20 August 2012
The CAA has stated that removal of the main airspace security arrangements covering the London Olympics at midnight on 15/16 August marked a successful end to one of the largest airspace changes ever undertaken in the UK.
13 infringements of the restricted airspace were reported to the CAA, resulting in three pilots having their licences provisionally suspended and one flying instructor having his instructors rating provisionally suspended; all 13 infringements are under investigation. All the infringements were minor and successfully tracked with none in the vicinity of, or ever near affecting, any Olympic venues.
During the 33 days that the restrictions were in place Atlas Control, the military air traffic control unit providing the service within the Restricted Zone, quickly overcame some initial start up issues to successfully handle over 10,000 aircraft and nearly 20,000 flight plans. At no time during the restrictions did Atlas reach its capacity limit, although the poor weather in the UK during the period will have affected demand.
Commenting on the role played by the recreational and general aviation community Mark Swan, Director of Airspace Policy at the CAA, said, “Throughout the build up to, and implementation of, the restrictions the aviation community has undertaken some excellent collaborative work through associations and representative groups to help spread the detail of the changes to pilots and this, without doubt, contributed significantly to the successful outcome. We have had a small number of infringements, but generally we’ve been extremely impressed by the professionalism and attitude displayed by pilots in coming to terms with the additional requirements.”
A smaller set of restrictions will remain to protect the main Paralympics sites until 12 September and various shorter-term airspace restrictions will cover other venues. Restricted airspace R005 at the Weymouth sailing venues remains in place until 18:00 local on 8 September.
All the details of the remaining Olympics airspace restrictions are available in the full Olympics airspace guide <a href=’http://olympics.airspacesafety.com/media/9639/airspace_guide_june_26.pdf’ target=’_blank’>here.</a>
