London - Graz VFR

“Isn’t generally class C above FL195 but with a restriction of no VFR in this class C?

Wasn’t that the intention to try and reduce the number of airspace classes across Europe?”

You are right ! It’s even worse; you can get a permission from the CAA five days beforehand.

So airspace classification practically went out of the window. What a mess…

The restriction of VFR above FL195 is unrelated to airspace class. SERA bans VFR above FL195 unless you have a special authorisation. This is nothing special for EASA — it is also in The International Rules of the Air (ICAO Annex 2). (Annex 2 does say FL200 rather than FL195, but that’s a minor point.)

But instead of making an additional rule, one could simply declare airspace above FL195 class A, no ? Wouldn’t that be simpler ?

airways wrote:

But instead of making an additional rule, one could simply declare airspace above FL195 class A, no ?

This would mean that EASA (through SERA) would define actual airspaces rather than just airspace classes. Airspace definition is, however, a national responsibility.

airways wrote:

Class A above FL195. IR-members only ;-)

Where is that? SERA.6001(b) says that airspace above FL195 must be class C.

airways wrote:

But instead of making an additional rule, one could simply declare airspace above FL195 class A, no ? Wouldn’t that be simpler ?

No, because the rules don’t specify how to handle VFR flights in class A should be handled, as VFR is not permitted in class A. :-)

Snoopy wrote:

How does one get special authorization for VFR above FL195?

That is an administrative question which is not regulated by SERA.

@Snoopy – I’d be interested about your experiences with high atitude cross border VFR. I’ve made a couple of flights through Germany VFR up to FL200 without problems and ATC/DFS usually does what they can for you. In France and Belgium I cruised up to FL110 VFR and I had the feeling they’d have cleared me higher if I’d requested it. Your mission sounds quite unusual though, but hey – why not