We’re planning a VFR trip across Italy tomorrow. How likely are we to be cleared through the class D?
It just doesn’t seem possible to cross the country east to west without going into controlled airspace!
On a route that went roughly Monaco – Genoa – Piacenza – Padova – Venice, I found it was no problem to get clearances through all the D Airspace (VFR). Many of them didn’t seem to have radar though.
That sounds promising. We will be flying from Pula LDPL to Cannes LFMD
Should not be be a problem, since on that routing, you will be clear of thr Milan and and Rome class A airspaces. Class D in Italy is more like class E with mandatory radio contact. The might steer you a little out of they way of Bologna or Genova traffic, but outright refusals, such as in the UK are mostly unheard of.
Just be sure to have absolutely current charts (i.e. no paper charts or rasterized paper charts), since there was a fundamental redesign of the Italian airspace structure one month ago.
Thanks @Boscomantico, this should be a really scenic flight!
boscomantico wrote:
there was a fundamental redesign of the Italian airspace structure one month ago.
Again? Is there any description of that anywhere just out of curiosity?
Skydemon?
Jeppesen Mobile Flite Deck VFR, EASYVFR, Garmin Pilot
Again? Is there any description of that anywhere just out of curiosity?
Yes, again. Don’t know where once could find an English “description” of the changes. It’s rather complex.
Basically, they totally redesigned the airspace between FL95 and FL195. Previously, outside of any TMAs, this was all class G, much like in the UK.
Now, they have plastered that airspace with several CTAs, class D. So, if one were to fly VFR at these altitudes, one would now definitely need to get a clearance. But again, these are not normally a problem and in practice, one would not fly usually up there non-radio, so in practice, very little changes.
In this regard, the airspace structure has now become more similar to the German one. I think they use Germany a lot as an example of how to do things and then adopt things accordingly.
I would not feel comfortable with Garmin Pilot, using just their own vector maps for flying VFR in Europe. Their “maps” have never been 100% suitable for serious VFR flying, and I guess they still aren’t.
