As the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, aviation is asking one of the same questions as the rest of the world; may we operate into the European Union? One apparent blessing of the EU structure is its ability to act uniformly in its response to this crisis. This does not mean that all countries are responding identically, but they are all participating in the dissemination of information. In order to centralize information regarding each EU country’s response to COVID-19, an official website has been created. The site, dubbed “Reopen EU,” has been designed as a central repository for specifics concerning the reopening of the EU. We have reviewed the website and offer this blog post for your information. The specific web address is given at the end of the blog.
On January 30, 2020, Phase 2c of the North Atlantic Data Link Mandate (NAT DLM FL290-FL410) went into effect. CPDLC is still required on T213, T13, and T216 in the SE corner of Shanwick Oceanic. Routes T9 and T290 positioned just west of the BOTA airspace do not require CPDLC but have specific Transponder requirements.
ICAO has published an updated version of the NAT Doc 007, applicable from July 2020, with some minor changes regarding the Tango Routes. The specifics of these changes are found in Chapter 6, sections 6.8.1 and 6.8.2.
The following information regarding Mexico's reopening status is from Manny Aviation, a full-service handling company based in Mexico:
Beginning 5 February 2020, a new data link requirement goes into effect in the Single European Sky airspace. This new mandate requires aircraft to be equipped with CPDLC ATN-VDL Mode 2 (Aeronautical Telecommunications Network Very High Frequency Data Link Mode 2).
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