSP180 (3 minute position reporting).

Further reading:
– ICAO NAT Bulletin 2018_002: CPDLC Uplink Message Latency Monitor
– Iceland’s AIC on the new CPDLC procedure for the BIRD/Reykjavik FIR
– The latest PBCS rumours and facts
– The latest NAT changes, including EGGX/Shanwick, CZQX/Gander, BIRD/Iceland, ENOB/Bodo, LPPO/Santa Maria, and KZWY/New York Oceanic East.
– IRIDIUM satcom fault fixed

Impact from todays ATC French strike is looking worse than usual.

As things stand at 0600Z, there are a total of 400,000 delay minutes attributed to ATC Industrial Action in the ATC system for Europe,  an average of 20 minutes for every flight in Europe. That average is calculated for all 22,000 aircraft that will operate today in Europe, so assuming at most 2000 flights would operate through French airspace, it works out at around 220 minutes delay for every aircraft. And yep, finishing off the maths, that’s about 4 hours.

Those figures are pretty fluid because the good people at NM (CFMU) work really hard to reroute flights around the worst of it, but it’s safe to say, if you are operating in, over, near, or thinking about France today, you will have a pretty decent delay.

See below for the best places to get updates on todays strike.

Further reading:

• FSB: How to survive a French ATC strike
• Eurocontrol NOP
• French ATC page with updates
• Mitigation action document – specific to the May 22 strike.

Reports this week of two Tu-95 Russian bombers being intercepted by US F22 fighters off the coast of Alaska.

The Tu-95 bombers were flying in the Air Defense Identification Zone in the Bering Sea north of the Aleutian Islands, where they were visually identified and shadowed by the U.S. jets at 10 a.m., said Navy Capt. Scott Miller, a North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman.

The bombers did not enter North American sovereign airspace, he said in a statement. Miller declined to say how close the bombers came to U.S. land. Some outlets reported they flew as close as 55 miles off Alaska’s west coast.

Friday’s encounter was the first of its kind in just more than a year, Miller said. A similar incident occurred off Alaskan waters in April 2017 in what U.S. officials have described as routine if not tense encounters between adversarial aircraft where territorial lines meet.

The ADIZ extends about 200 miles off the Alaskan coast and is mostly international airspace, Miller said, though Russian military activity will often prompt an in-kind response for U.S. warplanes. Intercepts in the zone occurred about 60 times from 2007 to 2017, The New York Times reported last year.

Extra Reading:

• Just What Were Those Russian Tu-95 Strategic Bombers Doing Off Alaska’s Coast?

If you’re headed to Hamburg, watch out. The runway is shortened, and the Notams are vague.

Poorly written NOTAMs struck again this week in Hamburg, Germany, when an A320 and a B737 both overran Runway 05 on landing – the first by SAS on May 11  and the second by Ryanair on May 15.

Runway 05 in EDDH/Hamburg has been undergoing works and a litany of related NOTAMs and AIP SUP were issued to explain.

A1608/18 – RWY 05 LDA 2370M. 12 APR 04:00 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 21:00 2018. CREATED: 05 APR 09:50 2018

A1605/18 – SHORTENED DECLARED DISTANCES FOR RWY 05/23. AIP SUP IFR 09/18 REFERS. 12 APR 04:00 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 21:00 2018. CREATED: 05 APR 09:42 2018

A2223/18 – TWY A1, A3, A4, A5 CLOSED. 02 MAY 10:26 2018 UNTIL 01 JUL 04:00 2018. CREATED: 02 MAY 10:27 2018

A2044/18 – ILS RWY 05 NOT AVBL. AIP SUP IFR 09/18 REFERS. 23 APR 09:17 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 21:00 2018. CREATED: 23 APR 09:17 2018

A1725/18 – CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT IN DEP SECTOR ALL IFR DEPARTURES RWY 05. PSN WITHIN AN AREA 533810N 0095948E AND 533805N 0100023E. MAX ELEV 89 FT. NOT MARKED AND LIGHTED. SUP 09 2018, CONSTRUCTION WORK EDDH REFER. 12 APR 04:00 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 20:00 2018. CREATED: 09 APR 13:10 2018

A1609/18 – RWY 23 CLOSED FOR ARR. 12 APR 04:00 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 21:00 2018. CREATED: 05 APR 09:52 2018

Despite this, both were unable to stop before the last open exit (A6) and vacated further down the runway. Thankfully both resulted in no injury because all construction equipment was kept clear of, and beyond, taxiway E6.

A better NOTAM may have been:

RWY 05 IS SHORTER THAN USUAL DUE TO CONSTRUCTION WORK AT 23 END. REDUCED LANDING DISTANCE IS 2370M. LAST TAXIWAY OPEN FOR EXIT IS A6. CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT ON RUNWAY BEYOND TAXIWAY A6. 

You get the idea. Concise and plain language in one NOTAM to make it clear what the issue is and the consequences of going beyond 2370m of runway.

They did, to their credit, try and tidy it up since the incidents:

A2563/18 – RWY 05 CLSD EAST OF TWY A6. RWY 05 LDA 2370M. RWY 05 NON STANDARD TDZ AND AIMING POINT MARKINGS AT 400M FM THR ISO 300M. ADJUST LDG PERF ACCORDINGLY. 17 MAY 16:30 2018 UNTIL 23 MAY 21:00 2018. CREATED: 17 MAY 16:31 2018

In another serious incident associated with these runway works, a Vueling A320 (another foreign operator) nearly landed at the wrong airport on May 11. Thankfully ATC intervened on that one.

All incidents are now the subject of investigation.

