Heathrow |
During Westerly operations, all Heathrow departures contact the
appropriate area sector once airborne. They have no contact with Heathrow
Directors.
During Easterly operations, all departures except CPT departures
contact the appropriate area sector once airborne. CPT departures are worked by
Heathrow Directors due to the close proximity to the intermediate and final
approach areas..
Aircraft should be transferred by ADC to the area sectors straight after departure, preferably no later than 2000ft.
Departure |
TMA Sector |
DVR |
BIG |
| DET | BIG |
BUZAD |
BNN |
WOBUN |
BNN |
BPK |
LAM |
CPT |
OCK |
MID |
OCK |
SAM |
OCK |
MAY* |
OCK |
Note - During Easterly operations, CPT departures should be handed off to Heathrow Director (119.725/134.975) and not a TMA sector.
Heathrow departures will transit through the Radar Manoeuvring Area following their SID routes. Departures will not normally be climbed above 6000ft until they have left the RMA, however, if the traffic situation allows, they can be climbed higher.
Heathrow Departures (Except CPT departures during Easterly operations) operate on a free flow system - The tower doesn't have to call up for a release on every aircraft.
All departures should be instructed to Squawk IDENT on first contact to validate the mode A. Aircraft must also be instructed to report their passing altitude (if omitted from the first call) to verify the Mode C readout. (Readout has to be +/- 200ft from the reported altitude)
Separation between departing aircraft is applied so that after one aircraft takes off, the next aircraft does not take-off with less than the number of minutes needed. There are 3 departure separation methods in use at Heathrow; Vortex, Route and Speed separation. When calculating the correct departure separation, the highest of the 3 values is the one to use.
Vortex Separation
First Aircraft |
Second Aircraft |
Separation |
| HEAVY | HEAVY | 1 minute |
| HEAVY | MEDIUM | 2 minutes |
| HEAVY | SMALL | 2 minutes |
| HEAVY | LIGHT | 2 minutes |
| MEDIUM | HEAVY | - |
| MEDIUM | MEDIUM | 1 minute |
| MEDIUM | SMALL | 2 minutes |
| MEDIUM | LIGHT | 2 minutes |
| SMALL | HEAVY | - |
| SMALL | MEDIUM | - |
| SMALL | SMALL | 1 minute |
| SMALL | LIGHT | 2 minutes |
| LIGHT | HEAVY | - |
| LIGHT | MEDIUM | - |
| LIGHT | SMALL | - |
| LIGHT | LIGHT | 1 minute |
Westerly Operations |
Easterly Operations |
|||||
| First Aircraft |
Second Aircraft |
Separation |
First Aircraft |
Second Aircraft |
Separation |
|
WOBUN |
WOBUN |
2 minutes |
BUZAD |
BUZAD |
2 minutes |
|
WOBUN |
BPK |
2 minutes |
BUZAD |
BPK |
2 minutes |
|
WOBUN |
SAM |
1 minute |
BUZAD |
SAM |
1 minute |
|
WOBUN |
CPT |
1 minute |
BUZAD |
CPT |
1 minute |
|
WOBUN |
DVR |
1 minute |
BUZAD |
DVR |
1 minute |
|
WOBUN |
DET |
1 minute |
BUZAD |
DET |
1 minute |
|
WOBUN |
MID |
1 minute |
BUZAD |
MID |
1 minute |
|
BPK |
BPK |
2 minutes |
BPK |
BPK |
2 minutes |
|
BPK |
WOBUN |
2 minutes |
BPK |
BUZAD |
2 minutes |
|
BPK |
SAM |
1 minute |
BPK |
SAM |
1 minute |
|
BPK |
CPT |
1 minute |
BPK |
CPT |
1 minute |
|
BPK |
DVR |
1 minute |
BPK |
DVR |
1 minute |
|
BPK |
DET |
1 minute |
BPK |
DET |
1 minute |
|
BPK |
MID |
1 minute |
BPK |
MID |
1 minute |
|
SAM |
SAM |
2 minutes |
SAM |
SAM |
2 minutes |
|
SAM |
WOBUN |
1 minute |
SAM |
BUZAD |
1 minute |
|
SAM |
BPK |
1 minute |
SAM |
BPK |
1 minute |
|
SAM |
CPT |
2 minutes |
SAM |
CPT |
2 minutes |
|
SAM |
DVR |
1 minute |
SAM |
DVR |
2 minutes |
|
SAM |
DET |
1 minute |
SAM |
DET |
2 minutes |
|
SAM |
MID |
2 minutes |
SAM |
MID |
3 minutes |
|
CPT |
CPT |
2 minutes |
CPT |
CPT |
2 minutes |
|
CPT |
WOBUN |
1 minute |
CPT |
BUZAD |
1 minute |
|
CPT |
BPK |
1 minute |
CPT |
BPK |
1 minute |
|
CPT |
SAM |
2 minutes |
CPT |
SAM |
2 minutes |
|
CPT |
DVR |
1 minute |
CPT |
DVR |
2 minutes |
|
CPT |
DET |
1 minute |
CPT |
DET |
2 minutes |
|
CPT |
MID |
2 minutes |
