Airservices charges - VFR sartime

[Navajo King]

Hi,

Does anyone know if you will be hit with an airservices charge for nominating a VFR sartime with flightwatch over the radio, to be cancelled over the radio at the destination?

Someone just mentioned today there was a $15 charge. I can't find any mention of it.

Thanks in advance.

NK.

[QNH1013.2]

No charge for VFR last time I looked and I've never received a bill for it.

Lodging of SARTIME, Flight Plans or VFR flight following (workload permitting) are FREE...! (for now atleast)

[zepthiir]

I just hope they dont go into CASA full cost recovery mode where an hour of their time is supposedly worth $130 or the navigation charges could become just as expensive as the bloody plane!!

[5miles]

There are no enroute charges for a flight operated wholly under
VFR. Workload permitting, advisory services for safety purposes
will be provided at no charge for those flights.

Ref: http://www.airservicesaustralia.com/pilotcentre/avcharge/price/contract2006/std2006_3_jan.pdf

[Shitsu_Tonka]

I think this may stem from a project that was running (possibly now shelved, mothballed or abandoned) that was looking at moving the AUSFIC (FlightWatch) functions to the ATC Control Frequencies - possibly a NAS Characteristic [frankly I am so confused about it all nowadays I am not completely sure].

From what I remember hearing the cost of lodging and holding the VFR sartimes was making the project difficult to resolve.

I don't know if this means it is in our/your best interests to submit as many SARTIMES as possible or vice versa!

[JackoSchitt]

Sources tell me that the Ausfic Services Review is still very much on the agenda and is in fact being look at with renewed vigour in light of the pending re-organisation of the ATC service arm of Airservices (200 jobs to go ???).

One aspect of the Ausfic review is the issue of sartimes and the manner with which they are handled.

Options include charging for lodging (140,000 sartime lodged per annum), or charging for expired sartimes requiring “communications checks” (20, 000 per annum) or charging for expired sartimes “going to Aussar” (2,000) per annum. Obviously the more users the charge is spread over, the less it will be.

Other options are to simply roll the sartime service into ATC with the flightwatch VHF, or to alter the service to some form of non-radio service or to abandon the sartime service all together (is not an ICAO service after all according to the review).

Interesting times ahead of users of sartimes.

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

"Twas not THAT L O N G ago......"
In the period not that long after the 11.11.93 changes, to reduce the number of Flight Service functions, and therefore the number of then Flight Service Officers, a H.O. 'proposal' came out to reduce the number of SARTIMES being held by FS.......
'to introduce a pricing regime to discourage participation', was the phrase used!
At the time we were not exactly sure of what this phrase meant, or how it could / would be applied.
When a 'price list' was proposed, I seem to remember that if a SARTIME was lodged or cancelled by radio from a location at which a telephone was 'reasonably available', then a fee ($15) would be introduced.
Perhaps the 'introducer' is still around.......

You would only 'catch' most people once, I feel...........

Cheers.