Naturally it’s imperative for crew and disptachers to check and read all NOTAMS thoroughly. But with over 40 current just for EDDH/Hamburg right now, it’s easy to understand why things get missed.

Until then “adjust landing performance accordingly”.

Extra Viewing:

CYUL/Montreal Due to construction, no GA/BA ops allowed 1600-2000 local from May 15-Jun 30. From Jun 8-10 this is lifted for the Grand Prix.

LFZZ/France ATC have announced they will take part in the national general strike planned for May 22. Another ATC strike is planned for the LFMM/Marseille sector spanning the weekend May 26-28.

HCZZ/Somalia IFALPA have issued updated information on safety of operations within the Mogadishu FIR (HCSM). Details here.

LFMN/Nice With the Cannes Film Festival and the Monaco Grand Prix happening this month, expect the airport to be busier than usual. They’ve published an AIP SUP (042/18) on it, but it just reiterates the normal procedures: slot and parking confirmation are required in advance.

WIZZ/Indonesia The Mount Merapi volcano in central Java erupted early on May 11, forcing nearby WAHH/Yoghakarta International Airport to temporarily close. Volcanic Ash cloud has since dissipated, and authorities say further eruptions are unlikely.

HBZZ/Burundi Canada is now warning against all travel to Burundi, due to ongoing political tensions, civil unrest and daily armed violence. A referendum is taking place on May 17, and demonstrations are expected over the next few weeks.

HLMS/Misrata Airport is set to re-open this week, after suspending air traffic two weeks ago to carry out maintenance on the runway. Security is still a major issue here though, as the airport has been forced to close on several occasions this year due to ongoing clashes between local militia.

EGGW/Luton Disruption expected over the holiday weekend May 25-30, as ground staff including firefighters, baggage handlers, and security staff, are planning to go on strike at various different times.

ORZZ/Iraq All airports in the country re-opened on May 12, following a 24hr closure for the elections.

VTBS/Bangkok IFALPA have issued some information on the ongoing problem of soft groundaffecting the taxiways and aircraft stands. Details here.

YSCB/Canberra Canberra don’t like receiving diverts without having an agreement in place. In Mar 2017, Qantas claim the airport refused to let their diverted B738 from departing again until a charge of $18,000 was paid by credit card – the usual fee should be around $2000.

FAZZ/South Africa More reports of “follow-home” armed robberies of foreigners travelling to/from airports. Ten separate incidents at FAOR/Johannesburg on Apr 27, and one at FALE/Durban on May 13.

UKZZ/Ukraine Ukraine has extended its ban on Russian aircraft entering Ukrainian airspace until 13th August.

KIMT/Iron Mountain The airport has now reopened, after the main runway was closed for 15 days for repair work.

KPGV/Greenville The runway repair work was completed four days ahead of schedule, and the airport reopened on May 15.

RPLL/Manila The airport is reporting numerous potholes, soft spots and uneven pavement on its taxiways and apron. None reported on the runways so far, but this time last year the airport was forced to shut down one runway for a few hours to repair a big pothole.

VOTV/Trivandrum Shortage of parking bays expected from now until the end of Aug. All night-stops require approval 24hrs in advance.

As we reported last month,  Eurocontrol published a ‘Rapid Alert Notification’ on their website regarding imminent air strikes into Syria.

“Due to the possible launch of air strikes into Syria with air-to-ground and / or cruise missiles within the next 72 hours, and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, due consideration needs to be taken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean / Nicosia FIR area.”

Around this time LCCC/Nicosia FIR released this vague (and now deleted) NOTAM:

A0454/18 – INFORMATION TO AIRSPACE USERS

THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS IS CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING THE GEOPOLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE REGION AND WILL NOTIFY THE AVIATION COMMUNITY IF AND WHEN ANY RELEVANT AN RELIABLE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE THE DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION IS TAKING ALL APPROPRIATE ACTION TO SAFEGUARD THE SAFETY OF FLIGHTS. 12 APR 15:25 2018 UNTIL 12 JUL 15:00 2018 ESTIMATED. CREATED: 12 APR 15:26 2018

Beyond this alert and NOTAM though; nothing else happened. A few days later, the conflict escalated.

Very few commercial flights operate over Syria, and authorities in the US, UK, France and Germany have all previously issued warnings for Syrian airspace.

But many airlines regularly transit the LCCC/Nicosia FIR: there are frequent holiday flights to the main Cypriot airports of LCLK/Larnaca and LCPH/Paphos; overflight traffic from Europe to the likes of OLBA/Beirut, OJAI/Amman and LLBG/Tel Aviv; as well as traffic from Istanbul heading south to the Gulf and beyond.

What has happened in the few weeks since then?

Normal Eurocontrol protocol is (during expected ATC strike for example) – regular teleconferences with operators, active re-routes and removal of certain overflight approval requirements. So did that happen this time? No.

Essentially just radio silence on Syria and operations in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Right now, it’s a busy place. With all the normal holiday traffic in the region, there is also a large number of military surveillance aircraft from numerous nations patrolling the region. United States assets operating from Greece and Italy. UK air power from Cyprus and the French from bases in Jordan. Add to that the normal Israeli defense air frames and even the odd Swedish gulfstream surveillance flight!  Then there are the Russians conducting aerial operations and defense exercises in and around Syria.

Cyprus has activated a litany of “temporary reserved/segregated areas” inside of Nicosia FIR.

On May 3rd, Cyprus issued this vague information, to ‘exercise caution’.

