Is there a telephone number or some other means of establishing whether danger areas are cold (or otherwise) in the context of information that can usually be obtained from London Info, Bournemouth LARS or Plymouth Mil once in the air?
You will find Plymouth Mil number 0175255XXXX in SkyDemon if you click on the Danger Area say EGD038 then click on their Frequency
I only fly on weekends when they are usually inactive (no one answers that phone on Sundays) but on weekdays they are active…
Sometimes London Info just don’t know and ask you to assume hot and re-route, better not to ask or just try Plymouth 
That phone number and hours of operations, all in AIP ENR 5.1. From a quick look all the Channel’s ones are weekdays + Notam
Speaking about danger areas… The UK is unique in that you need permission to cross a danger area. So what is the difference between a D-area and a R-area in the UK, really? What’s the reason for having the distinction and not only having R-areas?
The UK is unique in that you need permission to cross a danger area
That only applies to a minority of EG-D areas. The flying restrictions within those are not directly part of the airlaw. Strictly airlaw-wise, you can just cross any active danger area, just as anywhere else in the world.
Why they use Ds so much and Rs so little? It‘s the UK, and they just have to everything a bit different.
I think countries cannot declare R-areas in international airspace (more than 12 NM off shore). So they make D ones.
And I don’t think Tupolevs call Plymouth Mil before crossing :)
I noticed a new notam (in my SD briefing at least) that gives dates of activations for the channel D areas. Very convenient.
The Russian “provocation” flights take place in international airspace and right through airliner routes.
The main cultural difference in this department between the UK and others is that in the UK the military doesn’t have the absolute priority / ownership which they have in e.g. France. In fact most UK military airspace is open to all traffic, even non-radio (perhaps not wise to do that of course). Where they really don’t want you to go (say artillery or missile tests) they create a D area which is prohibited when active. The D areas each have a “byelaw” which specifies whether a transit is allowed or not. I have no idea where these byelaws are listed and have never known anyone who looked that up; people just don’t fly through them, or ask ATC if they are active if going around is too far (D138 east of Southend is one obvious horrible case).
As with all these things, in every country, there is a large amount of “if we don’t pretend to be using it, we will lose it” and I am sure this is true for all of them, especially the D036-D040 in the Channel.
boscomantico wrote:
That only applies to a minority of EG-D areas. The flying restrictions within those are not directly part of the airlaw. Strictly airlaw-wise, you can just cross any active danger area, just as anywhere else in the world.
But that just makes it worse! Why not classify the D-areas with “bylaws” as R-areas?
That would be too smart
I have no idea where these byelaws are listed and have never known anyone who looked that
In the UK CAA half-million CAA charts, these danger-areas-which-are-really-restricted-areas are marked with a big asterisk next to the number.
