Originally Posted by
soaringhigh650
I don't understand this PPR/PNR thing.
Why can't people just arrive whenever they like and land on it?
If an airport is having capacity issues, just build a new runway?
It's a British thing - a small crowded island, where people often live close to the airport and don't like the noise. So, airfields have lots of "no-overfly" limits, movement limits, maximum operating hours, and mandatory PPR is usually so that the operator can confirm that you've been briefed on what to-do/not-to-do, although it's also good practice in case there's an aerobatic display, or they're grazing sheep on the runway that week, or there's an annual wartime memorial service on the airfield - 1001 potential reasons can crop up.
It really isn't as bad as it probably sounds, it usually goes like this:
"Hi, my names John Smith, and I'd like to fly in around 3pm today"
"That's fine, please just check the airfield guide and take care not to fly over any local villages, what's your registration"
"G-ABCD"
"Look forward to seeing you, we'll put the kettle on".
However I've certainly been spared major embarrassement and potential safety hazard by phoning an airfield and being told they had an aerobatic display on so I'd best arrive by a particular route and within a particular timeslot (why they didn't NOTAM it, I've no idea, but with knowledge gained on the phone, it was a non-problem).
Total runway capacity is seldom the issue, it's almost always about local planning or operational restrictions.
But yes, things are more restrictive in the UK than the USA - but nowhere near as bad as it may seem from a distance.
G