A0580/18 – NAVIGATIONAL WARNING TO ALL CONCERNED. EXTENSIVE MILITARY OPERATIONS IN NICOSIA FIR PILOTS TO EXERCISE CAUTION AND MAINTAIN CONTINUOUS RADIO CONTACT WITH NICOSIA ACC. 03 MAY 12:00 2018 UNTIL 31 MAY 23:59 2018. CREATED: 03 MAY 11:25 2018

There is also a current warning about GPS interruptions.

A0356/18 – RECENTLY, GPS SIGNAL INTERRUPTIONS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY THE PILOTS OF THE AIRCRAFT OPERATING WITHIN SOME PARTS OF NICOSIA FIR. AIRCRAFT OPERATORS OPERATING WITHIN NICOSIA FIR ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION. 20 MAR 10:04 2018 UNTIL PERM. CREATED: 20 MAR 10:05 2018

It may be unfair to blame the authorities completely. At the end of the day, due to the lack of appropriate communication from the various security agencies it’s hard to get accurate information out there. Still, there was enough warning to alert civilian operators of imminent strike – but then nothing else. Shouldn’t airspace customers and users expect more?

So what to make of all this?

Let’s end it with this great 2009 (and still current) NOTAM from the Cypriots.

A0687/09 – NAVIGATION WARNING TO ALL CONCERNED.

15 SEP 09:30 2009 UNTIL PERM. CREATED: 15 SEP 09:34 2009

In most of the world, Ramadan in 2018 is expected to begin on May 16 and end on June 14, with both dates depending on lunar sightings. Eid-al-Fitr is expected to be observed June 14-15, though the exact dates will vary by country. Across the countries which celebrate the holiday, there will be delays processing permits, slots, and other operational requirements involving CAA’s and Airport Authorities.

Foreign nationals and their employers can expect immigration processing delays over the coming weeks in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and parts of Asia during the observance of the month of Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr. Many government offices worldwide reduce their hours and/or close during Ramadan and Eid-al-Fitr.

Algeria:  The month of Ramadan is expected to begin May 16 or 17 and end June 13 or 14, depending on lunar sightings.  While public offices are not officially closed during Ramadan, most government offices will open at 10:00 a.m. and close at 3:30 p.m.  Government offices will also likely be closed on Eid-al-Fitr.  Processing delays can be expected for initial and renewal applications due to the reduced working hours.

Bangladesh:  The month of Ramadan will begin on May 15. While government offices will operate with reduced workforce during this month and until June 17, they will be closed from June 15 to 17 in observance of Eid-ul-Fitr. Processing delays of pending applications should be expected throughout the month of Ramadan.

Brunei:  The Ramadan season will begin on May 16 in Brunei. Government offices, including the Immigration Department, Labour Department and Energy Industry Department (EID) are expected to operate with reduced hours throughout the month of Ramadan. Government offices will be closed for Hari Raya Aidilfitri on June 15 to June 18, depending on lunar sighting. Processing delays are expected throughout Ramadan and may continue for up to two weeks after Ramadan ends.

Indonesia:  The month of Ramadan is expected to begin on May 17 ending with Hari Raya Idul Fitri, which will fall on June 15. Most government offices and consular posts are expected to reduce their business days by one to two hours throughout the month of Ramadan, and closures will likely occur several days before and after the Idul Fitri holiday (around June 11 to 22) due to staffing shortages. Processing delays are expected to occur during this period.

Malaysia:  The month of Ramadan will begin on May 17. Government offices, including the Immigration Department and other Work Pass adjudicating departments such as the eXpats Centre of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn. Bhd. and MYXpats Centre of the Expatriate Services Division, are expected to operate with reduced hours throughout the month of Ramadan. Government offices will be closed for Hari Raya Aidifitri from June 15 to 17. In addition to those days, eXpats Centre will also be closed on June 14. Processing delays are expected throughout the month of Ramadan and may continue for up to three weeks after the end of Ramadan.

Middle East/North Africa (Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates):  The month of Ramadan is expected to start May 16 or 17 and last until June 14 or 15, 2018. Government offices across the Middle East will be working reduced hours during Ramadan, which may affect processing times for all immigration applications. Foreign nationals and employers are advised to check with the relevant office for exact hours of operation. Processing delays could continue in the weeks following Ramadan due to Eid-al-Fitr holiday and application backlogs that accumulate during the closures.

Turkey: Government offices will be closed June 14 (afternoon), June 15 (full day), and potentially June 18. Processing delays can be expected for initial and renewal applications due to government office closures.

ZZZZ/Worldwide Ramadan will last from May 15 – June 14. Expect longer processing times for visas in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey and parts of Asia, as most government offices will be working on reduced hours.

LFZZ/France It looks like there will be yet another ATC strike in the LFMM/Marseille ACC on May 12-13. If it goes ahead, it will be their third weekend strike in a row.

OERK/Riyadh An ongoing dust storm is still affecting ops at the airport today, where poor visibility has resulted in some delays and cancellations.

LPMA/Funchal Following a review, authorities say the restrictive wind limits for arrivals are set to remain the same. These limits have not changed since 1964. Funchal suffers from strong winds which frequently force aircraft to divert. Read the article.

KABQ/Albuquerque The airport’s primary runway 08/26 has reopened after two months of repair.

SLAL/Alcantri The main international airport serving the city of Sucre continues to be closed, due to ongoing protests and road blocks around the city. It’s not yet known how long the protests will last.

KSFO/San Francisco Following a recent incident where an Air Canada flight lined up it’s approach on a taxiway instead of a parallel runway, the airport has changed its rules for night landings – when the runway in use is parallel to another closed runway, it won’t allow visual landings.

