{"id":16073,"date":"2021-11-26T06:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T11:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=16073"},"modified":"2022-03-28T04:24:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-28T08:24:25","slug":"scottish-airport-top-trumps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/scottish-airport-top-trumps\/","title":{"rendered":"Scottish Airport Top Trumps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thinking about heading to Scotland for some whisky, golf or a plate of haggis? Here’s a little ‘Top Trumps’ guide to three of the airports you might be thinking of operating into.<\/p>\n

(If you want to visit Trump International golf course in Scotland then that\u2019d be EGPD\/Aberdeen you\u2019re after).<\/p>\n

Scotland at a glance.<\/h4>\n

Scotland offers several international airport options. We already mentioned EGPD\/Aberdeen<\/strong> which is northeast. Even further north you have EGPE\/Inverness<\/strong> up in the Highlands. The HIAL (Highlands and Islands) Airport Group look after eleven airports up in the north region.<\/p>\n

EGPN\/Dundee<\/strong> and EGPT\/Perth<\/strong> are your central easterly choices, with EGEO\/Oban<\/strong> to the west (and a couple out in the islands).<\/p>\n

Your top three which lie closer to the border with England however are EGPF\/Glasgow<\/strong>, EGPK\/Glasgow Prestwick<\/strong> and EGPH\/Edinburgh<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span>So we thought we\u2019d take a look at those.<\/p>\n

\"\"Who controls you?<\/h4>\n

Scotland is part of the United Kingdom. Like the rest of the UK they use Great British Pounds (GBP), and aviation is controlled by the UK CAA.<\/strong><\/p>\n

NATS provide the ATC services <\/strong>through their Prestwick Centre.<\/a> You\u2019ll probably find yourself speaking to Manchester Area Control (MACC) if you fly through England, before handing over to Scottish (ScACC) and potentially Oceanic (OACC) who control the eastern half of the NAT from 45 degrees north (Azores) to 61 degrees north (the boundary to Iceland).<\/p>\n

You generally don’t need permits to overfly and land, unless you are a commercial flight wanting to land. That said, some airports do have slot requirements<\/strong> and to head into the UK you do need to fill out a General Aviation Report<\/strong>, and ensure customs have a copy at least a day in advance. If you’re a commercial operator, give it two days and if it’s for a series of fights then five will keep you organised.<\/p>\n

Head here for info<\/a> on this, or email foreigncarrierpermits@caa.co.uk<\/a> for help with permits<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the weather looking like?<\/h4>\n
\"\"

Warning about yellow snow are common across the UK in winter…<\/p><\/div>\n

We’ve given this its own section because the weather in Scotland can be challenging<\/strong>. Along the southern region it is milder but you are still going to be faced with some serious snow and winter ops conditions from time to time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Back in 2017<\/a>, major snow storms<\/strong> resulted in the closure of Scottish airports, and many a day of disruption. It happened again in 2018, and in fact does pretty much every year. Fast forward to now (2021) and a town in Aberdeenshire just recorded the coldest temperature seen in the UK in 26 years<\/strong> (minus 23\u00b0C, or -9.4\u00b0F for our American continent friends).<\/p>\n

So Scotland gets cold and snowy. This means you need to think about your cold weather ops, in particular:<\/p>\n