NAT changes postponed 05OCT Phase 2 of Reduced Separation on the North Atlantic NAT Tracks will not go ahead as planned, slowing down the rate of change in the NAT region. Read the article.

Matthew: Airport Update 05OCT The next 24 hours will dictate the impact that Hurricane Matthew will have on Florida, as it leaves Cuba and begins to track north through the Bahamas. Airports Update: for Haiti, MTPP/Port-au-Prince … Read the article.

DGAA/Accra, Ghana has a radar outage until Oct 19th in the southern area.

EGKK/London Gatwick has a Runway Occupancy Trial starting on 08OCT, all medium and large aircraft (A319 upwards) should plan to vacate at FR. Smaller aircraft vacate at E.

ENGM/Oslo has a fueler strike – plan to carry return fuel to avoid issues, until 10OCT at least.

OAZZ/Afghanistan Security reminder from Kabul: serious threats to safety and security exist in the city of Kabul and throughout Afghanistan. The threat of kidnapping is high. The potential also exists for protests to occur in Afghan cities at short notice. Militant groups usually plan attacks against locations and individuals with potential American connections, including: Afghan and U.S. government facilities, foreign embassies, military installations, commercial entities, non-governmental organization offices, restaurants, hotels, airports, and educational centers.Travel to all areas of Afghanistan remains unsafe due to the ongoing risk of kidnapping, hostage taking, military combat operations, landmines, banditry, armed rivalry between political and tribal groups, militant attacks, direct and indirect fire, suicide bombings, and insurgent attacks, including attacks using vehicle-borne or other improvised explosive devices.

MYZZ/Bahamas all Airports closed due to Hurricane Matthew with effect today until 1900Z on 07OCT.

YMHB/Hobart is extending the 12/30 runway, see AIC H30/16 for impact information.

FEFF/Bangui has an overnight airport curfew from 2200-0500Z until the end of the year.

DIAP/Ivory Coast It’s now possible to apply for a visa online; after registering and paying online, you can collect the visa on arrival at Abidjan airport.

LTZZ/Turkey The state of emergency will officially be extended until January 2017. The announcement came after a Cabinet meeting; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also supported the extension. The state of emergency was put in place on 20 July following the 15 July attempted coup.

Typhoon Chaba While many eyes are on Hurricane Matthew, on the other side of the world Chaba is tracking north towards Japan after strongly impacting South Korea, however the system is weakening.

BIZZ/Iceland Volcano Katla downgraded to colour code Green, after last weeks concerns of elevated activity.

HAAB/Addis Ababa There are reports of anti-government protests taking place on the outskirts of Addis Ababa on Oct 4th. Unconfirmed reports indicate that protesters are attacking government property in the Akaki, Alem Gena, Burayu, Sebeta, Keta and Ayer Tena areas and that police officers have been deployed to the affected locations. Meanwhile, in the city center, shops have reportedly closed and there have been isolated reports of gunfire. Transportation to and from the affected areas has shut down.

LGZZ/Greece Greek trade unions have announced strike action that is expected to cause disruption to a number of domestic flights between 4 October and 8 October.

FVZZ/Zimbabwe The UNIVISA system has been suspended. If travelling between Zimbabwe and Zambia more than once either way, you should get a double entry visa; due to the ongoing cash liquidity crisis, authorities have announced a series of measures designed to stem the flow of US dollars out of the country; take sufficient cash to cover your needs for the duration of your travel.

View full International Bulletin 05OCT2016

Taiwan ADS-B requirement 21SEP Yesterday, Taiwan pushed the requirement for ADS-B above FL290 for all aircraft, back to 2020 – as a fast approaching deadline of December this year was looming. Read the article.

Costa Rica volcano 21SEP MROC/San Jose, Costa Rica has reopened after the eruption of the Turrialba volcano on Monday. A risk of further closures continues. Read the article.

OPZZ/Pakistan Some airspace in the north of the country (Kashmir region) has been closed by the Pakistan CAA. Details are unclear but reports indicate Gilgit, Skardu and Chitral Airports are affected by the closure.