PHZZ/Hawaii The sequence of events on Big Island is now this: May 3 – eruption of Kilauea. May 4 – 6.9 mag earthquake, centred near Kilauea. PHTO airport has been inspected post earthquake and there is no damage. May 8 – two new volcanic vents erupted, leading to new evacuation orders in the area. No volcanic ash clouds have been reported. A new TFR exists around the volcano – 8/0671. Operations at other Hawaii airports are unaffected. There remains a high risk of further eruptions.

ZKZZ/North Korea Timezone has changed, effective May 4, North Korea is now on UTC+9. This matches the South Korea timezone.

CYXH/Medicine Hat The airport will be completely closed for runway repairs from May 7 to Jun 1.

KDFW/Dallas Increased congestion expected as the airport’s primary arrival runway 17C/35C will be closing for repairs. Partial closure planned from May 24 to early August and a full closure from August to mid-November.

MKZZ/Jamaica The state of emergency that was declared for parts of St James (which includes Montego Bay) has been extended to Aug, to tackle recent violence including shooting incidents.

MPPA/Panama Reports that the airport is increasing its rates by 135%. The airline Viva Air Colombia have already announced they will be suspending flights to the airport from May 20 as a result of the price hike.

LFPB/Paris The airport will be closed for taxiway repairs each night from 20-04z, May 14-18, and June 11-15.

KPVG/Greenville Ongoing runway maintenance. From May 9-13, repair work on both runways will shut down the airport to all flights.

VICG/Chandigargh Airport to be closed from May 12-31 for runway repairs. VIDP/Delhi and VIAR/Amritsar will serve as alternates during this time.

A slightly skeewiff statue of Cristiano Ronaldo is the most notable thing about LPMA/Funchal Airport which, since last year, has been known as Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport.

Before that, however, the airport on Madeira’s east coast was better known for hosting one of the world’s most challenging approaches and landings.

The airport’s runway is often buffeted by Atlantic winds, while its proximity to the mountains and ocean present yet more difficulties. Pilots scheduled to arrive here must undergo additional training, studying the approach in detail. Airlines wishing to fly into Funchal require special approval from the Portuguese aviation authority.

Earlier this year the Association of Portuguese Airline Pilots (APPLA) said it was vital that the airport closes when winds exceed the maximum limits (depending on wind direction). In a statement it said that “there are limits to anything in aviation. These limits generally exist for several reasons, including safety issues”. APPLA was concerned there had been some 20 commercial landings in the first half of 2017 when the wind had been exceeding limits.

The Airport is located on a plateau on the east coast of Madeira Island. Except for the seaside, ground raises rapidly very closed to it. This fact generates, very often, wind variation and turbulence. Also severe low altitude wind shear conditions and / or micro burst are likely to be encountered.

What are the limits?

When landing

Maximum of two minutes mean Wind Speed Values indicated by the Touchdown anemometer:

• In the sector 300° to 010° MAG (clockwise) – 15KT, with the maximum Wind Gust of 25KT
• In the sector 020° to 040° MAG (clockwise) – 20KT, with the maximum Wind Gust of 30KT
• In the sector 120° to 190° MAG (clockwise), and if Runway in use is 05 – 20KT with a maximum Wind Gust of 30KT, and if Runway in use is 23 – 15KT, subject also to maximum Wind Gust of 25KT as indicated by MID Anemometer.

Maximum of two minutes mean Wind Speed Values, including Gust indicated by the MID or ROSÁRIO Anemometers

• In the Sector 200º to 230º MAG (clockwise) – 25KT.

When Taking-off

Maximum of two minutes mean Wind Speed Values indicated by the MID anemometer:

• In the sector 300° to 010° MAG (clockwise) – 20KT with no Gust limitations
• In the sector 020° to 040° MAG (clockwise) – 25KT with no Gust limitations
• In the sector 120° to 190° MAG (clockwise) and if Runway in use is 05 – 25KT with no Gust limitations, and if Runway in use is 23 – 20KT, also with no Gust limitations

NOTE: The limitations above do not supersede any Operators or Aircraft Operations Manual (AOM) limitations if these are more restrictive.

Turbulence

• Attention should be paid to the WIND DIRECTION INDICATORS located on the south side of the runway, near each touchdown area. They will reflect unexpected wind changes. Occasionally they will indicate wind from opposite directions;
• When landing on RWY 05 wind differences greater than 5 KT, between Rosário and MID anemometers, may indicate turbulence on final;
• When landing on RWY 23 with winds from South and Westerly Sectors, one may experience severe turbulence at low altitude over the RWY Threshold;
• Headwind or nearly so, up to 15 KT will cause “WEAK” turbulence on final;
• Wind of 15 KT from sector 020° to 050° MAG (clockwise) may cause “MODERATE” turbulence;
• Wind of 15 KT or even less from sector 300° to 020° MAG (clockwise) may cause “SEVERE” turbulence;
• Down drafts or up drafts are to be expected near the threshold of runways 05 and 23.

Important to note: Air Traffic Control won’t stop you from making an approach and landing if the wind limits are exceeded but they will promptly report all flights having done so to the authorities back on the mainland. There have been threats of license and airline operational approval suspensions in the past.

Looks pretty fun though!

Extra Information:

• Portugal AIP
• Pilot’s Briefing Room – Funchal 

All airports in Italy and all ACC’s are planning a strike for Tuesday May 8th, from 08-16Z. Overflights, and intercontinental flights (eg US arrivals) are exempt. Expect disruption on the ground at all airports all day.

