{"id":12893,"date":"2021-04-21T11:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T15:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=12893"},"modified":"2021-04-28T07:09:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T11:09:45","slug":"chad-airspace-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/chad-airspace-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Chad Airspace Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chad’s long term President, Idriss D\u00e9by died this week, having spent more than three decades in power as one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders. So why did his death result in the temporary closure of the country<\/strong>, and what is the impact to aviation?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The background<\/h4>\n

Chad is a large landlocked country in Africa, bordered by Sudan, Libya, the CAR, Cameroon,Nigeria and Niger.<\/p>\n

D\u00e9by was focused on building a more democratic society and he had strong allies in France and with other Western powers through his continued fighting against Jihadist groups<\/strong>. Provincial elections were already underway with projections suggesting he would be successful in winning a sixth term.<\/p>\n

\"\"However, Chad is also one of the poorest nations in the world, with big problems around poverty, corruption and human rights, and with that came civil unrest.<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/h4>\n

D\u00e9by was injured during a visit to troops who were battling against rebels<\/a> belonging to a group called Fact (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad). The big concern now is who will become the next leader – D\u00e9by’s son has stepped in – but the government has been dissolved<\/strong> and conflict is escalating<\/a> in the country as opposing parties fight for power.<\/p>\n

The military elected initially to close land and maritime borders, but then closed all airports as well<\/strong>, whilst putting in a strict countrywide curfew.<\/p>\n

The Impact for Aviation<\/h4>\n

Initially, a Notam was issued stating that FTTJ\/Ndjamena airport was closed, and that Contingency Procedures were in effect across the FTTT\/Ndjamena FIR.\u00a0Then a couple of days later, on Apr 21, the Notam was cancelled and the US Embassy issued a Security Alert<\/a> advising that FTTJ airport has reopened.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the short term however, landings are not advised, and overflying aircraft should be familiar with Contingency Procedures. You can download the Contingency Plan from the Acesna AIP here.<\/a><\/p>\n

This plan lays out the arrangements for situations where the Air Navigation Services are partially or totally disrupted<\/strong>, and aims to ensure overflights remain possible. Effectively, it aims to coordinate with neighboring ATS units so control of the N’Djamena UIR is temporarily assigned to them – Brazzaville ACC and Niamey ACC are the primary units being used.<\/p>\n

Pilot operating procedures<\/strong> while Contingency Procedures are activated are shown under section 8.3 and the advises the following:<\/p>\n