Originally Posted by
xrayalpha
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Dear all,
At Glasgow, we have always been supportive of the need to provide the best service we can to users within and around our airspace. Although we would like that to continue the priority for ATC at Glasgow must be to provide a safe and effective service to commercial flights into or outbound from Glasgow airport, the number of which has grown steadily over the past few years.
This summer ATC at Glasgow has lost several key members of the ATC team and, although we have recruited replacements, the training required to achieve the required level of competence will take time. As a result of this we have fewer controllers than required and will not be able to open as many operational positions.
What this means to you, is that you may not get the service you are used to from Glasgow or any service at all in some instances. You can help us to help you by…
Planning to fly around the Glasgow Control Zone, squawking 2620, and listening out on 119.1Mhz , any aircraft requesting a zone transit must call ATC on 0141 840 8029 at least 30 minutes before departure , and pass details of the flight, but it is unlikely that we will be able to accommodate your request, alternatively you can contact Scottish FIR on 119.875Mhz for a Basic Service.
We understand that this will not be great news for you to read, but we believe that being open and up front about the challenges that we face will help you to plan your excursions and get the most out your aircraft.
I wish you a summer of good flying.
Regards…
Tom Kirkhope
General Manager ATS (Glasgow)
This is bad news. Firstly, I must point out that although it is true that traffic has grown steadily over the past few years, according to CAA figures the number of movements at Glasgow Airport last year only just got back to 1997 levels- see table below:
Number of Movements
1997 98,204
1998 100,942
1999 101,608
2000 104,929
2001 110,408
2002 104,393
2003 105,597
2004 107,885
2005 110,581
2006 110,034
2007 108,305
2008 100,087
2009 85,281
2010 77,755
2011 78,111
2012 80,472
2013 79,520
2014 84,000
2015 90,790
2016 98,217
Source: United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
Secondly, although it is reasonable to ask that "any aircraft requesting a zone transit must call ATC on 0141 840 8029 at least 30 minutes before departure, and pass details of the flight", it is not reasonable to go on to state that "it is unlikely that we will be able to accommodate your request". Surely this should depend on how busy ATC is at the time of the requested zone transit and should only be refused when workload is high ie for Traffic reasons as has always been the case in the past?
Hopefully, these restrictions are only very temporary. If not, I think they need to be strongly challenged by local GA.
PS I urge local pilots to continue to monitor 119.10 and squawk 2620 (if transponder equipped) even if refused a zone transit but I fear some may not.....