BIKF/Keflavik Departing KEF eastbound? Icelandic ATC would love you to file the following as a standard route: PIXUM PETUX ORTAV ODPEX, or 63N022W CELLO if you’re planning to cross 10W at GOMUP or south of.

EDDL/Dusseldorf has closed 05L/23R for a couple of days to remove a WW2 bomb. Some delays at peak times may result.

HLGT/Ghat, Libya Three foreign nationals were kidnapped along the road that leads to Ghat Airport on 19SEP, located in the Fezzan province along the southwest border with Algeria. The foreigners were construction workers employed by the Italian-owned Conicos company to service Ghat Airport. There are numerous armed militia and terrorist groups active in the area and the foreigners were said to be operating under discretion due to the security risk.

EDHL/Lubeck will closed on Oct 4th for repairs – all day.

ENGM/Oslo will introduce new RNP AR approaches in November, available to all runways. Auth from Norwegian CAA is required to use them.

FKKD/Douala now requires PPR 72 hours prior arrival, for non-scheduled flights, due to upcoming space restrictions as a result of WIP. You can make requests directly to Airport admin at pce.douala@adcsa.aero.

GBZZ/Gambia In a change to procedure, Overflight Permits, and Landing Permits for traffic operating to GBYD/Banjul, are now issued by the Department of Flight Safety Standards at the GCAA.

HCMM/Mogadishu has issued a security reminder to operators: “OPERATORS SHOULD EXER EXTREME CTN AND FULLY ASSESS THE POTENTIAL FOR RISKS TO FLT SAFETY AND SECURITY WHEN PLANNING OR CONDUCTING OPS INTO MOGADISHU AIRPORT DUE TO LACK OF INFORMATION ON ARMED CONFLICT AND LACK OF AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION.”

FAZZ/South Africa The CAA has updated its warnings for operators, with new guidance for two airspace blocks: that affected by the Syrian conflict – namely Baghdad, Damascus, and Tehran FIRs; and that affected by recent concerns over the Northern Sinai – their advice is to overfly at FL260 or higher.

LMML/Malta airshow coming up on 24-25 Sept, multiple restrictions, check before operating or filing as alternate.

FZZZ/DRC Congo Since September 19 large-scale demonstrations have been resulting in violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Kinshasa and elsewhere in the country. The situation is particularly tense in Kinshasa where violence has caused casualties. These demonstrations could continue over the next few days and the situation could further degenerate. The sole road to the Kinshasa airport could be blocked and some flights have been cancelled.

OJZZ/Jordan It’s White Stork migration season, and Jordan has issued warnings for all of its airports, for crews to be mindful of the high chance of presence of large flocks of them on arrival and departure.

SKED/Bogota has some comms issues on north/south bound routes to Peru (Lima FIR); 10 minute separation is applied betwen aircraft on these routes until at least Sept 26th.

KZZZ/USA For some good reading, the FAA (thanks Andy for passing this on), have updated their Aviation Weather guidance doc. This is the first revision to the document since 1975.

Input: ATC, Pilots, Dispatchers: Any topical items that you think should be going out to the community? Let us know, and we’ll get your message out there. tellus@opsgroup.co.

View full International Bulletin 21SEP2016

Chinese Airport Delays 03FEB ZXXX/China This is the busiest travel week of the year in China, with millions travelling for the Chinese New Year on 08FEB. Winter storms are forecast to impose delays across central Chinese airports; those currently affected include ZWWW/Urumqi Diwopu, ZSNJ/Nanjing Lukou, ZGGG/Guangzhou, and ZHHH/Wuhan Tianhe.

Eurocontrol NOP Changes 03FEB There are some significant changes to the daily Eurocontrol Briefings effective this week. Network News is no longer, and the D-1 daily conference is also gone. Instead, an Initial Network Plan is published each day at 1700Z on the Network Operations Portal.

TTxx/Trinidad and Tobago The annual Carnival in Port of Spain will take place on 08-09FEB . Travel and tourism activities are expected to continue for up to two weeks after the celebration and will be busiest during weekends. 10FEB (Ash Wednesday) is expected to be the busiest day of the year at the Port of Spain airport.