On strike from 11-15z:
-The ACC’s: LIBB/Brindisi, LIMM/Milano and LIPP/Padova.
-The airports: LIMC/Milan-Malpensa, LIEE/Cagliari, LICC/Catania, LIRA/Rome-Ciampino, LIBR/Brindisi, LICA/Lamezia Terme, LIMF/Turin and LICJ/Palermo.

On strike from 08-16z:
-LIRR/Roma ACC.
-The airports: LIRF/Rome-Fiumicino, LIRP/Pisa and LIRQ/Florence.

You can see the full Notam here. For updates, keep an eye on the Eurocontrol NOP page on the day of the strike.

Additional strikes are taking place by ground handlers at LIRP/Pisa, LIMC/Milano Malpsena, LIML/Milano Linate, LIRQ/Florence and LIPY/Ancona – so expect particularly big delays at those airports.

LFZZ/France Yet another French ATC strike is planned for the LFMM/Marseille sector this coming weekend – from the morning of Sat May 5 until the morning of Mon May 7. More info here.

LIZZ/Italy All airports in Italy and all ACC’s are planning a strike for Tuesday May 8th, from 08-16Z. Overflights, and intercontinental flights (eg US arrivals) are exempt. More info here.

LFZZ/France Air France have cancelled 15 percent of its flights today, May 3, due to ongoing staff strikes. Paris airports worst affected.

KHPN/White Plains On Sat May 5, the airport will be running a full scale plane crash exercise from 11am-1pm, which will close the second runway 11/29 between those times.

KSAV/Savannah Flight operations have resumed following the C130 crash on a nearby highway on May 2, which killed all nine people on board.

FTTJ/N’Djamena No jet fuel available until May 10 at the earliest.

OSZZ/Syria Overnight missile attack on a number of military sites in northern Syria on Apr 30, most likely carried out by Israel. Eurocontrol NM has updated the Syria ‘warning’ notice to read: “Taking account of potential military activity and the possibility of intermittent disruption of radio navigation equipment, appropriate risk assessment needs to be undertaken when planning flight operations in the Eastern Mediterranean area”. More info here.

KJFK/New York Following the delays and baggage chaos caused by the January storm, the airport is introducing new rules for flights during winter storms – airlines will now have to get permission to land before the flight leaves its origin; and all six terminals will have to share equipment, staff and gates.

KBZN/Bozeman Between now and May 19, the main runway will be closed, and the only available runway will be 11/29 – which is only 5050 feet long.

OEZZ/Saudi Arabia Once again increased missile activity in the southwest of Saudi, with 35 missile launches this year by rebels in Yemen, 14 of them in April. About the same amount as Aug 2016 and Dec 2015, but most are now being shot down by Saudi Patriot missiles; only 3 have struck Saudi soil this year. OERK/Riyadh continues to be on the radar for the Houthis. Of most concern, an F-15 was hit by a SAM over Yemen on 21 Mar, fired from OYSH airport. There is definitely a risk to operations in Saudi airspace, even outside the Scatana area. More info here.

WAMG/Gorontalo Operational again after a 2 day closure, B737 removed after overrun.

HKNW/Wilson Potholes on the taxiways and part of the runway at Wilson – Nairobi’s second airport. A DHC-8 Dash 8 recently got stuck in the mud, trying to avoid them. More info here.

YSCB/Canberra Canberra will have CAT II ILS from July. Some WIP on lights and systems in the interim.

VOGO/Goa Runway repair work means the airport will be closed each day from 6.30am to 12.30pm local time, May 1-6.

UDYZ/Yerevan Significant nationwide protests. Some roads from airport blocked. Most major streets in Yerevan also blocked, after government opposition leader called for a nationwide campaign of civil disobedience.

EPKK/Krakow LOT Airlines unions have called off a strike that was planned to start on May 1st, after airline management won a court injunction, arguing that the strike action was illegal.

VTUU/Ubon Ratchathani Operational again after a fire on May 1st forced the airport to close.

CYYG/Charlottetown The main Rwy 03/21 will be closed for repair until Jul 28. The other Rwy 10/28 will remain open, but has no ILS, so the airport has warned more planes may have to be rerouted this summer in the event of adverse weather and poor visibility.

EDDL/Dusseldorf GA Flights after 1900 local time, or GA flights to/from Non-Schengen countries need a PPR. Arrange this 24 hours in advance with PPR.DUS@jetaviation.de.

EFJO/Joensuu No Jet A1 available over the weekend May 4-6.

KIMT/Iron Mountain Airport closed until May 6 for runway repair. But even after that, the main runway 01/19 will be closed until May 15. In the meantime, the other runway 13/31 will be open, but that’s only 3800ft long.

VTSP/Phuket The airport is not accepting any new requests for flights until May 7. This is due to congestion caused by the runway being closed for repairs each night, meaning all the airlines are having to reschedule their flights.

OYZZ/Yemen You might come across this nasty little Notam issued by Yemen, cunningly set to a “PERM” validity – OYSC A0026/17 – advising pilots that “Sanaa FIR and Yemeni Airports are safe”. This is clearly not true. More info here.

HDAM/Djibouti Multiple reports in the last few weeks of a high-powered laser light near the airport, centred near Doraleh Port. This is not your average handheld laser, but if local reports are true, it’s the Chinese testing its use as a weapon. There is a mil Notam about this also.

KLGB/Long Beach The main runway 12/30 will be closed for repair on Mon-Thur nights from 2200–1400 local time (yes, 16 hours) May 14-25. The other runway 07L/25R remains open.

SCZZ/Chile LATAM Airlines are expected to resume normal flight schedules from May 3 after cabin crew ended their 18-day strike.

