Originally Posted by
LeeRoy Jenkins 2005
HIAL ATCOs are on a work to rule as part of their industrial action. The Kirkwall to Edinburgh Loganair flight on Friday evening was informed by ATC that due to controller hours the airport was closed and the flight would not be able to depart. ATC closes and goes home. Airport has reached the end of it's published operating hours for the day so is officially closed. End of story? No. Loganair flight 63KB departs to Edinburgh 46 minutes later from a closed airport with passengers on board. How is this possible? Management sent someone to the Tower to switch on the lights. Management said it was ok. Airport not NOTAMed as open so not licenced. No air traffic service of any sort provided to departing plane. How was any of this safe or legal? Surely there are laws against this?
Just because the ATS service is closed, does not nessecarily mean an airport is closed. I've often flown in and out of airports outside ATS operating hours, even airport opening hours. It often depends on the agreement you have with the airport.
Commercial flights with passengers may be another matter, there may be a legal requirement that there's an active ATS unit when you have more than x number of passengers on board. On the other hand, if it's an empty "company flight", it may fall under the same agreement as I have private flying in a Piper.
I'm not sure about the UK, but where I've been, we could close ATC, but that does not mean the airport is closed.... hence when we go home in the evening, company flights and other small aircraft kept comming and going, handling it as a "radio field". But if passenger flights are comming, they'd request ATC and fire and rescue open, and we'd stay.