ATC closing when I’m near destination

[Jet_Aviationxx]

It’s a bit of a bummer, but most of the times for example I would fly from Manchester to London Heathrow, when I’m near London Heathrow the ATC always leaves. Then I’m Landing in UNICOM. It gets annoying sometimes. I was just wondering if there is some type of timetable that’s shows what time ATC will be available and when they close.

[MrMrMan]

Hey there!
Unfortunately, there is not a time table. IFATC is a volunteer service, and we open/close whenever we want, basically. The only restriction is that we have to have Class Charlies and below open for a half hour, and class Bravos open for an hour.

[Jet_Aviationxx]

Just out of interest, what’s does class Charlie and class bravo mean

[MrMrMan]

Here is a helpful link I’ve found.

[Summary] Airport & Airspace Letter codes

We’ve all seen it. When you click on an airport you see the basic information, along with the “Class” followed by some weird word. What does it mean? Well, ill tell you today! This is actually called Airspace Classes. They’re used to divide airports into certain classes and display airport restrictions. Here is a breef summary of the USA airspace classes: Class Alpha Airports that are in between the altitudes of 18,000 ft and 60,000 ft are classified as class A or Alpha Airports over the alti…

@Adam_Williams’ reply was also helpful.

[Summary] Airport & Airspace Letter codes

I’d check some of your definitions. It’s a “Class Alpha” airspace - there is no such thing in FAA terminology as a Class Alpha Airport. It’s simply IFR airspace, where most aircraft will be in their cruise stage of flight. (Between FL180 & FL600) [image] Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspace_class Class Echo airports are uncontrolled in the sense that there is often no Air Traffic Controller present, and instead a “Unicom” frequency is used. VFR traffic can come and go as it p…

In case you wanted another source, here is @USA007’s topic.

Airspace Tiers

:)

[mwe2187]

Also to add on to what @MrMrMan said for time limits, on the Training Server there are no limits for being open. so someone can open and close constantly.

[pilot0674]

Thanks for the reference!

[MrMrMan]

I’m happy to help! 😄