AVIATION authorities will implement new flight procedures for aircraft in Malaysian airspace after being told it is too late to revert to the previous protocols.

The Malaysian Insight has learnt that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has asked the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) to proceed with the new flight procedures beginning tomorrow.

CAAM had initially wanted to revert to the previous protocols as plans to move the Kuala Lumpur Air Traffic Control Centre (KLATCC) in Subang to a new facility in Sepang on June 17 were prevented by the lack of a certificate of completion and compliance for the latter building.

Implementation of the new flight procedures is tied to the relocation because of technical arrangements, programming and manpower issues.

IATA corporate communication head Albert Tjoeng told The Malaysian Insight there has been constructive engagement between CAAM and the airline industry on this matter.

“The interest of all parties is to ensure the safe operations of aircraft in the Malaysia Flight Information Region.

“Updated information has been circulated to airlines and we are confident that flight safety will be maintained,” he said.
 
A source familiar with the matter said CAAM had distributed the new flight protocols in aeronautical supplements (AIP SUP) to IATA, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and NavData suppliers in April.

AIP SUP contains data on flight procedures, terminal waypoints, airways and routes.

“The new AIP SUP was meant to become effective on June 17 when the new KLATCC operations begin at Sepang. But due to the delay in moving, CAAM opted to withdraw the AIP SUP on June 2,” said the source.

On June 6, CAAM announced it had postponed plans to move KLATCC operations to Sepang.

CAAM also stated it would proceed with the “new airspace structure” or procedures scheduled to take effect on June 17.

The following day, IATA responded saying the new procedures were the “least risk” option for flight safety, while urging CAAM not to adopt any sudden changes.

“The majority position (of major airlines with operations in Malaysia and NavData providers) is that due to the new datasets having already been loaded or are in the process of being loaded, we are past a point-of-no-return for any type of reversion to current procedures,” IATA told CAAM on June 7, according to the source.

“That means regardless of CAAM’s decision, aircraft will have the data for the new procedures and not the current ones that were to be canceled.

“To this end, most have expressed the view that the least-risk option is to proceed with the changes on June 17 and avoid any short-notice contingency procedures while waiting for a new implementation date or for datasets to be reversed,” said IATA.

Under ICAO rules, civil aviation authorities must provide two months’ notice to airlines and NavData suppliers when they make any changes to flight procedures.

After notification of the changes, new AIP SUP data are then compiled by NavData suppliers such as Jeppesen and NavBlue, before they are sent out to clients, namely airlines companies.

“The data is then used by the airlines’ pilots when they fly to any destination.

“As this involves flights, landing and take-off procedures, this information is crucial and cannot be changed without sufficient notice,” other sources familiar with the aviation industry, including pilots, told The Malaysian Insight.

IATA has advised CAAM to ensure that the reissued new AIP SUPs have only minimal changes.

“And if any contingency operational procedures or restrictions are required, these must be communicated to airspace users as early as possible,” said IATA.

NavData suppliers have also urged CAAM not to withdraw the published procedures dispatched to clients in May and said they could not alter the charts again before June 17.

The suppliers are subject to strict deadlines for each aeronautical information publication cycle. This is in line with ICAO’s recommendation of 28 days prior notice.

Reversion to the previous flight procedures would mean that airlines, which already have the new procedures keyed in, would have incorrect information in their flight management system database on instrument flight procedures, associated terminal waypoints and en-route waypoints, said a source.

It is learnt that NavBlue had told CAAM on June 2 after it initially requested a return to the previous flight dat, that this would result in “discrepancies between information available to our customers and that in use by Malaysian air traffic controllers will have significant impact on pilot and air traffic control workload and could lead to potential flight safety issues”.

The Malaysian Insight has written to IATA, NavBlue and CAAM for more information on the flight procedures, whether changes are in the offing and if airlines are able to safely follow them. – June 16, 2021.