We have reported recently on the complex airspace picture and dangers associated with the ongoing Syrian conflict.

Most major carriers have taken the advice of numerous government agencies to avoid Syrian airspace altogether; the FAA going as far as calling on all operators flying within 200 nautical miles of the OSTT/Damascus FIR to “exercise caution”.  Today, the only airlines flying over the airspace are locally based Syrian airlines, Iraq Airlines and Lebanon’s Middle Eastern Airlines.

These MEA overflights are of interest. The airline is a member of the SkyTeam alliance and has codeshare agreements with several high-profile airlines (Air Canada, Air France, etc.) Despite the repeated warnings of the ongoing dangers associated with overflights of this conflict zone, the airline has chosen to schedule more than half-a-dozen flights over the airspace each day.

Some of these flights have the usual codeshare practise of other airlines booking their passengers on MEA flights. Our research shows that Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways (Oneworld Alliance) and Royal Jordanian Airlines (Oneworld Alliance) passengers are still being booked on MEA flights to/from Beirut; likely unbeknown to their customers of the increased flight risk. All three airlines continue to service Beirut with their own aircraft, but all three avoid Syrian airspace, naturally accepting the best advice to avoid the area completely.

Something isn’t right here: no warning anywhere about these flights being flown over Syria.

So why is it safe for passengers to overfly Syria on an MEA flight, but not on any of the other airlines? And more importantly, why is MEA still operating over Syria anyway?

It looks like Kuwait Airways will be the next codeshare partner of MEA, so it will be interesting to see whether the issue of the overflight of conflict zones will be discussed.

As always, keep an eye on our Safeairspace map for the latest worldwide updates.

Some pictures have been doing the rounds on social media showing huge potholes on some the taxiways and part of the runway at HKNW/Wilson — Nairobi’s second airport — and a DHC-8 Dash 8 aircraft which got stuck in the mud, trying to avoid them.

According to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) website, Wilson Airport is “one of the busiest airports in terms of aircraft movement in East and Central Africa. However, so far the KAA have not issued any warnings on either their website or by Notam regarding the poor state of the taxiways and runway.

On Friday Apr 27, the US House of Representatives approved a long-delayed bill to authorize funding for the FAA, after GA advocates had mobilized earlier in the week to fight-off a last-minute attempt to privatize US ATC.

Late on Tuesday Apr 24, Republican Bill Shuster, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, introduced a “managers amendment” to the proposed five-year FAA funding bill.

His amendment called for two things:
1. Remove the US ATC system from the FAA and instead make it part of the Transportation Department.
2. Allow it to be run by a 13-member advisory board made up mainly by airlines.

“Both of these provisions were drafted in the dark of night, without any opportunity for public debate,” said NBAA.

After last minute lobbying by GA advocates, the two contentious items in the bill were removed.

While Shuster agreed to remove the measures, he reiterated that he “strongly believe[s] Congress must pass real air traffic control reform” and that he sees that happening “somewhere down the line.”

“We are pleased to see this legislation pass the House,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “While the bill is not perfect, a long-term reauthorization is critical to advancing our shared priorities. Equally important, this bipartisan bill will modernize, not privatize air traffic control. We are grateful that members of Congress heard their constituents’ concerns about ATC privatization, and reflected those concerns in bringing this legislation to final passage.”

EGGX/Shanwick Expect a new CPDLC procedure on the NAT sometime after May 24, designed to prevent pilots from acting on any old CPDLC messages that might have been delayed in the network. Aircraft will receive a message immediately after they enter each control area telling them to “SET MAX UPLINK DELAY VALUE” to a certain number of seconds. ICAO have published a new NAT Ops Bulletin with the details in full.

LIZZ/Italy Various aviation sector strikes planned for May 8. Some national ATC workers will be on strike from 8-16z, and some airport ground will go on strike at the following airports: LIML/Milan-Linate, LIMC/Milan-Malpensa, LIRP/Pisa, and LIRQ/Florence.

MTTP/Port-au-Prince On Apr 16, the US Embassy in Haiti issued a security alert warning of a rising number of violent armed robberies against US citizens after departing the airport.

HSZZ/South Sudan EASA has extended its warning for South Sudan to Oct 25. That includes the warnings issued by the US, UK, France and Germany, most of whom advise minimum FL260 for overflights. We think FL300 is more sensible. More info here.

KZZZ/USA Heavy traffic expected at KSDF/Louisville, KLOU/Bowman and KJVY/Clark County from May 2-6, for the Kentucky Derby on May 5. The FAA have published some special procedures.

LFKF/Figari Possible delays with fuelling until the end of the month, due to some broken-down fuel trucks.

LIZZ/Italy From Apr 26 onwards, CPDLC is now available across all Italian airspace above FL285.

LFZZ/France More Air France strikes planned on May 3-4 and 7-8. Daily impact likely to be similar to before – 30% of flights cancelled, with the Paris airports worst affected.

NWZZ/New Caledonia Around 20% of firefighters at the country’s main international airport NWWW/Noumea have joined a strike by colleagues at the domestic airport NWWM/Magenta. So far no impact on international flights, although that could change if the strike persists.

DFFD/Ougadougou No jet fuel available until Apr 30.

MNZZ/Nicaragua Worsening violence over the past few days with riots resulting in 24 deaths. The US have warned access to MNMG/Managua Airport could be disrupted by the protests, and is now pulling out some of its embassy staff and advising against travel to the country.

ZKZZ/North Korea North Korean leader Jim Jong Un has said there will be no more intercontinental and medium-range missile tests, ahead of talks that are scheduled with South Korea in late April, and with the US in May. He said the country will now focus on economic development and peace talks instead.

