I heard a couple of pilots being asked if they had filed flight plans, as per the NOTAM when requesting a crossing of Cardiff Class D at the weekend. Some said yes, some said no to which Cardiff commented that they had no details.

I called Cardiff ATC and suggested they amend the NOTAM to the version here:


Covid 19 information: pilots of aircraft requesting to arrive, depart or transit through Cardiff'scontrolled airspace, either VFR or IFR are requested to file a flight plan and include the address EGFFZTZX on the plan.


Overflight (transit) flight plans without adding the specific address of the airfield you plan to cross simply don’t generate a strip at the transit airfield unless you add their strip printer address to your flight plan. The ZTZX address after their ICAO code is generic.

Cardiff’s NOTAM is simply because they are running with just a couple of controllers, sometimes just one, so it really helps their workload to file a full flight plan, as long as you make sure they receive a copy to their address.

In these days of short staffing of ATC units, it’s not a bad idea to do the same for any Class D crossing you’re planning.

Cat Burton
SFI
Aeros Cardiff