Have you ever been thinking about what unites all passengers, both with a low cost and a business class tickets? There are many different answers to this question, and one of them is - air traffic control. In Ukraine, this process is carried out by the air traffic controllers of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise "UkSATSE".
They are a kind of travel guides in the world of aeronautical environment. Avianews.com together with "UkSATSE" is launching a series of publications on how an air navigation sector works.
Flight information regions
The airspace of Ukraine is one of the largest in Europe. Its area is 776,000 square kilometres. It is larger than the territory of the country itself and its coastal waters. It is also accompanied by a part of the international space over the open (Black) Sea, in which the countries of the Black Sea region, including Ukraine, provide air traffic services - each in its own "part".
The entire Ukrainian sky is divided into flight information regions (FIRs). Four UkSATSE control centres provide air traffic in these regions. In fact, there are five such FIRs: Lviv, Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro and Simferopol. Due to the temporary occupation of the Crimea, the Simferopol FIR is divided into two parts, one of which complemented the service area of Odesa, the other - Dnipro.
How is the airspace divided in the altitudes?
In professional terms, there are two parts: controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
Uncontrolled airspace is located from the ground to the height of 1500 meters. It is used for general aviation flights, in other words, for small aircraft. Perhaps the term "uncontrollability" is a bit strange for an average person. However, there is no reason for worrying - there is also a clear order in everything, which is provided by the specialists of " UkSATSE " - flight information service controllers.
Controllers receive flight plans, provide pilots with the necessary information about existing flight restrictions, control the fact that the flight has been carried out, and advise on the weather conditions. They work both at the daytime and at night-time.
Above the 1500-meter mark there is a controlled airspace. It, in its turn, is divided into a lower and an upper airspace. In the first one, the aircraft reach the altitude after takeoff and descend for landing at airports. In the second case, the aircraft follow their routes, on which transit flights over Ukraine are also performed. In the controlled airspace, flight control services are provided 24 hours a day.
Each flight on the route is supervised by air traffic controllers (or, in short, by controllers) who work in area control centres.
Each air traffic controller has its own area of service - a sector that may be quite different in size. Sometimes they are additionally divided by altitude - depending on the intensity of air traffic (in each sector, in a particular control centre, at different times of day and year).
The capacity of a sector is determined by specific methodologies. For example, the limits of the allowable workload per air traffic controller are taken into account, which depends on the number of flights in communication with the controller. The level of process automation is also important.
Flight service in most Ukrainian airports is provided by air traffic controllers who work at the facilities familiar to many passengers - airfield control towers of " UkSATSE ". These specialists focus their attention on take-offs and landings, as well as on flights in the vicinity of the airport and on the way to it, within a radius of about twenty kilometres.
Each working place has clearly defined tasks to perform. One air traffic controller is in charge of take-offs, the other one is in charge of landing and monitoring the timely clearing of the runway, and the third one is in charge of controlling the movement of aircraft along the airfield.
It is important to understand the divisions of responsibility of a controller relating to airline services. Air traffic service is provided by air traffic controllers, this is the sphere of activity of "UkSATSE".
Even for starting engines before the take-off, the aircraft crew needs the permission of an air traffic controller. An air traffic controller notifies a crew of the weather conditions, the condition of the runway, regulates the movement of aircraft along the airfield, gives the command for take-off, sets an order of approach and gives permission for landing and specifies the route of taxiing to the parking area.
Regarding the condition of the runway, aircraft maintenance, transportation of passengers and their luggage, it is the responsibility of airports.
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