Is 250kts required below 10,000 feet in UK airspace
 

Was departing Heathrow yesterday and overheard the controller ask a Ryan Air flight what his indicated speed was, he answered 310 kts, the controller told him that he was below FL100 and his speed should have been 250. Does the speed limit of 250 only apply to STARS when required to approaching the slp and on SIDS when specified or is there a blanket 250k speed limit unless authorised by ATC? Our company policy is always 250 below 10 unless required by ATC to fly faster. The FAA is very straight forward about this issue.

Aerad - Europe & Middle East Supplement volume
 

ATC Section
United Kingdom ATC Directory - National procedures
Ch. 6.4 - Speed restriction

"A speed restriction of 250kt applies to non-military flights below FL 100 in all classes of airspace except Classes A and B. (It also applies to IFR flights in class C airspace, but none is currently planned in the UK)
Exemptions will be granted for test flights, exibitions of flying and to aircraft that cannot operate safely below this limit".

Ciao

In the London area the aircraft was probably in Class A airspace, however the 250Kts limit appears on the STARs and SIDs for airfields in the area and thus would be applicable at/until the SLPs.

Been flying without internet access so was not able to respond sooner. Thanks for the input gentlemen.

The drill: maintain 250kts or less below FL 100 in U.K airspace unless requested to do otherwise by ATC. Of course you can always ask them if you have to maintain a speed restriction.. they may say at your discretion below 300/320 kts etc.

London airspace is essentially the LTMA which is Class A, but plates do specify these restrictions on both SIDs and STARs into and out of major U.K airports. Heathrow's CTA is Class A, but Gatwick, Luton and Stansted's CTA are Class D.

So irrespective of the class of airspace, it would be wise to maintain 250kts or less below FL100. Indeed, there may be times when ATC request your assistance and ask you if you can maintain a high speed say 300kts until otherwise cleared. I do believe EasyJet have a company policy of 250kts or less below FL100 regardless of requests.. Ryanair trying to get in fast again where they, some things never change

Keep Safe

74 Downwind

:ok:

If you are in Cat A airspace where all traffic is separated by ATC then there is no speed limit below FL100. The 250kts below FL100 is to aid the "see and avoid" principle.

The exceptions to this are when a speed limit is published on the plates. Manchester, as an example, limit departing speed to 250kts below 100, but the arrival speeds are at fixed points, not altitudes. eg 5nm north of trent vor.

There is a good CAA AIC available on the web that explains it all.