Full story; https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/f...usiness-chief/

Picking up some of Porrohman's observations about the Cat C ILS procedure, an aircraft flying the outbound leg at 180 knots and initiating the base turn immediately on reaching D8 would remain clear of the Perth ATZ and therefore of much of its traffic - especially if it is being flown, as is more often the case, in a westerly wind that will blow the aircraft east as it flies round the base turn.
Leuchars' radar coverage of the western parts of the procedure at 2200ft is not bad, but it doesn't see much at 1000ft below and to the west of the procedure, where quite a lot of Perth traffic could be.
But I suspect the real issue with the radar coverage is not how much Leuchars can see, but the fact that it's provided from Leuchars and not Dundee. Once an inbound is transferred to Dundee the radar service ceases, and if the inbound is then doing the full procedure from the DND, any traffic info they might have been given by Leuchars immediately before handover will be old hat by the time they're flying the base turn close to Perth.
But looking at the incidents to Flybe Dash 8s this summer, I suspect they might have been driven by - as others have suggested here - crew inexperience with dealing with a non-radar visual circuit with lots of light aircraft. On one occasion the Dash reported turning base, having been advised he was No.3 to 2 light aircraft, and filed an MOR after Tower told him to extend to allow the light aircraft in.
If Dundee has a future as a commercial airport and future operations require radar, the best solution would be a joint deal with the MoD to position a radar serving both Leuchars and Dundee on the high ground behind Tayport/Newport. The Leuchars radar isn't being replaced under the NATS/Thales ATC contract for MoD airfields so there's scope for a joint purchase.

Didn't flybe operate DND-JER for a number of years on Saturdays with the same Q400s?

Yes - they did.

Major regional airline Flybe, which is ending its services from Dundee, announced a “solid” third quarter’s performance in tough trading conditions.

The airline has axed its Dundee-Amsterdam service and is not renewing its franchise arrangement with Loganair for flights to London Stansted, although Loganair is bidding to take over that service on its own.

fjencl I think Loganair actually have the route themselves, just they currently operate as flybe.

question
 

Hello , thank you for allowing me on your forum.
I'm a beginner pilot having logged only 4 hours so far on an ex RAF powered glider out of Oban Airfield.
That strip without Argyll councils weird action of painting put part of the runway is slightly longer than Vagar used to be.
Now Dundee I do not know too well.
but would it be pheasible for an Embraer 170 /190 to operate from there given Flybe's good relations there.
Would that not open Dundee up to the possibility of say for example LEAL or Palma.
Also perhaps Manchester .
Would there be demand?.
I'm new to the forum and please welcome any thoughts and advice.

fjenci

Flybe aren't 'bidding' to take over that service on their own!

The Flybe franchise expires on 31 August 2017 and on 01 September 2017 Loganair will be flying Dundee to Stansted themselves.

Well if Flybe hadn't ditched the AMS service last year they'd certainly be doing it now - Leuchars SSR is offline for the next three months!

Won't Leuchars be able to provide a service using their Primary Radar?

Dundee not more
 

The subsidy from Wee Jimmy Crankie runs oot very soon . Inglies ( idiota ) couldn't run an ice cream van. Feel sorry for the tower "jannies", they had a career path in mind. "Anthony" was a major "bell-end".

Is the post above in some sort of Eastern Scottish code? - I don't understand a word of it.

There's some reference to an 'ice cream van' - apart from that, nope can't help. :confused:

"The subsidy from Wee Jimmy Crankie runs oot very soon . Inglies ( idiota ) couldn't run an ice cream van. Feel sorry for the tower "jannies", they had a career path in mind. "Anthony" was a major "bell-end"."

Trainspotting 3???

Looks like the new route will be 50% subsidised by the UK government. I bet Crankie keeps quiet about that.

Yes, but without SSR they're having to vector all the Loganair schedules at least 5nm away from all unidentified traffic, whereas with SSR they can alternatively descend the Loganairs to 3000ft above the level of unidentified transponding traffic. And with no SSR info, the Leuchars controllers have no data on who an unidentified aircraft is talking to, and therefore no basis on which to phone up another controller to ask the intentions of that traffic. Much more constraining.

Thanks NorthSouth.

Traffic Service

With all the millions of pounds worth of subsidies that keep getting pumped into DND, why don't they have their own SSR or put one on top of the Sidlaws and share it with Perth?