The Inverness Airspace Change Proposal (ACP) has been ongoing since 2014 following the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) CAP 725 Airspace Change Process, and Inverness Airport has now re-invigorated its efforts to enhance the safety of operations and achieve the implementation of controlled airspace and new procedures in early 2025.
The principal driver for the ACP is to enhance the levels of safety for aircraft operations both into, and out of Inverness as well as in the immediate vicinity by creating a ‘known traffic environment’ within which regulated separation can be maintained. Whilst current operations are considered to be tolerably safe in an uncontrolled environment, the Safety Assessment for Inverness has identified that the safety risk is no longer ‘As Low as Reasonably Practicable’ (ALARP) and mitigation in the form of controlled airspace needs to be implemented without delay.
In preparation for submitting an addendum to the ACP, the Inverness ACP Project team has actively engaged with the CAA regarding previously submitted materials and thoroughly reviewed current regulations to endeavour to comply with the process requirements. This includes reviewing the recent changes to the CAA Policy for the Design of Controlled Airspace Structures which emphasises the requirement for newly designed procedures to be contained within controlled airspace. This requirement has been the core of recent local safety work undertaken by the project team.
Airspace Design
In accordance with CAP1711[1] - the Airspace Modernisation Strategy, there is a national requirement to modernise the design, technology, and operations of airspace. As aviation regulations and policies are subject to review and change, and NATS has almost completed its ground-based navigation aid rationalisation programme, Performance Based Navigation (PBN) is becoming the norm for aviation operations in line with regulatory requirements.
For Inverness, our inbound and outbound procedures have been designed as PBN procedures and are currently being re-assessed by an external Instrument Flight Procedure, Approved Procedure Design Organisation to ensure that they fulfil the latest CAA guidance and policy. In addition, they will ensure that they remain contained within the confines of controlled airspace and more importantly, that they are flyable by all current aircraft operators. Once the CAA has reviewed the procedures, they will be subject to simulated flight validation to ensure that they are flyable by our key operators. This work is anticipated to be completed during late summer 2024.
The airspace structure for the containment of the proposed PBN procedures at Inverness comprises Class D and E+ controlled airspace and can be found at Appendix A. The airspace design will improve safety and provide a reduction in risk, such as a mid-air collision, for all aviators operating in, out and around Inverness airport, especially in the directions of GUSSI, BONBY and GARVA.
ACP Implementation Date
The aspiration of the Inverness ACP Project Team and Inverness Airport is for an implementation of the new controlled airspace structure at AIRAC[2] 03/25. This AIRAC will be effective on 20th March 2025 and should enable sufficient time for all operators to be familiar with the new procedures in time to meet the 2025 Spring/Summer schedule. This has been formally requested with the CAA and a copy of the letter to the CAA can be found on the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) website.
Communication
The Inverness ACP Implementation team will continue to ensure that all stakeholders (both aviation and non-aviation) are kept informed of the progression of the ACP. To ensure transparency, HIAL will endeavour to also update all stakeholders prior to the submission of the ACP addendum. Updates will be published on the HIAL Inverness website and through email communications where appropriate.
Letters of Agreement and Memorandums of Understanding
Inverness Airport is cognisant that amendments to existing Letters of Agreement (LOAs) and Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) will be required. Over the forthcoming months, Inverness airport will contact relevant aviation stakeholders with regards to formalisation of said (LOAs) and MOUs where appropriate. The ACP team will also take the initiative to engage with aviation stakeholders affected by existing LOAs and MOUs, focusing on clarifying expectations and addressing any concerns.
Regional Airspace Users Working Group (RAUWG)
The Inverness Senior Air Traffic Control Officer recently provided an ACP update brief at the RAUWG that was hosted by RAF Lossiemouth and held over MS Teams on 31st January 2024. No concerns or feedback was received at this meeting. Prior to the ACP implementation of the ACP and throughout 2024, further updates will also be provided by the Inverness SATCO to the attendees of further RAUWG meetings.
Further Information
Further updates regarding this ACP can be found on the HIAL Inverness Airspace Change website here
You can also view the latest status of the Inverness Airport ACP project including any gateway outcomes on the CAA website at the following address along with all supporting documents:
[1] CAP1711: Airspace Modernisation Strategy 2023–2040 Part 1: Strategic objectives and enablers (caa.co.uk)
[2] AIRAC – (Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control) is a 28-day cycle that manages the updating of aeronautical information globally. It was adopted in 1964 by ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organisation) and has been used ever since.