The November Mega OpsChat – All the Links…

By OPSGROUP Team

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The November 24th “East/West-One-Day-Two-Calls” OpsChat Bonanza was great! Thank you to all who joined us, and those who shared some useful intel with the group.

Boy, did we cover a lot! The good news is if you missed the show, you can re-watch the recording here:

During the chat, we provided a bunch of links for each topic covered. If you weren’t quick enough to catch them at the time (we don’t blame you), here’s a little summary….


November Updates…

Greenland

What? Baffling Notam issued declaring Greenland’s airports were closed.

What else? Panic not, a better one was then reissued, saying that you could still use Greenland’s airports for ETOPS and diversion alternates. We called them and they said that tech-stops and ferry flights are also allowed (although not listed in the Notam). They’ve basically just banned passenger flights, and don’t want people staying overnight.

More Info:
Greenland Closes Its Airports To (Nearly) All Passenger Flights – Opsgroup Blog Post
Official Word from The Danish Civil Aviation 

Israel

What? You can now overfly Israel (as well as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain).

What else? You need a local sponsor, should depart from an approved airport (but they do make exceptions) and need a permit.

More Info:
Israel overflights now allowed – Opsgroup Blog Post

Hong Kong

What? Strange ILS behaviour, especially on Runway 07R/25L. Pretty much down to antennas, terrain and Boeing AFDS…

What else? They have also updated their Covid entry restrictions for crew – it’s now slightly harder to get in.

More info:
The Thing About the ILS
Hong Kong Entry Rules for Flight Crew – OpsGroup Blog Post
The Official Word

CENEMAR (Central America)

What? There are some new flight planning requirements you need to know about.

What else? You can flight plan direct above FL200, and must include the new AFTN address MHFPZYZX when filing your flight plan.

More info:
CENEMAR: New Flight Planning Requirements – Opsgroup Blog Post


Other big updates from 2020…

November 5th ICAO changes

When? Er… November 5th!

What? We are talking changes to wake turbulence categories, NAT Contingency Procedrues, SLOP and Gross Navigation Errors.

More info:
The 511 on Nov 5th Changes – Opsgroup Blog Post
Hopefully a Link to the New 4444

Wake Turbulence Categories

Other overflights that are now ok

What? FAA SFAR updates – where US operators can’t go!

Where?
– Ukraine: UKFV/Simferopol FIR is ok, UKDV/Dnipro FIR is not ok.
– Iran: Not ok, but the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf are – Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Muscat FIRs.

More info:
Safeairspace
Overflying Crimea – Opsgroup Blog Post

Ukraine Airspace and a link to Safeairspace

Russian Me-trics

What? Russia are moving to feet (referenced to QNH) below transition through their airspace, starting with major airports.

When? From December 3rd.

More info:
Russia are still playing me-trics on us – Opsgroup Blog Post
The Russian AIP (don’t worry, it is in english too)

ADS-B

What? When will you get in trouble for not having it.

Where?
– Europe: ADS-B is required from June 2023, but have your retrofit plan in by December 7 (unless your AoC is before 1995).
– US: ADS-B is required anywhere Mode C, or in the picture below.
– Rest of World: Above FL290, pretty much.

More info:
European ADS-B Mandate – Opsgroup Blog Post
The FAA FAQs on ADS-B

Where you need ADS-B in the US

North Atlantic Datalink Mandate

What? The North Atlantic Datalink Mandate (NAT DLM) is the thing that came into effect in Jan 2020, which meant that CPDLC was then required between FL290-FL410 throughout the entire NAT region. Simply put, you must be equipped with CPDLC and ADS-C if you want to fly between these flight levels.

And then what happened? Then Covid happened. Because of the resulting reduction in traffic they suspended this mandate, and it looks set to stay this way until the end of Feb 2021. Bottom line, aircraft which do not have CPDLC and ADS-C can continue to operate across the North Atlantic between FL290-410 until then.

More info:
North Atlantic Datalink Mandate – Opsgroup Blog Post


SafeAirspace Update…

Ethiopia

What? Escalating conflict – Danger to overflying aircraft – beware of open airways!!

Where? Ethiopia – the Tigray region bordering Eritrea

More info:
Safeairspace – Ethiopia
Airspace Risk Warning: Eritrea and Ethiopia – Opsgroup Blog Post

Ethiopia Tigray region and a link to our post

Saudi Arabia

What? Drone and ballistic missile strikes continue from Yemen, no end in sight.

Where? Southern Saudi Arabia particularly, but Jeddah and Riyadh have also been attacked.

More info:
Safeairspace

Armenia/Azerbaijan

What? The conflict is ‘officially’ over, but the airspace remains dangerous!

Where? The airspace between Azerbaijan’s UBBA/Baku FIR and Armenia’s UDDD/Yerevan FIR.

More info:
Safeairspace

Western Sahara

What? An emerging conflict zone, with the threat of anti-aircraft weaponry. Little info or warnings, that may well affect aircraft operating into the Canarias.

Where? Northwestern Africa – a area region between Morocco and the Polisario.

More info:
Safeairspace


Stay tuned for our next Ops Chat coming up in January 2021!

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OPSGROUP Team

OPSGROUP Team

Question for us? Write to blog.team@ops.group.

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