I haven't heard that the radar will be off for months but I know that some of my fellow pilots have been told that transits and zone entries will be curtailed until it is fixed. I have no idea what the protocol is for charging but I suppose it all comes down to who owns what equipment, if NATS own the radar at Aldergrove then any bill will presumably come direct from NATS, if Aldergrove Airport own the radar then potentially there could be two bills to pay, one from NATS for staffing and the other for the use of the radar to provide a service.
Either way you look at it, its going to be expensive I would guess!
I believe the rumour about Aer Lingus has been on the go for a while now, what I'm hearing is that its just for the winter and they will be back for Summer 2017 as the routes have been proving very popular and busy for summer 2016, its only hearsay though. I'm sure the doom and gloom people on here will be rubbing their sad little hands at the thought of Harbour finally being a quieter airfield than Aldergrove.
