I got a curious CTOT at LGKC
Your flight plan is subject to flow management and a departure slot was assigned.
The details of the flight plan are as follows:
Aircraft ID: N113AC
Departure aerodrome: LGKC
Destination aerodrome: LIBF
Estimated off block time (EOBT): 2021-09-12 11:15Z
Slot time (CTOT): 1120Z
The slot is due to the following regulation:
- LGMIL12A
The following cause was given:
- enroute phase: ATC capacity
The slot time is designed to have you over the congestion at the given time and altitude:
Area: IXIMA, time: 1137Z, altitude: F100
This is purely to restrict how many aircraft would have been in the ATC sector with the proximity of waypoint IXIMA. It’s automatically limiting the amount of aircraft in that sector, and suggests as long as you depart at 1120z, and you would arrive at 1137z at waypoint IXIMA you wouldn’t saturate that controller.
It says ATC Capacity, so presume TSRA/CBs or COVID related staff shortage?
Yes, that’s what it says 
but I wonder if Greece was issuing a CTOT to enable a jet to land at an AFIS airport which has no radar coverage.
IOW, can a CTOT be generated on the basis of airport capacity and not just ATC sector capacity (usually that is an indirect result of ATC industrial action 
) which is the usual reason? I think it can be.
IOW, can a CTOT be generated on the basis of airport capacity and not just ATC sector capacity (usually that is an indirect result of ATC industrial action ) which is the usual reason? I think it can be.
It can indeed, we do it five days a week for one of our airports. However, when it comes to aerodrome capacity and even the approach sector serving the airport, we only regulate arrivals, almost never the departures. It doesn´t make sense, since the tower controllers can regulate them on their own (departure intervals, delay the clearance). CTOTs, given by NM in far away Brussels, can ruin your day because they don´t necessarily match the sequence that you can see out your window. With a single taxiway or even a possible backtrack, it can be close to impossible to adhere to those slots. Which makes you look bad in the statistics and hinders the system.
One departure vs one inbound is not a problem anyone would implement a regulation for, even in a procedural environment. So in your case, no, your CTOT almost certainly wasn´t the result of that biz jet landing when you wanted to depart.
CTOT is en-route sector, I doubt they have that for terminal sector? for arrival, aren’t you supposed to orbit for up to 45min over your airport fix before getting clearance to IAF after the VIP have landed and red carpets have been unrolled for departure, you need extra time to use the long way for the backdoor exit or wait for refuellers to get their tips…
Peter wrote:
Yes, that’s what it says but I wonder if Greece was issuing a CTOT to enable a jet to land at an AFIS airport which has no radar coverage.IOW, can a CTOT be generated on the basis of airport capacity and not just ATC sector capacity (usually that is an indirect result of ATC industrial action ) which is the usual reason? I think it can be.
Well in this case your CTOT was your SLOT. 5 minutes is very short, most small airports it’s 10 minutes after your EOBT. For example Heathrow is 20 minutes, 25 minutes after EOBT for T5 departures (Unless using easterlies). They can delay your inbound at the destination airfield, but highly unlikely this was caused by the departure airfield.
Have a read of
As an aircraft owner @Peter you can apply for CFMU access, and boot up your laptop and check the system live.
Ibra wrote:
CTOT is en-route sector, I doubt they have that for terminal sector?
You can get that. I’ve seen Heathrow do it because of CBs, LTMA quickly becomes a mess.
Will be a WA 84 code. I’ve had it for fog when I was on the ground in Gothenburg, we got Slot Improvements x4, went from 2 hour delay to our CTOT to 35 minutes because the fog cleared slowly.
Is that also for inbound flights, say from JFK that will have CTOT on their departure slots due to some CB/WX in EGLL? or just delays on filed Heathrow departures with WX/CB around?
While talking about Heathrow, do they manage everything using Eurocontrol system, including for traffic going west to USA?
Ibra wrote:
Is that also for inbound flights, say from JFK that will have CTOT on their departure slots due to some CB/WX in EGLL? or just delays on filed Heathrow departures with WX/CB around?While talking about Heathrow, do they manage everything using Eurocontrol system, including for traffic going west to USA?
Highly unlikely to get a slot on a JFK for CBs, forecast fog, yes. Forecast CBs, long-haul usually adjust there fuel. When I was BA cabin crew, we always used to get this information in the brief. I think I flew almost 4 years, and only once on long-haul from the US was we delayed into Heathrow.
Heathrow is a ACDM airfield, so usually everything is communicated via that tool. Heathrow also has AMAN and XMAN – which means enroute sectors will give you set speeds to slow your arrival down. In the case of the NAT tracks, you could get a slower Mach speed to alter your arrival for ATC capacity reasons – that is XMAN. AMAN then decides the landing order to reduce the distance/separation on approach to achieve the best landing rate.
But yes, Heathrow is on the Eurocontrol system. If the ATC ops management or Swanwick decide on a regulation, it’ll be applied and that will impact anyone not already departed. XMAN will assist with anyone airbourne, and AMAN too.
Thanks for the info will read that twice pity they don’t accept GA as inbound (well except once on EGLL arrival procedure before getting kicked to Denham)
