Travel to Maastricht

[playamongthestars]

Hello, I have phase 1 interview at Eurocontrol Maastricht.
Can anyone tell me cheapest air travel to there from Belfast or Dublin or what is recommended travel route from Belfast?
There must be guys from Northern Ireland that have travelled this route or know of people that are at Maastricht.
Any help much appreciated.
Thanks

[Seat1APlease]

this webpage gives some information on events and how to get there

http://www.atcmaastricht.com/travstay.html#transport

easyjet do BFS to AMS. AMS has a train station at the airport so it should be possible to continue by train. Aachen airport is nearby but I dont think you will find an easy connection from Belfast.

[zed3]

Seat1Aplease.....
Aachen airport is a distance away but Maastricht/Aachen airport is at Beek (EHBK) in the Netherlands with regular air connections from Schiphol.....and the Eurocontrol Maastricht UAC is in the back garden . But that's all part of the test exercise !!!

[dan eire]

you should just contact your travel agent and find the best connection at the cheapest price,and stick it on your credit card,eurocontrol reimburse the cost anyway

[playamongthestars]

Seat1APlease

Many thanks for your reply. I have booked a direct flight from Dublin to Brussels (which according to the map is much nearer to Maastricht than Amsterdam)

Now i need to know if i can get a train from Brussels Airport railway station to Maastricht ?

Thanks again

[dan eire]

When you get to brussels,go sown to level -1,[thats the train station right at the airport],and ask for a return ticket to maastricht.You will have to change at brussels north and liege...when you get to maastricht train station you can get a bus to the airport or a taxi will cost you around 25 euro's to the airport,and the mercure hotel is right at the airport.

so,to recap,

level -1 in the airport

return ticket brussels airport - maastricht

connections;

brussels airport - brussels north

brussels north - liege guillemans

liege guillemans - maastricht

its easy once you've done it a few times,i swear!!!and dont forget to keep reciepts of all your travel tickets as they will be reimbursed when you get here

all the best

[playamongthestars]

dan eire

Many thanks for your prompt reply.
I have printed your clear instructions which are very helpful.
Now i have my travel sorted i am looking forward to my Phase 1, whatever it may hold.
Have you been through the selection procedure?

Regards

[MPH]

You could try DUB-STN-EIN with FR and then its a 00:40 min drive to Masstricht or take the train from EIN (Eindhoven). Cheers!!

[playamongthestars]

MPH

Many thanks for your reply, I have got direct flight now Dublin-Brussels and then by train from Airport.
Its the most direct route.

Best Regards

[flowman]

playamongthestars
please tell me you are flying Aer Lingus to Zaventem and not Ryanair to "Brussels South".
It's a bit more tricky from there!:uhoh:

[playamongthestars]

FLOWMAN

Flying to Brussels with Aer Lingus ?:D

[Avman]

Considering that your costs are reimbursed, the best would have simply been to fly DUB-AMS-MST. I'm afraid that in my eyes you've already failed your first initiative test! ;) Just kidding - good luck!

[kiora]

When is your Phase 1?

I'm going for Phase 2 next week (17th) but from what I can gather Phase 1 has changed slightly since I sat it. However, if there's any info I can give you just shout!

K

[playamongthestars]

KIORA

My Phase 1 is 3rd Feb.

All information gratefully welcome.

Many Thanks

[kiora]

First of all, good luck!

I sat Phase 1 last August n was informed pretty quickly that I'd failed it. However, just before Christmas I got a call from Eurocontrol to say that they had ditched one element of the selection that they weren't happy with and, because of this, I was now eligible to take part in Phase 2. This is why I say some of the info I have may no longer be relevant!

Have you sat NATS selection before? If you have, some of the tests are slightly similar and won't come as much of a surprise to you. From what I remember (after I failed I tried to erase all memories of it - dammit!) the tests covered a few areas, including arithmetic and understanding English.

I didn't believe people when they said there isn't much you can do beforehand to prepare, but there really isn't. Since you're from N.I. the English one shouldn't pose much of a problem; just be aware that the people in your group most probably won't speak English as a first language, so don't be concerned when you finish the test well ahead of them! That one deals with stories told through your headphones, when the beep sounds you have to select the word which fits the story best. That and some spelling tests.

There's a shape-matching one as well which is similar to one of the tests NATS use. Shapes flash up on your screen, you have to 'sort' them according to instructions on the screen. Then the same thing happens with groups of numbers. Again, there's really nothing you can do to preapre. There's also one of those cube-building exercises, where a cube is 'flattened out' and you have to decide which cube it would make if it was folded into a 3D object. Hate those ones! Was seeing cube nets in my sleep for days.

The one that threw me most was the one at the end of the day which was a flight strip exercise. You're given a load of flight strips on screen and commands through the headphones to simulate 'an air traffic situation'. It's by far the longest test of the day, is quite a lot to take in and should measure your ability to handle vast amounts of changing information.

That's kinda the bulk of it, if I think of anything else I'll let you know! Is this any help to you?

K

[playamongthestars]

KIORA

A great help, many thanks.

I wish you all the very best for your Phase 2

[kiora]

Thanks very much!

Best of luck to you too. Let me know how you get on, I'll have my fingers crossed for you!!!

K
xxx