Upcoming changes to Canadian airspace

Nav Canada has a whole bunch of proposed changes in its National Level of Service Report from last October (which I’ve noticed only now — here’s a link directly to the full 96-page PDF report). The report proposes revoking many approaches and decommissioning navaids (mainly low-powered NDBs), changing some hours of operation, eliminating some LF airway segments, changing weather reporting for many airports, and — perhaps least controversionally — eliminating VHF direction finding from more airports.

The beginning of the report summarizes the proposed changes, alphabetically by airport, then provides details, objections, etc. for each one. For example, here are the proposed changes for Montreal/Trudeau (formerly Dorval):

Montreal Pierre
Elliot Trudeau
International, QC
Decommission Jarry ‘ZMT’ NDB
Decommission Montreal ‘UL’ NDB
Decommission Rockland ‘ZUL’ NDB
Decommission Valois ‘ZDV’ NDB
Revoke LOC/NDB RWY 06R
Revoke LOC/NDB RWY 06L
Revoke NDB RWY 10 (GPS)
Revoke NDB RWY 24R (GPS)
Revoke NDB RWY 24L (GPS)
Revoke LOC(BC)/NDB RWY 28
Commission RNAV approaches for runways 10, 24R and 24L

The only change of interest in the Ottawa area is the planned revocation of Ottawa/Gatineau NDB 27 (there’s still an NDB/DME 27 approach) — I don’t think that anyone uses the NDB 27 except for training, since the minima are so high, so that shouldn’t hurt. Sooner or later, though, with all these vanishing NDBs (in the U.S. even more than in Canada), I’m going to have to grit my teeth and shell out for an IFR GPS in my plane.

If you’re a Canadian pilot (or a pilot who flies to Canada), take a peek at the list and see if anything interesting is proposed at the airports you use, then leave a comment or mention the changes in your own blog.

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2 Responses to Upcoming changes to Canadian airspace

  1. NavCanada appears to have done an admirable job weighing the issues, based upon the technical rigor evident in the document.

  2. Pingback: Land and Hold Short » The future of radio navigation in the U.S.

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