Airline ATC callsigns in Europe (Dutch VACC)

[Can Agbaba 950792]

Hello,

 

I haven't found an answer to this rather basic question I have, so I wanted to post this here.

 

I am participating in the Amsterdam Schipol EHAM fly-in on Friday March 23 and something about the ATC callsign [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned to my flight confuses me. I have emailed the DUTCH VACC event organizer and he confirms this is the way callsigns are done in real-life.

 

I will be flying a Lufthansa flight number 4700 from Munich EDDM to Amsterdam EHAM. The callsign is apparently DLH4MM. Why? I am not a pilot but my understanding of callsigns in North America is that they are the three-letter symbol of the airline followed by the specific flight number. So I thought I would use DLH4700 in all communications with ATC.

 

Can someone clarify this issue? What does the second part " 4MM " mean? And why is this used instead of DLH4700? I have flown quite a number of times in Europe and to and from both Amsterdam and Munich and ATC never questioned my callsign in the format like DLH4700 (or KLM204 etc...) I just wanted to understand the logic and the terminology of this callsign.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

John (Can) Agbaba

[Martin Georg 811874]

Hello John,

 

 

Lufthansa´s system of flight numbers is a little bit difficult to understand. The old well-known analogy "flightnumber = callsign" has been very much abandoned, only intercontinental flights to the northern Americas and Asia still use this scheme. For other flights, especially short-range flights, Lufthansa has an own system of ATC callsigns composed of letters and numbers. Primary goal of this scheme is to avoid possible confusion caused by similar-sounding callsigns.

 

Therefore, your [Mod - Happy Thoughts]igned callsign "Lufthansa 4MM" essentially is correct. Please note that ATC also has the right to change your radio callsign temporarily to whatever they like (in case they think it is necessary for flight safety purposes).

[Can Agbaba 950792]

Hello Martin and thank-you for your reply.

 

One thing I don't understand from your explanation is this: How could the "old" call sign of "LUFTHANSA 4700" sound similar to any other airline or callsign. Within Lufthansa, the flight number should be unique and other airlines are not named Lufthansa?

 

Just wondering...

 

Can

[Matthew Horan 901577]

Hello Martin and thank-you for your reply.

 

One thing I don't understand from your explanation is this: How could the "old" call sign of "LUFTHANSA 4700" sound similar to any other airline or callsign. Within Lufthansa, the flight number should be unique and other airlines are not named Lufthansa?

 

Just wondering...

 

Can

 

LUFTHANSA 7400 sounds similar if you're busy and not expecting it.

 

In Canada, we have a problem with one operator who chooses rather similar-sounding callsigns: JZA8878 and JZA8788, for example.. sounds awfully similar.. and they often end up flying into YHZ around the same time, which means a headache for everyone involved!

[Andreas Fuchs]

...and not only Lufthansa uses this kind of callsigns, here in Europe! My company (Netjets Europe) does this as well and several other airlines operate with this kind of callsign-encoding to make them more unique and avoid misunderstandings.

[Can Agbaba 950792]

Thank-you Andreas and Matthew.

 

Yes, I understand now. Seems obvious actually - I just did not realize it I guess. So I suppose they must use their computers to make sure no other flights of the same airline or even from different airlines, have similar sounding callsigns flying in or out within a certain time range before departure.

 

Thanks again.

 

Can