Hi Scott,
An aussie and a yank chatting about european airspace!!
Don't forget that you need to be rated in the area that you are going to work.
That point is acknowledged and I am not suggesting for one moment that the controllers working the airspace ain't appropriately endorsed.
you are going to need to know the airspace and other such items such as arrivals, departures approaches.
Of course you need to know the airspace but in my earlier post I was referring to the upper enroute area, perhaps RVSM levels.
Whats the Ozzy line on say, AsiaControl and a rationalisation of en-route centres, with the Upper Air above Sydney being controlled from say, Tokyo?
I'm sure there would be issues that needed to addressed. As it is the Upper Air above Sydney is controlled from Melbourne. The Upper Air above our nation's capital (Canberra) is also controlled by Melbourne. As Tokyo is in the same time zone there may not be that much of an advantage, but controlling aircraft using CPDLC and ADS doesn't have to done from directly beneath the airspace.
Australia has two major centres, both located on the eastern side of Australia, one in Brisbane and one in Melbourne. The Brisbane Centre handles traffic across the northern half of Australia. The Melbourne Centre handles traffic across the southern half of Australia and into the Indian Ocean.
I can understand the senstivities of governments about other nationals controlling the upper airspace. That is why you would limit it to upper airspace [RVSM] and entry to lower levels would required the approval of the state.
Airservices Australia has a contract with the Solomon Islands government to manage the upper airspace of the Honiara FIR on their behalf. This ATC service is provided from the Brisbane Centre.
The marketing people at Airservices argue that they have the technology platform and the experience to offer similar services to other nations.