LEZZ/Spain ATC strikes planned in the Barcelona ACC, which covers the eastern half of Spain and the Balearic Islands. No fixed dates yet, but if it goes ahead it would happen sometime after Jun 20, with each strike lasting 24hrs.

SCZZ/Chile LATAM has cancelled and rescheduled more flights through to May 2, due to the ongoing cabin crew strike. So far the airline has already had to cancel over 2000 flights because of the strike.

KZZZ/USA AOPA has published a list of the top 10 US airports where you’re likely to get overcharged at FBO’s: KACY/Atlantic City, KCPR/Casper, KCHO/Charlottesville, KMQS/Chester County, KHXD/Hilton Head, KIFP/Laughlin, KORF/Norfolk, KRST/Rochester, KBJC/Rocky Mountain, KISN/Sloulin Field. Full details here.

SMZZ/Suriname Ops normal with Suriname/Paramaribo ATC again as the system failure has been restored, the contingency plan cancelled, and Guyana are no longer providing ATS assistance.

HLLM/Mitiga On Apr 19, militants fired rockets at the airport yet again, this time causing damage to the airport building, parts of the apron tarmac, and a parked Libya Airlines A320 aircraft.

UIII/Irkutsk The airport will be closed for runway repairs each day Tue-Sat between 11-15z from May 5 – Jun 30. Not available as an alternate during these times.

WARR/Juanda The airport will be closed for everything except medevac helicopter ops, every night from 16-22z until Jul 3.

WSZZ/Singapore ASEAN Summit happening at the end of April. At WSSS/Singapore, no parking/slots available from Apr 23-30. At WSSL/Seletar, airport will be closed on Apr 27 0900-1400z, and Apr 28 0030-0730z.

VTSP/Phuket The airport will be closing from 1730-2330z each night from 26 Apr – 07 May, for runway repairs.

ORZZ/Iraq Following the Iraqi government’s decision in March to re-open the Kurdish airports ORER/Erbil and ORSU/Sulaymaniyah to international flights, Iran has now lifted its own ban on international flights to these airports too. Commercial flights from OIIE/Tehran to ORER/Erbil are set to resume on Apr 27.

FEFF/Bangui The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) are now advising against travel to central Bangui between the airport and the Ubangi River – which is pretty much the entire riverside area of the city centre. The FCO advise against all travel to the rest of Bangui and the Central African Republic.

LLZZ/Israel Israel says its satellite surveillance has detected Iranian military activity at multiple airports across Syria. Israel has now placed its own military on high alert in anticipation of potential Iranian-linked attacks, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a military base in Syria on 9 April which killed at least three Iranian soldiers.

OPZZ/Pakistan All scheduled commercial flights will move over from OPRN/Benazir Bhutto International Airport to the New Islamabad Airport when it opens on May 3 (delayed from Apr 20). It will have the ICAO code OPIS, and will take over the IATA code ISB from Benazir Bhutto. Initially all GA/BA should continue to use the old airport, until procedures are in place for using the new one.

KZZZ/USA As Congress considers a new five-year FAA funding bill, GA advocates look to have fought-off attempts to privatize US ATC. More info here.

In Short: Japan scrambled a record number of fighter jets in the past year. The number rose to an all-time high of 1,168 in the year to March 2017, easily beating the previous record of 944 set at the height of the cold war in 1984. Chinese aircraft approaching Japanese airspace prompted 851 of the incidents, an increase of 280 over the previous year.

According to official figures released on Thursday, Japan’s Air Self Defense Force is scrambling fighter jets in record numbers as Chinese military activity escalates. Interceptions of Chinese planes rose by half in the year to March 31, in response to increases in the communist country’s activity in and around the East China Sea.

Japan worries that China is probing its air defences as part of a push to extend its military influence in the East China Sea and western Pacific, where Japan controls an island chain stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) south towards Taiwan. The figures highlight China’s growing assertion of military power in East Asia as it expands and modernises its armed forces in line with rapid economic growth.

For the first time, Chinese jets recently began flying through the Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan, and through the Miyako Strait into the Pacific Ocean.

But it’s not only China that Japan is worried about. Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned North Korea may be capable of firing a missile loaded with sarin nerve gas towards Japan. “There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to deliver missiles with sarin as warheads,” he told a parliamentary national security committee.

And then there’s Russia. Scrambles by Japanese aircraft were high throughout the 1980s in response to flights by Soviet aircraft during the cold war. They fell back to 100-200 incidents a year during the 1990s and 2000s, but began to pick up again a decade ago as both China and Russia grew more assertive.

Mr Abe has been trying to negotiate with Russian president Vladimir Putin over the future of four disputed islands in the Kuril chain to Japan’s north, but has made limited progress, with the jet scrambles showing Moscow’s determination to make its presence felt on its eastern border. There were 301 scrambles to intercept Russian aircraft during the year, 13 more than the previous year, including incidents where Russian jets circumnavigated the Japanese Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands to the south.

Extra Reading:

• Why I’m Thankful for Japan and South Korea

According to recent figures released by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) of Hong Kong, 2017 saw an increase in ‘loss of separation’ incidents within it’s airspace.

Twelve times, two aircraft came within 1000 feet and less than 5 nautical miles of each other last year. This is the highest in six years.

Local law makers are now calling for a new ATC system to be implemented. A local pilot operating regularly through VHHH/Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) commented to FSB recently that the Air Traffic Services have been in “constant decline” over the past seven to ten years.

