EDLV - Niederrhein
General
Before you fly...
Welcome to Niederrhein! This small airport primarily hosts Ryanair flights from or to various other European cities, including some holiday destinations, as well as occasional military traffic. Among VFR pilots, it is a favorite due to the low levels of scheduled traffic and simple airport layout, but pilots need to be wary as Niederrhein's CTR is located partially within Dutch territory.
Although the airport has a simple layout and low traffic levels on VATSIM, you should still prepare yourself thoroughly to keep it fun for everyone and avoid mistakes which might lead to delays for yourself and other users.
If you are new to VATSIM, Niederrhein is a perfect airport to get started on the network. Controllers will almost always have enough spare capacity to answer questions or quickly explain a procedure to you. It rarely gets very busy, so making smaller mistakes will usually not have a negative impact on anybody else's experience on the network. When flying IFR, however, you may experience busier frequencies during departure and arrival due to the neighboring Köln/Düsseldorf TMA and should already be comfortable enough with these frequencies.
Parking position
Please make sure you choose an appropriate stand for your aircraft type.
Passenger flights use parking positions 1 thru 9.
General aviation aircraft park at GA Terminal 1 and GA Terminal 2.
The maximum aircraft size at Niederrhein is code C (Medium aircraft) and parking positions for larger aircraft are not available.
Handoffs
When instructed to contact another controller, do so as soon as possible. This will avoid you having to stop moving or level off. Please do not hold your position to switch the frequency, keep moving on the ground!
Be aware that some frequencies in use might not be shown in the controller list of your pilot client, so it is important that you listen carefully to what ATC says.
Auto-handoff
Niederrhein utilizes an auto-handoff procedure for IFR departures where Tower will not hand off outbounds to the approach controller. The current airborne frequency will always be noted in the ATIS.
Contact the airborne frequency immediately when airborne unless explicitly told to remain on Tower frequency.
Charts & Scenery
Charts
You can find current IFR charts for Niederrhein on chartfox (requires VATSIM login).
You can find current VFR charts for Niederrhein in the AIP VFR.
For a better overview over the airspace structure around Niederrhein, we recommend openflightmaps.
Airport Scenery
| Sim |
Freeware |
Payware |
| MSFS |
flightsim.to | -- |
| X-Plane 11 |
Scenery Gateway |
x-plane.org |
| Prepare3D V4/V5 |
-- |
-- |
Departing Traffic
We ask all pilots to also read the General section with information relevant to all pilots.
Preparation
A thorough preparation is important for any flight. We ask you to conduct a thorough briefing to avoid delays and keep it fun for everyone.
Route planning
You can find valid routes for many destinations in the AeroNav Global Route Database.
When planning a route via SimBrief, please use routes with the Eurocontrol icon, as those will generally be valid.
When filing an invalid flight plan, you will usually have to file a completely new flight plan before ATC can issue your enroute clearance.
SID assignment
If there is no SID leading to the first waypoint of your flight plan, please check which AIRAC you are using - if your AIRAC cycle is too outdated, it might take some time until the controllers can coordinate a solution for you. Please also make sure you are complying with the following restrictions that exist for some of these waypoints.
| Waypoint |
Restrictions |
| SONEB |
only for flights with requested min. FL140 |
Enroute Clearance
Clearance requests in Germany are very short. Please avoid unnecessarily long clearance requests to reduce frequency congestion.
Pilot: Niederrhein Tower, Ryanair 7XQ, stand 4, request enroute clearance, information N.
Datalink Clearance (DCL)
Niederrhein also offers electronic datalink clearances (also known as PDC or Pre-Departure Clearance) on VATSIM using the Hoppie ACARS system. The station code is EDLV. If your aircraft does not have a direct integration of the Hoppie system, you can also use easyCPDLC.
Requesting clearance electronically is preferred over voice clearances as it reduces frequency congestion thus avoiding delays. Because of this, we ask all pilots able to use the Hoppie ACARS system to do so.
Startup
Startup approval is the "go" from the controller's side to start your engines. It is also an assurance that you will be cleared to start moving within the next 20 minutes. It can be requested and approved together with pushback.
Pushback
Only request pushback if you are actually ready to start pushing back. If you take longer than 1 - 2 minutes to start moving, ATC might have to cancel your pushback clearance to avoid delays for other pilots.
Keep in mind that some all positions on Niederrhein's apron except for stands 1 thru 9 are taxi-out stands. If you are parked on one of these taxi-out stands, you won't need a pushback.
If you are unsure about your pushback instruction or unable to comply for any reason, hold position and inform ATC immediately.
Taxi
While Niederrhein's layout is relatively simple, it is still important to conduct a thorough briefing of expected taxi routes as well as correct taxiing. To avoid delays for yourself and other users, start taxiing as soon as possible after receiving your taxi clearance and request taxi in a timely manner after your pushback.
