{"id":22835,"date":"2024-04-17T01:15:45","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T05:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/?p=22835"},"modified":"2024-04-17T08:17:46","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T12:17:46","slug":"tiba-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/tiba-in-australia\/","title":{"rendered":"TIBA in Australia: What\u2019s Going On?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>TIBA still seems to be an issue in Australia &#8211; shortage of ATC resulting in big bits of restricted Class G airspace, often at short notice. <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>We wrote about this last year, including guidance on what to do (see updated post below), but now IFALPA have published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ifalpa.org\/media\/4060\/24sab02-tiba-airspace.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Safety Bulletin<\/a> saying the problem is still ongoing.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Amid accusations of understaffing, Australian ATC has announced they intend to strike. This process will take a few weeks to action, and so we\u2019ll likely see disruptions from May. This may include full 24hr work stoppages and will be notified in advance via the YMMM\/Melbourne and YBBB\/Brisbane FIR Notams.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Since early in 2023, we\u2019ve seen large sections of <strong>restricted TIBA airspace<\/strong> (traffic information broadcasts by aircraft) established by Notam up Australia\u2019s East Coast in both the <strong>YMMM\/Melbourne<\/strong> and <strong>YBBB\/Brisbane FIRs.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In fact, there were 340 instances of uncontrolled airspace between June 2022 and April 2023 alone. And it\u2019s <strong>still happening.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The cause here appears to be a fundamental <strong>shortage of air traffic controllers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-22865\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/AUSTRALIA-12X8.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<h4>Where has this been happening?<\/h4>\n<p>In the South, look out for TIBA airspace east of <strong>YSCB\/Canberra <\/strong>airport, Australia\u2019s capital city found inland from Sydney.<\/p>\n<p>Further north there has been a greater effect as large portions of coastal airspace near <strong>YBCG\/Gold Coast<\/strong> and <strong>YBTL\/Townsville<\/strong> airports have been impacted. This is an <strong>extremely busy air corridor<\/strong> &#8211; 80% of Australia\u2019s population live on the East Coast.<\/p>\n<p>At the top end of Australia, <strong>YPDN\/Darwin<\/strong> airport has also been affected which can result in re-routes for international traffic headed up into South-East Asia and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what those hotspots look like on a map:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22841\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22841\" class=\"size-large wp-image-22841\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots-1024x645.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots-1024x645.png 1024w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots-300x189.png 300w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots-768x484.png 768w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots-1536x968.png 1536w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/hot-spots.png 1974w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-22841\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">TIBA airspace has been reported in or near these hotspots.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>It\u2019s not all the time.<\/h4>\n<p>TIBA airspace is being <strong>activated by Notam<\/strong>, typically for hours at a time. A look at today\u2019s batch indicated all is ops-normal. However, a local airline captain has advised OPSGROUP that it is currently a frequent occurrence.<\/p>\n<h4>Broadcast, or avoid?<\/h4>\n<p>The vast majority of airline traffic appear to be <strong>avoiding<\/strong> <strong>the TIBA airspace.<\/strong> This typically involves less direct routes at the expense of delays and fuel. Helpfully, for major city pairings the NOTAMs contain suggested routes that will keep you clear. But expect SIDs or STARs you may be less familiar with.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, major carriers have policies in place that prevent them from using TIBA airspace anyway \u2013 unless they happen to be in it when it is activated.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s not to say there won\u2019t be other traffic taking advantage of the more advantageous routes though. The East Coast is characterised by a <strong>huge variety of traffic<\/strong> including charter, skydiving, medevac and survey all of which may have valid reasons for using TIBA.<\/p>\n<p>It can still be used safely, but with the procedures below (a heads up: <strong>dual comms are a requirement<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<h4>How on earth do I \u2018do TIBA\u2019?<\/h4>\n<p>First things first. <strong>Whatever you do, don\u2019t enter without permission.<\/strong> Australia\u2019s TIBA airspace is typically restricted \u2013 in the sense <strong>you will need PPR to use it<\/strong>. The relevant Notams are quite helpful, and provide all the information on how to get it. <a href=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/dashboard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/TIBA-29-June.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Here\u2019s an example<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Your approval will typically involve a phone call beforehand, and a chat to a flight information service in adjacent airspace for traffic information.<\/p>\n<p>Once you\u2019re in, you are totally responsible for terrain and collision avoidance. Turn that radio up and make sure you\u2019re both alert and monitoring both the TIBA frequency and the relevant ATS one \u2013 now is not the time for controlled rest. Whoever is on the radios is going to be busy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Australian AIP<\/strong> <strong>then takes over.<\/strong> You can find the procedures in full <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airservicesaustralia.com\/aip\/current\/aip\/enroute_15JUN2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> (time saver: flick to ENR 1.1-91). We\u2019ve also put together a summary of those in this handy little briefing card which may be useful to keep in your flight bag:<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_22854\" style=\"width: 410px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/dashboard\/category\/briefings\/guides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22854\" class=\"wp-image-22854\" src=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TIBA.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TIBA.jpg 600w, https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/TIBA-208x300.jpg 208w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-22854\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">OPSGROUP members: click to download hi-res PDF.<\/p><\/div>\n<h4>Other questions?<\/h4>\n<p>You can also get in touch with CASA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casa.gov.au\/about-us\/contact-us\">via this link,<\/a> or alternatively Airservices Australia <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airservicesaustralia.com\/about-us\/contact-us\/\">here<\/a> with questions. Both have been very helpful in answering our pesky conundrums in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points TIBA still seems to be an issue in Australia &#8211; shortage of ATC&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":22843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[296,76,1836],"class_list":{"0":"post-22835","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-briefings","8":"tag-atc","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-tiba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22835"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25091,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22835\/revisions\/25091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ops.group\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}