RESTRICTED AREA FOR VFR & IFR NL, March 23rd to 26th.
AOPA Netherlands is warning pilots to be prepared for serious disruption during the Nuclear Se-curity Summit in The Hague on March 24 and 25, 2014.
This is a global summit aimed at preven-ting nuclear terrorism around the world and will attract some 58 world leaders and 5,000 other de-legates to the Netherlands.
As a result, significant portions of airspace in the Amsterdam FIR will be closed or restricted between March 23 and March 26, inclusive.
IFR flights can expect delays, re-routings and limitations around Amsterdam Schiphol, Rotterdam airport, Eindhoven airport and Lelystad.
All air traffic will be prohibited from an area encompassed by a circle of 9 nm radius centred on The Hague.
The vertical extend of this prohibited area has not yet been established.
A restricted area of 50 nm radius has been established up to FL195 in which scheduled IFR traffic is permitted, non-scheduled IFR may obtain prior permission, and all other traffic is prohibited. A restricted area around Eindhoven, which encompasses part of Belgium, allows IFR traffic with prior permission but prohibits VFR.
The accompanying chart shows the extent of these areas.
Medical, SAR, police and military flights are exempt.
AOPA Netherlands points out that the prohibited and restricted areas are far larger than those imposed when the first Nuclear Security Summit was staged in Washington in 2010, but the authori-ties were unwilling to listen.
