Friday, September 14, 2012

Malaysia Airspace

There are types of airspace in Malaysia. Airspace can be a controlled and uncontrolled airspace. In Malaysia  
we have class A, B, C and G type of airspace. A,B and C are characterized as controlled airspace while class G is uncontrolled. It is better to picture it into a diagram. As taken from Malaysia AIP.



Malaysia FIR

Airspace Classifications




Layout of control airspace.


2.3       Provision of Air  Traffic  Services.

To understand the ATS provided, one has to understand the various types of Airspaces  designated generally divided  into two :

a)    Control Airspace and Uncontrolled Airspace :

·         Control Airspace - It is an Airspace  of defined dimensions in which a full  Air Traffic  Control  (ATC ) are exercise and al flights must adhere  strictly to the condition applied therein  under Instructions and Control of the Air Traffic Controllers.

·         Uncontrolled Airspace - It is the airspace of defined  Dimensions  outside  the Control Airspace whereby all flights are not subject to Air Traffic Control. However these flights are provided with  Advisory  Services which include Air Traffic Information, Alerting and SAR services, Weather Information’s and others pertinent for the safety of the flights. These flights includes General  Flying , Helicopters , Military Tactical Flights and others flying under the VFR (Visual Flight Rules ).VFR   Flying generally refers to flying with reference to the ground and in good weather conditions. These Airspaces are found beneath the Airways and those between the   Airways parameters. The Uncontrolled Airspace are use, namely by General Aviation  aircraft  and Military tactical aircraft.

2.4       Types of Control Airspace

Generally there are 3 types:

              i.        Airways

Airways are airspaces of defined dimensions, sort of air corridors generally 10 to 30   nautical miles wide, with an upper limit up to 46,000 feet (herein mentioned in ATC as Flight Level or FL 460 ) and  a lower limit of about 8,000 feet. However the lower levels varies .The Airways encompassed the Air Traffic Services Routes that joint various points in the sky to provide protection to all flights. For Example the Airways on the west Coast of peninsular Malaysia coded A 464 begins in Bangkok, overflies Malaysia to Indonesia and onwards to Australia. The Airway Corridors are marked with Various Navigation Aids such as  an NDB (Non –Directional Beacon) and  the more precise and accurate VOR/DME ( VHF Omni Directional/ Distance  Measuring Equipment) (See Fig  2B – an artistic view of the  layout of the Control Airspaces).

            ii.        Control Zones or CTR

Control Zones are airspaces established at  manned Air Traffic Control Airports such as  Malacca, Ipoh, Alor Star,  Kuala Terengganu  in Peninsular Malaysia and Sibu, Bintulu, Tawau, Sandakan in Sabah and Sarawak. A Control Zone is an Airspace of defined Dimensions in which a full Air Traffic Control are exercise in which all flights must adhere to strictly to ATC. A Control Zone Airspace is normally about 20 nautical miles radius from the Airport and has upper level of around  3,000 to 9,000 feet from ground level (See Fig 2C).

           iii.        Terminal Control Areas (TMA)

However, when there are two or more Airports are clustered together with their Control Zones, then the main airport is given the Authority to exercise Air traffic Control in airspace named Terminal Control Area (TMA). For Example there are 3 airports in the Kuala Lumpur Area, namely KLIA Sepang, Subang Airport, and TUDM Sg Besi each with her own Control Zone, Therefore a TMA is establish to encompassed all the three airports with a total of 4 runways. The TMA Airspace stretches about 60 nautical mile radius  encompassing all the airports above the  Control Zones to about 24,500 feet .The Controlling Authority in this case is vested with Kula Lumpur Approach Radar Centre,  call sign “Lumpur Director” housed  at the Air Traffic Control Centre (ATCC) at Subang Airport. Other TMA’s are established at Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Butterworth, Kota Bahru and Johor.




No comments:

Post a Comment