The London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) is an air traffic control centre based in West Drayton, Middlesex, England, approximately 2.5 miles north of London Heathrow airport. It is operated by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) and provides air traffic control services to aircraft arriving and departing from six London airports, one Royal Air Force station, plus en-route services to other aircraft that enter its airspace. Internally within NATS it is usually known by the initials TC. It is slated to close in 2008, when its functions will move to Swanwick, Hampshire. Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCTs) at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport (Netherlands) Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... West Drayton is a place in the London Borough of Hillingdon to the west of central London. ... Middlesex is one of the 39 historic counties of England and the second smallest (after Rutland). ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... London Heathrow Airport (IATA: LHR, ICAO: EGLL), often referred to as Heathrow, is one of the busiest airports in the world. ... National Air Traffic Services Ltd. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... RAF redirects here. ... This article is about the town in Hampshire, for the village in Derbyshire see Swanwick, Derbyshire. ... Hampshire, sometimes historically Southamptonshire or Hamptonshire, (abbr. ...

History

The centre was opened as RAF West Drayton, a military air traffic control facility, located roughly mid-way between the then London airport (now London Heathrow) and RAF Northolt. The civilian controllers present at this centre in 1971 became the London Air Traffic Control Centre (LATCC), operating alongside the RAF. In the early 1990s the 'Central Control Facility' (CCF) was formed within the centre to provide terminal control services to aircraft arriving at and departing from the main London airports. RAF West Drayton is a Royal Air Force station and the main centre for military air traffic control in Britain. ... RAF Northolt (IATA: NHT, ICAO: EGWU) is a Royal Air Force station in west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon which also handles a large number of civilian flights. ...

In 1992 the Heathrow and Gatwick approach control units moved to West Drayton to share facilities with the CCF. The CCF and the two approach control units moved into the new Terminal Control room in 1995, and thus became a separate entity to Area Control. Gatwick Airport (IATA: LGW, ICAO: EGKK) is Londons second largest airport and the second busiest airport in the UK after Heathrow. ...

RAF West Drayton formally closed in the 1990s, however military personnel remain on site to this day.

In 1998 Essex Radar (Stansted approach control) moved to West Drayton, to take their place in the TCR. In 2002 Luton approach control moved also. Also in 2002, the Area Control function moved from West Drayton to the new London Area Control Centre (LACC) in Swanwick, Hampshire. The West Drayton facility was renamed the London Terminal Control Centre at this time. In 2004, Thames Radar (London City and Biggin Hill radar approach control) moved in from its former home at Heathrow Tower. Stansted Airport (IATA: STN, ICAO: EGSS) is a large passenger airport with a single runway and hub for a number of major European low-cost airlines. ... London Luton Airport (IATA: LTN, ICAO: EGGW) (previously called Luton International Airport) is an airport about 35 miles north of London just east of the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England. ... London City Airport (IATA: LCY, ICAO: EGLC) is a single-runway airport, intended for use by STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) airliners, and principally serving the financial districts of London. ... London Biggin Hill Airport (IATA: BQH, ICAO: EGKB), formerly RAF Biggin Hill, is an airfield at Biggin Hill in London Borough of Bromley. ...

The whole centre is due to close in early 2008, after Terminal Control and the remaining military move to Swanwick to be reunited with Area Control.

TC Today

Terminal or TMA sectors

TC-based controllers provide air traffic services within the London Terminal Control Area (TMA). This airspace is split into two groups or banks, TC North and TC South, which not only relates to the position of the airspace sector relative to London Heathrow, but also the direction in the Terminal Control Room in which that sector's controllers face when at their radar consoles. TC North is further split into North East (3 sectors) and North West (2 sectors). TC South is further split into South East (3 sectors) and South West (3 sectors). All sectors have the RT callsign "London Control". This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...

At its busiest, each sector will have a radar controller, however when it is quieter sectors are "bandboxed" with one controller operating multiple sectors, until at night there may only be one controller operating the whole bank. Each bank will also have up to two further supernumerary controllers acting as co-ordinators (to liaise with other sectors and other units, and generally assist the radar controllers), and up to two assistants to prepare flight progress strips, operate computer systems and assist with flight data duties. A flight progress strip is a small strip of paper used to track flights in Air traffic control. ...

Aircraft departing Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted mostly depart on a free-flow principle: the radar controllers do not release each individual flight for departure, they just receive a pre-note via a computer system that the flight is pending. This cuts down on inter-unit co-ordination and allows the tower controller at the airport to decide the most efficient departure order. In many cases the aircraft's Standard Instrument Departure (SID) routing does not conflict with the approach sequence of aircraft arriving at the airport, so the airport's approach control does not need to handle the aircraft and it is transferred straight to the TMA controller on departure. The TMA controllers then climb the departures through the arrivals to the airports that they are also working. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... An instrument approach is a type of air navigation that allows an aircraft to land in weather restricting visibility, or to reach visual conditions permitting a landing. ...

Arrivals to the London airports are handed over from LACC at Swanwick or the TC en-route sectors, usually following Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STAR) and are descended against the departing traffic, and sorted out into different levels, then routed to various holds, where they will hold until the approach control units are ready to position them into an approach sequence to land. Standard Terminal Arrival Route, also known as Standard Terminal Arrival or simply STAR, is a published procedure followed by aircraft on an IFR flight plan just before reaching a destination airport. ... A hold is an aeronautical maneuver that keeps an aircraft in a predetermined safe area while waiting for a clearance, weather, traffic, or any other delays. ...

Approach sectors

The Approach Control units for the five major London airports are also controlled from TC, plus the radar approach services for Biggin Hill. Each approach unit has more than one sector. The majority of the work for the approach units is controlling the sequence of aircraft making an approach at an airport from the holds until established on final approach about 4 miles away from the airport. The approach units also handle some aircraft departing from the airport, when that aircraft's departure conflicts with the approach sequence.

Slightly unusual to the approach sectors at TC is that some of them can be staffed by two controllers at a time, making transmissions on the same frequency.

RAF Northolt (IATA: NHT, ICAO: EGWU) is a Royal Air Force station in west London in the London Borough of Hillingdon which also handles a large number of civilian flights. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Special VFR. (Discuss) Special Visual Flight Rules (SVFR) are a set of aviation regulations under which a pilot may operate an aircraft. ...

En-route sectors

TC is slightly unusual for a Terminal Control Centre in that it also has a number of en-route sectors responsible for lower levels of airspace immediately outside and on top of the TMA. These are controlled from TC because they mainly feed traffic into and out of the main London airports. They are grouped as TC East (4 sectors), TC Midlands (4 sectors) and TC Capital (2 sectors).

All sectors have the RT callsign "London Control". TC East's airspace adjoins the international boundary with Amsterdam and Brussels airspace. Amsterdam Location Flag Country Netherlands Province North Holland Population 741,329 (1 August 2006) Agglomeration - up to 2. ... Nickname: The Capital Of Europe, Comic City City of a 100 Museums[] Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Coordinates: Country Belgium Region Brussels-Capital Region Founded 979 Founded (Region) June 18, 1989  - Mayor (Municipality) Freddy Thielemans Area    - City 162 (Region) km²  (62. ...