EISN/Shannon FIR Correction ** Due to a number of flights deviating from clearances prior to exiting Shanwick OCA, flight crews are reminded that Eastbound route clearances issued by Shannon Control for aircraft exiting Oceanic Airspace apply from AGORI, SUNOT, BILTO, PIKIL, ETARI, RESNO, VENER, DOGAL, NEBIN, MALOT, TOBOR, LIMRI, ADARA, DINIM, RODEL, SOMAX, KOGAD, BEDRA, OMOKO, TAMEL AND LASNO. Flights shall not turn before these points. In other words: wait until you enter (** Thank you to Shannon ATC for pointing out the error in last weeks bulletin).

North Atlantic Effective 04FEB MNPS Airspace is replaced by HLA/High Level Airspace on the North Atlantic – extended with Bodø joining Shanwick, Gander, Reykjavik, New York, and Santa Maria. RNP4 or RNP10 now required. Read our International Ops Notice 01/2016 or our blog post: Did you know MNPS is over?

Eurocontrol NOP Changes There are some significant changes to the daily Eurocontrol Briefings effective 01FEB. Network News is no longer, and the D-1 daily conference is also gone. Instead, an Initial Network Plan is published each day at 1700Z on the Network Operations Portal.

FMMM/Madagascar CAA have issued a reminder to inbound operators that a Passenger List must be sent 24 hrs prior to departure for Madagascar, by email to gdpx@acm.mg.

MKJK/Kingston FIR Jamaica, has ongoing issues with radar coverage and serviceability, leading to ad-hoc flow management procedures including 15 minute en-route separation, and 10 minute arrival separation at international airports. Delays appear likely. Reports welcome to bulletin@fsbureau.org.

FHAW/Ascension Island is now operating at Rescue and Firefighting Category 8/RFF8.

United Kingdom Last week the UK Registered Traveller Service, which is the equivalent of the US Global Entry program, was expanded to include a few more countries: Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan. Additionally, Bristol and Cardiff will be added to the list of participating airports.

MUXX/Cuba Flight crews of US based aircraft can now remain in Cuba with their aircraft when traveling to the island nation, instead of having to reposition immediately after offloading passengers. The change took effect on 27JAN, with new amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations and Export Administration Regulations issued by the U.S. OFAC and BIS.

NCRG/Rarotonga, Cook Islands has new hours of ATC service: 2050 SUN-0400 MON, 1500 MON-1930 MON, 0530 WED-1400 WED, 2100 THU-1000 FRI, 2100 FRI-1000 SAT, 1400 SAT-1930 SAT, 0600 SUN-1130 SUN. These are UTC/Z Times, local is UTC-10. Raro is an important diversion airport in the South Pacific, especially for Easter Island and Tahiti. ATC is avail with 30 mins PN outside these hours (call +682 25890/71439).

EHAM/Amsterdam has raised the minimum vectoring altitude from 1200ft to 1600ft, which seems to spell an end to those super efficient 3 mile final approaches to 06. Still the best Terminal ATC in Europe.

Europe EASA has launched a 2 person cockpit survey to open discussion on the impact of their new recommended practice of always having 2 crew members in the cockpit.

PKMJ/Majuro, Marshall Islands – ExxonMobil will have no fuel during tanker replenishment, scheduled for 13-17FEB.

ZXXX/China This is the busiest travel week of the year in China, with millions travelling for the Chinese New Year on 08FEB. Winter storms are forecast to impose delays across central Chinese airports; those currently affected include ZWWW/Urumqi Diwopu Int’l, ZSNJ/Nanjing Lukou Int’l, ZGGG/Guangzhou, and ZHHH/Wuhan Tianhe.

ENGM/Oslo Oslo Airport has started supplying Air BP Biojet via its regular fuel hydrant system, naming three large European airlines as launch customers. It is now is supplied from the main fuel farm, via common storage and distribution facilities, without the need for segregated infrastructure. Previously, it had to be provided by fuel truck.

DNKK/Kano ACC Nigeria, Area Radar Service is provided H24 from 04FEB.

View the full International Bulletin 03FEB2016