We were given a condition clearance by a french controller recently eg "descend FL300 to be level by ANNET" coming back into the UK, and on passing FL330 we were handed over to London who gave direct to somewhere and didn't mention the previous restriction.
After a short discussion on the flightdeck, we asked London if they still wanted us at FL300 by ANNET and they said yes as this was a french requirement.
My question is, does the statement in CAP 493 about the cancelling of conditional clearances ONLY apply to ATC transmissions within the UK, from one UK controller to another, and not when entering and leaving UK airspace?
Given that:
- the London controller knew that the level restriction still applied
- and that you woud still route via ANNET on your new clearance
- and the rules in the UK rulebook
it seems to me - in the absence of any other information - that the 'direct to' clearance should have included the level restriction.
If the 'direct to' clearance did not cross ANNET but only took you abeam I'm not so sure what would have been appropriate.
Of course, there may well be other circumstances that affect the situation, such as AIP entries and standing agreements. I'm not an area controller but the same principles apply and bitter experience has taught me that this is an easily misunderstood point. I'll always take care to stress what happens to the restrictions when I reissue clearances - it's just as bad to have an aircraft stop the climb/descent thinking a particular level has to be maintained until a specific point when the rest of my plan is built around them continuing to the cleared level! Such clearances are not often used or necessary where I sit so it's not too much of a problem but it may create a workload issue where there are many standing agreements between sectors etc. if it cannot be assumed that the pilot will fully understand the meaning of the clearance (and that's not intended as a slight on pilots but rather the lack of clear standardisation on this topic).