We seem to be all agreeing that Standard R/T is the way to go, and callsigns should ALWAYS be used. Unfortunately the pilots not using callsigns and not reporting level passing and cleared level on first contact, are in all likelihood not the guys reading these forums. Maybe you guys who do read these forums need to get in the ears of the guys you fly with that are guilty of these errors, and also in the ears of the check captains who may be able to improve the standard across the airline as a whole.
As far as aircraft being levelled off rather than having continuous descent or climb, I can't speak for Dammam, or Bahrain or Doha, but I'll try and explain the challenges we face specifically in the UAE. From the Southern Emirates (AUH) to Muscat the standard coordinated level for departures is FL210, and from Northern Emirates (DXB and SHJ) to Muscat is FL250. Depending on the runway in use, the aircraft type, long haul vs short haul, the air temperature etc etc. these FL's can be enough to allow us to transfer the aircraft to Muscat at the boundary and still allow continuous climb. Alot of the time though, the aircraft needs climb prior to the FIR boundary, and that means in the case of the Nth, we need to coordinate with both UAE Nth and Muscat for higher, which depending on our workload, or theirs, may not be possible. If that is the case and I have the time available I will always try and tell the aircraft concerned as early as possible the expected delay for higher so as to allow the pilot to reduce the climb rate so as to hopefully allow continuous climb. A major reason for FL210 out of AUH to Muscat is that Muscat descends the African/Yemen traffic from the south going to Northern Emirates to FL220, and these routes cross the AUH eastbound route just inside Muscats airspace, so if all else fails due to workload, frequency congestion or radio failure, we have separation established. So again, we will try to get the aircraft higher if we can but due to a number of reasons this may not be possible. Again if that is the case I will try and tell the pilot asap of this being the case and hopefully when they can expect to get higher.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are these sorts of restrictions all over the airspace (eg. FL220 by DUMPI, at the moment not below FL160 inbound DB/SHJ till clear of Muscat FIR due NOTAMed restricted airspace, etc.) These restrictions are so that if all else fails hopefully we will have vertical separation with crossing traffic. We don't intentionally stop aircraft from climbing or descending on profile, but in a lot of cases there is a very good reason why a level off is unavoidable.
I hope that clarifies everything a little bit. Cheers