CPT |
MID |
2 minutes |
|
DVR |
DVR |
3 minutes |
DVR |
DVR |
2 minutes |
|
DVR |
WOBUN |
1 minute |
DVR |
BUZAD |
1 minute |
|
DVR |
BPK |
1 minute |
DVR |
BPK |
1 minute |
|
DVR |
SAM |
1 minute |
DVR |
SAM |
2 minutes |
|
DVR |
CPT |
1 minute |
DVR |
CPT |
2 minutes |
|
DVR |
DET |
3 minutes |
DVR |
DET |
2 minutes |
|
DVR |
MID |
2 minutes |
DVR |
MID |
2 minutes |
|
DET |
DET |
3 minutes |
DET |
DET |
2 minutes |
|
DET |
WOBUN |
1 minute |
DET |
BUZAD |
1 minute |
|
DET |
BPK |
1 minute |
DET |
BPK |
1 minute |
|
DET |
SAM |
1 minute |
DET |
SAM |
2 minutes |
|
DET |
CPT |
1 minute |
DET |
CPT |
2 minutes |
|
DET |
DVR |
3 minutes |
DET |
DVR |
2 minutes |
|
DET |
MID |
2 minutes |
DET |
MID |
2 minutes |
|
MID |
MID |
2 minutes |
MID |
MID |
2 minutes |
|
MID |
WOBUN |
1 minute |
MID |
BUZAD |
1 minute |
|
MID |
BPK |
1 minute |
MID |
BPK |
1 minute |
|
MID |
SAM |
2 minutes |
MID |
SAM |
2 minutes |
|
MID |
CPT |
2 minutes |
MID |
CPT |
2 minutes |
|
MID |
DVR |
2 minutes |
MID |
DVR |
2 minutes |
|
MID |
DET |
2 minutes |
MID |
DET |
2 minutes |
|
Speed Separation
Group 3 |
Group 2 |
Group 1 |
Group 0 |
| All jet aircraft excluding: C501 C551 |
C501 C551 L188 |
A748 ATP AT43/44/45/72 BE20 DHC7 DH8A/8B/8C/8D E120 F27 F50 G159 JS31/32/41 SF34 SW3/4 |
BE99 DC3 DHC6 E110 SH36 |
When a faster aircraft follows a slower aircraft, the minimum separation is increased by one minute for each successive group (e.g. Group 3 following Group 2, add 1 minute. Group 3 following Group 0, add 3 minutes)
The time is counted from the moment the first aircraft begins its takeoff roll. If the first aircraft commences a full length take-off and the following aircraft departs from an intersection, the spacing should be increased to 3 minutes.
In both Easterly and Westerly cases, the 2 minute separation can be decreased using visual separation. (e.g. On easterly operations, a DVR following a CPT could be released as soon as the CPT has been seen from the tower turning west, as the DVR would never catch it. Similarly on Westerly operations, a MID following a DVR could be released as soon as the DVR has been seen from the tower turning east, as the MID would never catch it.)
INT is required to work CPT departures from 09L/09R due to the possible confliction with the intermediate and final approach areas. These aircraft do not operate on free flow and must be individually coordinated before being allowed to take off. The aircraft must not get airborne following the SID (unless there is no traffic on intermediate/final approach) but on a radar heading that will route the aircraft to the south of the airfield and ensure that the aircraft is no further east than the 180M radial from the OCK VOR. The aircraft will be informed to climb to 6000ft by AIR.
CPT departures may be put on non SID free flow. This avoids the need for each departure to be coordinated. INT specifies a heading, altitude and frequency that all departures should be given. They can then be released without any notification. The common release that is used in the real world is that all aircraft turn right onto a heading of 220 degrees once airborne, climbing to 6000ft and to contact the appropriate INT director.
Once airborne, the CPT departures may be transferred
by silent handover to the relevant area sector provided that:
- The aircraft is climbing to 6000ft (or any other coordinated level)
- The aircraft is positioned north of the southern edge of the Heathrow RMA on
an assigned heading of between 270 and 300 degrees
- The allocated heading should, subject to traffic, position the departure
towards the northern side of the L9 airway
The TMA sector is not authorised to change the heading you gave the aircraft
until it is either:
- FL80 or above
- West of the Woodley NDB
* MAY Departures are only to be used by aircraft with a destination of London Gatwick (EGKK)