I’m contemplating an autumn weekend trip to Mariehamn (EFMA), from southern Sweden.
I will of course call the tower beforehand for some definate answers, but it would still be interesting to hear if anyone here has visited the place recently? Or any locals/nationals (Finns) that can comment on current procedures and practicalities?
The AIP says “HO” about operational hours, which is kind of a gotcha remark given that the abbreviation list translates it to “Service available to meet operational requirements”. What does that even mean? 😊
Is it ok to fly there outside of ATS open hours (ie when tower is closed)?
Also, Skydemon warns about various TRA/TSA areas. I’ve heard those abbreviations but don’t have a clue as to what they mean? And how are they handled? With or without open tower?
I can’t find anything about them neighter in AIP SUP nor in NOTAM.
I’ve landed there in the past and flew by a couple of times earlier in the summer. It’s a pleasant little place and good for an overnight stay. I found the airport very helpful, but this was pre- covid.
Regarding the TRAs etc Sweden info don’t seem to know much about activities. A phone call to Marihamn tower would be the best bet. I’ve never been denied entry to any of these but it’s a little awkward being way out to sea before you can contact Marihamn and discover the status! There’s also a danger area across the route to Finland and I found a phone call to the number in the Notam was very helpful, even offering to avoid my altitude band during my flight!
My Finnish friends tell me that Marihamn is in a curious political state, having been left out of the peace agreement made between Finland and Russia at the end of the war. There’s still a Russian enclave there, so it’s perhaps the closest you could sensibly get to Russian territory these days.
Enjoy the trip!
Dahlbeck,
Outside of ATS hours the airport and airspace is uncontrolled and you can land there. The problem is to leave and re-enter the apron when there is no one to let you in/out. There is a phone controlled gate mechanism but it requires registering phone number with Finavia: https://www.finavia.fi/en/general-aviators/access-rights/application
For the Finnish side there is a map showing active areas: https://aviamaps.com/map
Aveling,
Åland islands (Ahvenanmaa) has nothing to do with Russian territory. It is a demilitarised group of islands belonging to Finland and is part of European Union. The demilitarised status dates all the way back to 1856: https://um.fi/the-special-status-of-the-aland-islands. Russia though has a consulate in Mariehamn. It’s one task is to observer the demilitarisation status. The speculation has been about the risk of possible invasion considering the demilitarised status and how vulnerable the islands are because of that and how quickly defences could be ramped up.
LowTimePilot wrote:
Outside of ATS hours the airport and airspace is uncontrolled and you can land there. The problem is to leave and re-enter the apron when there is no one to let you in/out. There is a phone controlled gate mechanism but it requires registering phone number with Finavia:
Have they removed the keypad with code posted airside?
Well, that access system I would never have found. At least not before calling the tower. 😊
Many thanks to both of you
AA,
Not sure if the printed code+lock is still there after Finavia took the phone based access control into use. I think at least the purpose was to harmonise airport specific general aviator access procedures.
As between Sweden and Finland you don’t need customs etc, you could keep in mind that landing when the tower is closed does not cost anything. It it is open, you have to pay something – I guess it’s about 40 e for little planes. Take-off is free even if the place is open.
The same for all state owned airports. Usually I try to avoid them when open as it would easily double my flying costs.
I can’t speak to the specific TSA and TRA at that airfiled, but by way of example we were goofing around all over Finland last week crossing these over Ivalo, Kittalia and Rovanemi without any issues or restrictions at all. When we landed at Rovanemi a whole bunch of F18s landed just after us as it’s a shared airport and that didn’t create any issues, so my guess is you’re good to go..
But, what is a TSA and TRA? 😊
Dahlbeck wrote:
TSA and TRA
Temporary Segregated Area and Temporary Restricted Area. These are Eurocontrol concepts of “flexible use airspace”, i.e. airspace that can be reserved for specific (typically military) purposes when needed and otherwise freely used. Eurocontrol defines a TRA as “A defined volume of airspace normally under the jurisdiction of one aviation authority and temporarily reserved, by common agreement, for the specific use by another aviation authority and through which other traffic may be allowed to transit, under ATC clearance.” TSA are similar, the difference being that other traffic will not be allowed to transit.
The mention of “ATC clearance” for TRA’s imply that they can only exist in contolled airspace. Indeed, that is the case with all TRA’s in Finland and Sweden at least – so you can’t “bust” them. Either you will be cleared through them or you will not.
Sweden has had the concept of TRA’s at least since the 1980s, but they have not always been called that.
Sweden does not have any TSA’s but Finland does. Some of them extend from the ground up and partly outside controlled airspace so I don’t see in what way they differ from regular R-areas.
