Airport Category

[Stubenfliege 2]

Dear all,

in an earlier post here on PPRUNE some years ago was an explanation about the category of airports in relation training / briefing of pilots according to EU-OPS regulations -> (ROUTE/AREA AND AERODROME KNOWLEDGE FOR COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS)

Airport Categories?

There are some lists of "Category C" airports within Europe, but nothing about "Category B" airports or airports outside Europe. So my question goes:

• This category is based on a European regulation. Is there a similar set of regulations for a airport category system outside Europe?
  
• What airport in Europe is a typical "Category B"? What are the main applied reasons for a distinction between "A" and "B" category airports?

Thank you in advance,

Stubenfliege

[eckhard]

There are some lists of "Category C" airports within Europe, but nothing about "Category B" airports or airports outside Europe. So my question goes:

• This category is based on a European regulation. Is there a similar set of regulations for a airport category system outside Europe?
• What airport in Europe is a typical "Category B"? What are the main applied reasons for a distinction between "A" and "B" category airports?

European Airlines operating outside Europe will have a list of non-European Cat B and C airports. Other regulators will probably have a similar system in place for Public Transport operators.

Note that the although the regulator may invoke a category for a particular airport, the operator may categorise the same airport at a more restrictive level. Also, the regulator may invoke different categories for different operators for the same airport, depending on the nature of the operation.

Cat A airports are those which are considered simple enough for the crew to obtain the required information from published charts, notams, etc. No special terrain, ATC, Navaid or runway issues.

Cat B airports are those for which a written briefing is required. The briefing will highlight any of the issues listed above. An audio/visual briefing may also be required. Some operators will also require sim training.
European examples include Alicante, Antalya, Beirut, Bergen, Brindisi, Dalaman, Dubrovnik, etc.
Examples outside Europe include Hong Kong, Kangerlussuaq, Mexico City, etc.


Cat C airports are those for which a visit in the aircraft or sim is required before operating in command.
Examples include London City, Innsbruck, Funchal, etc.

Some operators may have briefings for some Cat A airports where it is considered to be helpful.