CAD insisted that alerts were issued “in a timely manner as per system design”. It said “losses of separation” were due to a number of factors such as adverse weather, operating procedures and human factors and they did occasionally occur due to the old air traffic system and other systems around the world. “CAD would investigate every individual incident according to established procedures and make necessary improvement,” the department added.

Hong Kong airspace is congested at the best of times. With four major airports within 150 kilometres and many overflights to and from mainland China, the 2016 introduction of a new Air Traffic System known as “Autotrac3” was set to assist in solving some of the complexity whilst increasing safety. The transition to the new system was challenging with various system issues.

The TMA is also complicated by significant terrain and regular adverse weather. Recent statistics show that air traffic is up over 3.5% already in 2018 with 36,000 movements occurring monthly (6.4 million passengers).

The continued massive year-on-year growth has seen the start of work to construct a third runway, expected to be operational in 2023-24 to facilitate the expected 100 million passengers using HKIA by that time.

This will no doubt just put further strain on an already complicated airspace situation.

The new third runway at HKIA- coming 2023-24.

Have you operated through the Hong Kong area lately? Can you provide an update?

Extra Reading:

• Civil Aviation Department Annual Report 2016/2017
• Three-runway System Hong Kong

GMZZ/Morocco The new Agadir ACC is due to open on Apr 26. Within the GMMM/Casablanca FIR, the Agadir ACC will manage air traffic off the coast (a handful of airways linking Spain with the Canary Islands), whilst the old Casablanca ACC will continue to manage everything else across the rest of the country. The new AFTN code for Agadir ACCis GMACZQZX. More details will be published on the Eurocontrol NOP Portal by Apr 20. In the meantime, you can see the full AIRAC update here.

OSZZ/Syria Reports of another missile strike over Syria on Apr 17 were denied by the Syrian military as a false alarm, but say their defence systems were triggered by an electronic attack on their radars by Israel and the US – both of whom deny the claim.

VTZZ/Thailand Most parts of northern and central Thailand, including Bangkok, will be affected by powerful tropical storms from Apr 17-19, marking the end of the Songkran holiday.

KCOS/Colorado Springs The airport has now re-opened, after a fire that broke out overnight on Apr 16 forced the main terminal to be closed and all commercial flights suspended.

HAAB/Addis Ababa Flights have resumed after a surprise ATC strike on the morning of Apr 17 brought airport activities to a virtual standstill for more than an hour. Unions have not ruled out further action if demands are not met.

HEZZ/Egypt As authorities continue to confront armed militants in North Sinai, the Nile Delta and the Western Desert, the state of emergency across the country has been extended for another three months – the fourth time since it was first declared last year.

AYZZ/Papua New Guinea The National Weather Service are currently on strike until Apr 25. METAR/TAF is still being provided at AYPY/Port Moresby, the country’s main international airport. Other airports might not have any weather forecasts published.

AYBK/Buka Island Damage to the precision approach path indicator lights, blamed on vandalism. PAPI is now out of action until the end of May, and national carrier Air Niugini has suspended all flights at the airport until further notice.

GATB/Timbuktu Terrorist attack on the UN base near the airport on Apr 15, including a rocket and car bomb attack that left one UN peacekeeper dead, and over 20 others wounded. To operate to GATB, you need authorization from the Malian Air Force. Email them at panif.cccoa@gmail.com, or phone +223 20221631.

ENTC/Tromso Airport’s only runway will be closed overnight Sun-Fri 22-04Z due construction from May 24-Sep 13. Full details here.

VNRB/Rajbiraj A new runway has been built, 1500 metres long and 30 metres wide, to replace the old grass runway – and the airport is now set to open to domestic traffic on May 1.

EGGX/Shanwick NAT has released a guidance document of Performance Based Separation Minima. There’s nice information on specific requirements for airspaces. Full details here.

KGVT/Greenville The airport will close for runway repairs from Apr 28-30, and again from May 5-7. No NOTAM yet, so keep a watch out for changes.

PGUM/Agana A big TRA is active from Apr 15-22, which is centered on Anderson AFB, but does cover a lot of airspace north of PGUM airport, and extends from 2600-20000 feet. Full details here.

KBGR/Bangor All RVR at the airport will be out of service until Apr 20. During the same time, CAT II and III ILS won’t be available on RWY 15.

NWWW/Noumea Airport is open, but backup power is out of service. Cannot be used as an alternate until Apr 20.

LCZZ/Cyprus Cyprus has restricted a section of airspace (LCD3&LCD4) just south of the island for the British Military. As of now, this area is reserved until May 12.

KZZZ/USA The FAA have issued a new Advisory with standardized guidance for operating at non-towered airports. Full details here.

ZUJZ/Jiuzhaigou The airport will reopen on Apr 18, after being closed since Aug 2017 due to a 7-magnitude earthquake in the nearby Jiuzhai Valley – a popular tourist destination in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

UUWW/Moscow A Moscow airspace closure SFC-FL100 means there will be no arrivals or departures allowed from any Moscow airports between 0740-0810z each day on Apr 16-19. Expect disruption before and after these times too. This closure is for rehearsals for the annual May 9 Victory Day parade and airshow.

WMKK/Kuala Lumpur Possible delays over the next couple of months due to reduced runway capacity. Every night from 17-22z until the end of Apr, the airport will be closing one of its three runways – a different one each night. Then from May 11 to June 7, one runway will be closed completely.

OYSN/Sana’a On Apr 12, Saudi warplanes bombed the airport in the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital city, in response to Houthi rockets launched towards Saudi targets on Apr 11. Saudi Arabia had attacked Sanaa airport in Nov 2017, damaging its ground navigation tower and parts of its runway.