Jets Flying Outside Airways

[Easy226]

Hi Everyone,
I'm studying Air Law for my private pilots licence at the moment. I've been reading the airspace chapter which includes a section on airways. The book states that airways are used for commercial traffic, but looking on my half million map not all airports lie underneath an airway. Some airways drop to lower flight levels/altitudes to provide protection to descending traffic (i.e. Birmingham), but at some airports, like Bristol i can see there is no protection. Does this mean that commercial traffic descending into Bristol, for example, encounter no air traffic control or airspace protection?

Thanks,
DAN

[Hippy]

Your observations are correct, not all airports have the protection of controlled airspace linking them with the airways structure. An airtraffic service is however, normally available. The nature of the sevice is such that a controller will provide radar derived information and, if required, advice on how to avoid conflicting traffic. The pilot takes the ultimate responsability for avoiding collission, using the rules of the air.

[Spitoon]

Further to Hippy's comments, If an aircraft is IFR outside controlled airspace the service it will get from ATC (assuming it is a radar service) is Radar Advisory Service.
And the pilot is always ultimately responsible for avoiding a collision.

[Red Four]

Spitoon
Just because the aircraft is IFR does not mean a RAS is to be provided by radar - just that a RAS can only be provided if the aircraft is IFR!

[Spitoon]

Red Four, you are quite correct, but I was following up Hippy's comments from which I perhaps wrongly assumed that the threads was only talking about radar services.