Foreflight
Validates fine at 120-160
I wouldn’t worry too much about the last third detour, ATC will shortcut/direct you.
It is extremely rare to get a shortcut through a different country. ATC has to coordinate that…
Peter wrote:
It is extremely rare to get a shortcut through a different country. ATC has to coordinate that…
I learn something new everyday.
Anyway, just tried to help by sharing the route which validated without issues (at least in Foreflight) between FL120-160. At these levels there is little traffic so I believe directs are not an issue for ATC to coordinate, which takes them all of 3 seconds.
Have a safe flight home!
All I reported is that I could not validate the route in the Autorouter (I pasted it in there, having used it to generate a different route; that is a method which has always worked before). I have no idea why FF would validate it while AR would not, but as I don’t have a FF subscription, there was no way to file it (using AR).
Re shortcuts, I have found almost 100% that ATC absolutely refuse (in the lower airspace where I fly i.e. FL200 or below) to coordinate a shortcut across a piece of another country. You cannot normally file and validate such a route IME but could hack it with DCTs and other usual methods, but then they won’t let you fly it? Why not? I am not an ATCO but presumably there is no LoA and they have to make a phone call, which generally is not something very popular, especially is certain countries 
It looks like I can get back using the more usual route this time, so thank you all 
That last detour around Belgium is probably because of flight level restrictions around KOK going west, a flight level change to FL100 (never executed in practice) used to sort it.
I agree with Peter’s experience on “shortcuts” across countries not on the flight plan are difficult to get.
I had success with requesting rerouting coordinated well in advance along routes that are plannable in general, but cannot be filed because of restrictions.
I agree with Peter’s experience on “shortcuts” across countries not on the flight plan are difficult to get.
I have made different experiences. Yesterday short before reaching RLP in France I asked for direct SUL in Germany it was approved as most of the time when flying this direction. Short after that they asked me if Bering intersected on a direct DS523 to shorten the approach at EDDS.
When returning from recent trip French ATC (Marseille) coordinated shortcut for me with Italian ATC (Rome) when approaching Sardinia.
eddsPeter wrote:
I have made different experiences. Yesterday short before reaching RLP in France I asked for direct SUL in Germany it was approved as most of the time when flying this direction. Short after that they asked me if Bering intersected on a direct DS523 to shorten the approach at EDDS.
But that shortcut didn’t take you over a country not in the flight plan…?
But that shortcut didn’t take you over a country not in the flight plan…?
You are right. I missed that point in the conversation before.
Jup, that’s the thing.
Here is the reason why: the IFPS system which processes the flight plans is built around which sectors you will fly through, and distributes the flight plan to those sectors. It also checks capacity in each sector, so when one goes above the capacity available you get a ‘slot’ (CTOT).
Below that, each ATC system tends to be national.
So there are four levels of difficulty:
It can all be done, but depends on controller workload and the time they have to do it (and perhaps, attitude, although IME most controllers roll their eyes at stupid IFPS-imposed routings and are more than happy to oblige, unless they are Spanish…)
