Hello Nimmer, it's good to hear from someone from DXB ATC on this site. Most of us will understand some of the difficult conditions ATC workers have to deal with here.
I'd like to add my two-cents worth that DXB needs to get the process started to get Datalink Departure Clearance (DCL) by ACARS,
now, rather than when your staffing levels are better. It'll make staffing levels better and it can be eased in gradually into DXB operations.
More sophisticated than Pre-Departure Clearance (otherwise known as PDC), DCL will solve a lot of your problems (plus reduce pilot workload & chance of misunderstandings). It would essentially cut the use of voice for departure and enroute clearances in half at DXB, as virtually all EK flights would be using it.
The cost is minimal & will pay for itself in short order. A number of Euro stations are using DCL or PDC to some degree & Australia & US have had ACARS text clearances in some form for many years. If a visit to Munich ATC might be possible, they've been using it for about a year & may have some valid input.
While we are on the subject of ACARS communications at DXB, please could you do something about the format of Digital ATIS (D-ATIS) at DXB. The format is non-ICAO standard and confusing to pilots. Arrival & departure runway details are not separated correctly within the message.
Most of the stations that transmit D-ATIS have clearly separated details for Arrival & Departure runways (but still contained in the same message). We've been told that we'll have to wait for DXB to get different equipment to enable DEP and ARR ATIS to be separated. This may be true, but is there anything that can be done to separate ARR & DEP info in the current DXB D-ATIS message in some way? For example, instead of the currently jumbled;
....'ARR 30R EXP ILS APPR DEP 30L'....
in the message, could it be separated in some way, such as...
....'ARR 30R EXP ILS APPR / / / / DEP 30L'.... or even better start the DEP information on a new line in the D-ATIS message?
It may seem like a small change, but it would help us out a lot. This especially, with all the runway work going on these days.
