JustaFew,
"Shame that ATCOs are not permitted to initiate any conversation regarding centre-fix"
Bloody good thing too.
Why?
IFR traffic is generally: -
a), On its own navigation to an exact reporting point.
b), on a radar heading assigned by a radar controller.
Send an aero to the 'centre-fix' and ATC has no idea where it is going, unless of course the centre-fix range is specified in the clearance.
Also, who is responsible for terrain clearance here and what is the RTF failure procedure if the a/c has passed abeam the normal clearance limit?
Area radar controllers do initiate centre-fix routings though.
Why?
Because they can't be arsed to work-out the base leg headings that approach radar controllers frequently offer.
It's all a bit of a grey area.
Similar in fact to the immediate environs of Eyjafjallajökull.
