Yes, why are we seeing more CTOTs and 0nm directs at the moment.? I can’t believe it is capacity as IME there is less traffic now than is normal. No one seems to havr an answer. The only guess that might have some truth in it is a load of ATSOs off work due to Covid. But IIRC some of these 0nm directs were in Northern France pre Covid. They are making a mockery of RNAV.
Incidentally stay clear of Brest LFRB around 14th to 16th Jan I think it is.Load of EU dignitaries coming and going.
I think most CTOTs are due to ATC staff shortage, which in certain areas is usually industrial action.
But here we tend to be told when it is industrial action and I have not heard of any recently. Not with ATC anyway.
No idea but in last summer it was ATC shortage, especially as one goes south, mostly in the sub-FL115 sectors also swaths of Delta/Echo was removed, flying IFR in Golf or departing VFR and pick it latter has become a second nature job !
Also, this winter, Seine APP & SIV have not been around for long and one has to climb higher to talk to Paris ATC, I wonder if this is permanent?
AFAIK, there were no industrial strikes this year or last one…
Ibra wrote:
No idea
The good news is, it got worse ;-)
So I got fed-up and decided to do something about it and called the BRIA who were blissfully unaware of the slot… They contacted LFMP, who in turn contacted Lyon ATC, who must have gotten a)my slot removed b) contacted EuroControl to get my slot removed. They then called back the BRIA, who in turn called me back while I was on my way from the hotel to the airport. Slot removed, happy wife. (she was less pleased about the bumpy approach into LFHN but what can I say.
100% of tailwinds so far this year, long may it last ;-)
LFHNflightstudent wrote:
100% of tailwinds so far this year, long may it last ;-)
Why not file +FL160 then and say you are happy with the tailwind at FL80 
I don’t understand this en-route slot thingy, especially these days in winter (or covid summer), for congestion there is max 1 or 2 aircraft operating IFR per day between 3kft-20kft, for staffing, once you are in the air all the drama gets sorted 
When going to Brittany short before Christmas I got an CTOT delay due of restrictions in the Paris region. I called the user helpdesk at Brussels after speaking to AIS in Germany and they told me: restriction due of maximum 2 lightweights aircrafts per hour in the Paris area up to FL 150. So we changed flightplan for the part within this region and could depart as planed originally. During flight we got directs at FL 80 as ususal and there was no need for a climb.
eddsPeter wrote:
restriction due of maximum 2 lightweights aircrafts per hour in the Paris area up to FL 150. So we changed flightplan for the part within this region and could depart as planed originally. During flight we got directs at FL 80 as ususal and there was no need for a climb.
I was only joking when I said it’s max 2 per day under FL160 for planning but you got an execution trick: if you pop-up a FL80 gets you get a straight one…
restriction due of maximum 2 lightweights aircrafts per hour
Completely bonkers. What might be the reason??
I’ve done the same thing (bypassing a region with “ATC problems”, or editing the FP so the said ATC region is transited “VFR” **) but this is not easy if you have just a phone with you. Even with a laptop, you really have to know what you are doing. Eurocontrol publish a real time map of ATC/airspace issues but it is low-res and it’s hard to work out how your filed route overlays onto it.
** In reality, once you are airborne, ATC are happy to disregard the switch to VFR – see e.g. here where I flew right across Switzerland “VFR”
This is worrisome. I did not know that the restrictions that the various ATC providers lodge with Eurocontrol could differentiate by aircraft weight class. If yes, then this could be an effective tool for ATC providers to get rid of (or at least discourage, and therefore ultimately get rid of) these unwelcome light aircraft flying IFR. I assume the Eurocontrol performs no bullshit check on these restrictions (like whether the ratio between light aircraft and heavy aircraft allowed into one sector makes any sense). Or is it Europcontrol who defines the details of the restrictions based on some more general input by the ATC providers?
