One for EGGW and London controllers....

[???pax]

I was a pax last night into LTN on EZY2056 from GVA. Just before the descent our informative flight deck explained that as EGGW was on 08 the arrival was going to be a bit "round the houses". I was expecting the entire BPK-BKY-BUSTA-LOREL arrival, but it seems the controller gave us a shortcut. From where I was sitting (14A ;-) ) it felt like vectors off VATON and on to effectively a long base leg for a right hand intercept onto the approach at Luton.

How does this routeing work with Heathrow inbounds approaching Bovingdon from the north?
Are there any confilcts or were we far enough to the west so it didn't matter? Is this shortcut only something that can be achieved on a Sunday evening or is it routine?

Any answers are much appreciated.

[BOBBLEHAT]

Sometimes when we have the capacity we grab the a/c from Vaton, ususally on a heading of about 330, and desccent is initially over tma south airspace, as you cross over the Heathrow area further descent is subject BNN inbounds and all the other mess that flies around NW Deps. If we cannot get the height off enough to turn onto final, we usually go through the localiser up to the WCO direction, which is technically the area that we release the a/c to Luton radar under the terms of a full release.

For this to happen depends upon: traffic loading and presentation, perhaps whether NW Deps is split and mainly upon whether the coordinator can talk the NW Deps guy/gal into it. It's great for the a/c as it saves them at least 10 minutes but it can sometimes be the straw that breaks the camels back.

[5milesbaby]

The short cut could have been even better than you think, its sometimes possible to run from AVANT direct to WCO and then turn in on finals. It all depends on how busy the TMA is, ie TC Ockham.