max flight levels

[arno coetzee]

good day. i just started at the at the middle east region and want to prepare myself atc wise. i am struggling to locate the maximum allowable flight levels from OMDB to other airports in the division. can someone maybe help please

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

not in any of the docomeentation?

[arno coetzee]

Ive been through everything but honestly didnt see anything

[Thimo Koolen]

Sometimes maximum flightlevels can be found here if you take the correct departure and arrival airport: http://vatroute.net/

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

do those max flight levels exist? IE have you seen other controllers issuing those altitudes?

[GDPR-removed]

From a pilot's standpoint, a maximum cruise altitude varies with each aircraft you fly. A quick Google search will give you an answer for that.

 

From an ATC standpoint, maximum cruise altitudes vary. For example, in a LOA (Letter of Agreement), certain routes between certain ARTCCs or vACCs often will include a maximum altitude. If these docomeents don't exist, then in theory, you could go as high as you want, with what's below of course. You can find this out by visiting the vACC's website.

 

Another thing to remember is direction of flight. If the general direction of your flight takes you between a heading of 0 and 179 degrees, then you will cruise at an odd altitude. From 180 to 359 degrees, then an even cruise altitude will be necessary. This is known as thae NEODD-SWEVEN rule (Northeast Odd, Southwest even). There are exceptions from time to time depending on where your route takes you. Of course, at and above FL410 this often will vary. I have little reason to believe you'll go higher so that's for another day.

 

In the end, vACC docomeentation is your best friend when determining maximum cruise altitudes. I hope you found this to be helpful.

[arno coetzee]

Ok. Is there any routes then which have a maximum flight level like fl240 or fl260 in this division?

[Randy Tyndall 1087023]

I flew from Singapore to Bahrain once and the airway I chose had a max flight level of FL240, which was pretty low and slow for the B744 I was flying, but 200 miles from Bahrain I could go up as high as I wanted, no restrictions...but kind of a waste of fuel to do so. Seemed a silly restriction because most of the flight was over the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman/Persion Gulf, but who am I to question authority, right

 

I got that restriction off the Jeppeson High Enoute Charts for the region.

 

As Thimo said, if a route exists in VATRoute it will give you a max altitude if one is there.

 

TEC Routes typically have a max, also

 

Can't speak at all from the controller side.

 

Randy

[GDPR-removed]

Ok. Is there any routes then which have a maximum flight level like fl240 or fl260 in this division?

I have no clue, as I haven't flown over there lately. In the case of Dubai, try here: http://uae-vacc.net/cdocomeents. No clue if it will be of any use to you. If there are no preferred altitudes, just [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume you can fly at any appropriate flight level.

[Sean Harrison]

In Australian airspace we have both low and high airways.

 

Generally Low Airways can only be used below FL180 (I think it is)[remember our TA is 10000' not 18000']

 

Strategically the low level airways connect smaller airports and seem to be designed to facilitate regional commuters which may be at a lower altitude anyway.

 

High level airways connect major facilities.

 

added this from Wikipedia ....

Low altitude airways (below 18,000 feet (5,500 m) MSL) that are based on VOR stations, appear on sectional charts, world aeronautical charts, and en route low altitude charts and are designated with the prefix "V" (pronounced victor, hence, victor airways, q.v.). High altitude airways (from 18,000 feet (5,500 m) MSL to FL450) based on VOR stations are called jet routes; they appear on high altitude charts (that usually don't show topography, as the low altitude charts do) and are prefixed by the letter "J".

[Thimo Koolen]

An example of the Letter of Agreements between the Dutch Vacc and Vatsim-UK: flights departing a Dutch airport to any of the London airports (Heathrow/Gatwick/Stansted/Luton/Southend/City) have a maximum of FL240. If I remember correctly, that's because the London sectors are really busy and now you'd stay just at the top of one sector. VATroute mentions a maximum of FL245, so FL240 is the real maximum.

 

From any of the London airports to a Dutch airport also has the maximum of FL245. However, because the route is eastbound, it needs to be an odd flightlevel. FL250 is above the maximum flightlevel, so FL230 would be the maximum.

 

There are a few other things delivery controllers at Schiphol need to check, including no FL250 in German (and Dutch) airspace, north/south regulation (instead of east/west, where south is odd and north even) when going over France/Italy/etc.

 

The best thing would be to first check VATroute (or maybe another source that I don't know about). If they don't have the route information, just file the route with the flightlevel that would suit you the best (keeping the odd/even regulations in mind). If it's above maximum flightlevel, the delivery controller will tell you and change it for you.

[Krikor Hajian]

On the vACC United Arab Emirates page, look for ENR 1.9 - Air Traffic Flow Management. This docomeent contains route and altitude information to nearby airports, including maximum altitudes (such as FL260 is the maximum to the Bahrain ACC).

 

"1.9.8. Traffic departing airports within EMIRATES FIR with destinations within BAHRAIN FIR shall flight plan at FL 260 or below."

 

These docomeents can be a bit confusing at first, but most of this is real world docomeentation (such as the AIPs). While it can be challenging material at first, I am a huge advocate for learning how to find things in a large docomeent. The AIP is very long, but once you get a little used to it you'll find that it isn't that hard to find specific information.

 

Hope this helps,