If you are unsure about your taxi instructions, hold position and inform ATC immediately.
Takeoff
Niederrhein has only one runway which needs to be used for both departures and arrivals. While there is usually not too much other traffic, it is still important to begin your takeoff roll as soon as you receive your clearance and be prepared for immediate takeoff clearances. If you take too long, ATC might have to cancel your takeoff clearance and issue a go around for an arriving aircraft.
Intersection departures are not possible at Niederrhein. All aircraft have to depart from full length.
Auto-handoff
Niederrhein utilizes an auto-handoff procedure for IFR departures where Tower will not hand off outbounds to the approach controller. The current airborne frequency will always be noted in the ATIS.
Contact the airborne frequency immediately when airborne unless explicitly told to remain on Tower frequency.
Arriving Traffic
We ask all pilots to also read the General section with information relevant to all pilots.
Arrival
STAR assignment
You can usually expect not to fly out your STAR and instead to get radar vectors. However, you should be prepared to fly the STAR followed by a standard approach via the Niederrhein NDB (LAA) or - during 09 operations - a standard approach via the Lima NDB (LMA) or the SOBTU waypoint.
Descent planning
To avoid having to fly unnecessarily long finals, pilots should plan to cross the following waypoints at the following altitudes. Remember that all altitude changes require an explicit clearance by ATC.
- ARPEG: FL250
- DENOV: FL250
- EKSAK: FL260
- ENUGA: FL240
- IBESA: FL250
- KOGES: FL250
- NAZAF: FL120
- PODAT: FL250
- PODEN: FL250
- ROMIN: FL230
- TEBRO: FL170
Approach
Approach procedures
The approach into Niederrhein will usually be an ILS approach during 27 operations and an RNP approach during 09 operations.
Speeds
Pilots should plan the following speeds. Keep in mind that ATC instructions always take precedent.
- Descent phase: 250 - 300 KIAS
- Base: 220 KIAS
- Turn to final: 180 - 200 KIAS
There is a restriction for maximum 250 KIAS below FL100 as the Niederrhein TMA is class E (with a TMZ below FL65) over German territory and partly class E (with class B above FL95) over Dutch territory.
You need to follow all speed instructions precisely until they are cancelled by ATC to ensure separation. If you need to slow down earlier for any reason, advise ATC immediately, so they can issue an appropriate instruction.
Landing
Unless otherwise instructed by ATC, pilots shall always vacate the runway to the South. Pilots of aircraft with code letter D or higher must vacate the runway at the end as all runway exits in-between are only approved up to code letter C.
When vacating to the North, pilots of aircraft with code letter C or higher must vacate the runway at the end as all runway exits in-between are only approved up to code letter B.
Taxi
While Niederrhein's layout is relatively simple, it is still important to conduct a thorough briefing of expected taxi routes as well as correct taxiing. To avoid delays for yourself and other users, start taxiing as soon as possible after receiving your taxi clearance.
If you are unsure about your taxi instructions, hold position and inform ATC immediately.
VFR Traffic
We ask all pilots to also read the General section with information relevant to all pilots.
Niederrhein’s airspace and general traffic levels make the airport very friendly to VFR traffic in the real world. As this is similar on VATSIM, controllers will usually be able to accommodate VFR requests. However, the limited amount of space at Niederrhein and its proximity to Dutch territory can result in situations where some VFR requests might be denied, especially during periods of high traffic. Pilots should also keep the airport's vicinity to the Köln/Düsseldorf TMA, Germany's most complex airspace, in mind.
Airspace Structure
CTR
The Niederrhein CTR has a top altitude of 3000 ft MSL, about 2900 ft AGL. Please pay close attention to setting the correct QNH and your altitude to avoid inadvertently entering the TMA above.
The following mandatory reporting points exist around the airport - it is not possible to enter or exit the CTR on the Dutch side:
| Reporting point |
Use |
Location | Restrictions |
| N |
Entry/Exit from/to the N |
intersection highway A57/motorway B67 |
max. 2500 ft |
| S |
Entry/Exit from/to the S | garden centers North of Lüllingen |
max. 2500 ft |
Keep in mind that ATC might instruct you to use a different reporting point than the one you requested, if necessary.
TMZ
The Niederrhein TMA is partly class E with a partial transponder mandatory zone reaching up to FL65. All VFR aircraft inside the TMZ have to squawk 6101 and monitor 119.110.
Even when no dedicated controller is covering 119.110, you still have to set the squawk and monitor the frequency. During top down service at Niederrhein, most controllers will use 119.110 as a secondary frequency and even if they don't, they can quickly activate it if they need to speak to you.