ATC in The UK Flashcards
What does NATS stand for?
National Air Traffic Service
NATS provides ATC in the skies over the _____, parts of the _____ and at many UK _____.
- ) UK
- ) North Atlantic
- ) UK Airfields
Name the 8 companies which collectively makeup the airline group.
USS Sherwood Ltd British Airways plc Pension Protection Fund EasyJet Airline Company Ltd Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd Deutsche Lufthansa AG Thomson Airways Ltd Thomas Cook Airlines Ltd
Name the 4 NATS stakeholders and the respective percentage stakes they each hold in the company.
The Government - 49%
Airline Group - 42%
HAL (Heathrow Airport Ltd) - 4%
NATS Employees - 5%
NATS is split into 2 main service provision companies. What are these?
NERL - NATS Enroute plc
NSL - NATS Services Ltd
What are the names of the 2 Flight Information Regions (FIR) UK airspace is divided into?
London FIR and Scottish FIR
What does the London FIR cover, which centre controls this FIR and in what year did this centre begin operations?
- ) Majority of England and Wales
- ) Controlled by London Area Control Centre (LACC) based at Swanwick in Hampshire.
- ) January 2002.
In what year was NATS part privatised?
2001
What is LACC?
LACC - London Area Control Centre
Deals with en-route traffic in the London FIR. This includes enroute airspace in England and Wales up to the Scottish border.
What does the Swanwick operations control room contain?
LACC - London Area Control Centre
LTCC - London Terminal Control Centre
Military Air Traffic Control
What is LTCC?
LTCC - London Terminal Control Centre
. Deals with Traffic below 24500ft flying to or from London airports.
. It is one of the busies areas in Europe.
. Extends South and East to the borders of France and the Netherlands, West towards Bristol and North towards Birmingham.
What do Military Air Traffic Control provide?
. Provide services to civil and military ACFT operating outside controlled airspace.
. Work closely with civilian controllers to ensure safe coordination of traffic
What does the Prestwick Operations room contain?
MACC - Manchester Area Control Centre
ScACC - Scottish Area Control Centre
OACC - Oceanic Area Control Centre
What does the Scottish FIR cover? Which centre controls this FIR?
. Scottish FIR covers the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland and immediate surrounding areas.
. Controlled by the Scottish en-route centre at Prestwick in Scotland.
What is MACC?
Manchester Area Control Centre.
Controls ACFT over much of the North of England, Midlands and North Wales from 2500ft up to 28500ft.
What is ScACC?
Scottish Area Control Centre
Controls ACFT over Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England and the North Sea from 2500ft up to 66000ft.
Which airports does NATS provide ATC services for? (18)
Aberdeen (ABZ, EGPD) Belfast City (BHD, EGAC) Belfast Aldergrove International (BFS, EGAA) Bristol (BRS, EGGD) Cardiff (CWL, EGFF) Edinburgh (EDI, EGPH) Farnborough (FAB, EGLF) Gibraltar (GIB, LXGB) Glasgow (GLA, EGPF) London Heathrow (LHR, EGLL) London Stansted (STN, EGSS) London City (LCY, EGLC) London Luton (LTN, EGGW) Manchester (MAN, EGCC) Southampton (SOU, EGHI)
Approach radar service is also provided for Sumburgh Airport in the Shetlands, Biggin Hill in Kent and RAF St Athan near Cardiff.
What is OACC?
Oceanic Area Control Centre
Controls ACFT in the Eastern half of North Atlantic from the Azores (45 degrees North) to a boundary with Iceland (61 degrees North).
Depending on the type of controller (TWR or Area, etc), the role will incorporate 1 or more of the following responsibilities…(4)
. Preventing collisions between ACFT in the air.
. Preventing collisions between ACFT moving on the APN and manoeuvring area.
. Preventing collisions between ACFT and obstructions on the manoeuvring area.
. Expediting and maintaining an orderly flow of air traffic.
What is an ATCO responsible for?
The safe, orderly and efficient movement of ACFT from the moment it leaves the departure gate to the ACFT arriving at the gate at its destination.
ATCOs are provided with _____ of any flight intending to fly __________________or ___________________.
- ) Details
- ) Through the airspace for which they are responsible
- ) Any flight due to arrive/depart from an AD.
What information is present on the electronic/paper flight progress strips which are generated by ATC computers when a flight plan is filed? What is the purpose of them?
- ) Callsign, route, altitude, speed as well as other details of the intended flight.
- ) Help ATCOs plan for ACFT and solve potential conflictions.
Flight progress strips are used in conjunction with _____ and other display monitors in order to ____________ either on surface at _____, proximity to _____ or through an _______.
- ) radar
- ) monitor progress of the ACFT
- ) AD
- ) AD
- ) en-route sector
What do pilots and controllers use to communicate? What must a pilot do after every ATC instruction?
- ) VHF (Very High Frequency) Radio.
2. ) Read it back.
ATCO’s must communicate with each other as well as adjacent centres in order to ___________________
________________________________________. What methods are used for communication?
- ) Pass details of flights as they move from one sector to another.
- ) Computer link or telephone.
Communication between controllers also applies if the next centre is in an adjacent centre’s airspace. The UK must coordinate with ATC centres in _____, _____, _____, _____, _____, _____ and _____. These adjacent centres must also inform the UK of flights approaching UK airspace.
Dublin, Shannon, Brest, Paris, Brussels, Maastricht and Copenhagen.
