EDLW - Dortmund
General
Before you fly...
Welcome to Dortmund! This small airport primarily hosts airline flights from or to Eastern European cities and also some holiday destinations. 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 Dortmund is located partially below the Köln/Düsseldorf TMA, Germany's most complex airspace.
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, Dortmund 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 and should already be experienced enough to be comfortable with these frequencies.
Parking position
Please make sure you choose an appropriate stand for your aircraft type.
Passenger flights use parking positions 0 thru 12.
General aviation aircraft park at stands B2 thru B6 or other positions on the elevated GAT in the West of the airport.
Stands 0 thru 4 require a pushback whereas stands 5 thru 12 are used as nose-out parking positions so outbounds don't need a pushback but inbounds require a push-in. Controllers are aware that not all simulators and/or sceneries support the required functionalities, but will generally assume that pilots are parked nose-out but unable for push-in.
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
Dortmund 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 Dortmund on chartfox (requires VATSIM login).
You can find current VFR charts for Dortmund in the AIP VFR.
For a better overview over the airspace structure around Dortmund, we recommend openflightmaps.
Airport Scenery
| Sim |
Freeware |
Payware |
| MSFS |
Bahrometrix | -- |
| X-Plane 11 |
Scenery Gateway |
-- |
| 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. There are no restrictions on the usability of the different SIDs.
Enroute Clearance
Clearance requests in Germany are very short. Please avoid unnecessarily long clearance requests to reduce frequency congestion.
Pilot: Dortmund Ground, Wizz Air 436, stand 4, request enroute clearance, information D.
Datalink Clearance (DCL)
Dortmund also offers electronic datalink clearances (also known as PDC or Pre-Departure Clearance) on VATSIM using the Hoppie ACARS system. The station code is EDLW. 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 positions on Dortmund's apron 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.
On stands 5 thru 12, let ATC know whether you are parked nose-in or nose-out when requesting pushback or taxi.
Taxi
While Dortmund'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
Dortmund 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.
Auto-handoff
Dortmund 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 Wickede VOR (DOR).
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: FL110
- BAMSU: FL160
- BADGO: FL140
- DOMEG: FL80
- ESADU: FL160
- OSN: FL160
- PADBA: FL70
- SODNA: FL110
- 10NM before TINSA: FL140
Approach
Approach procedures
The approach into Dortmund will usually be an ILS approach.
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 Dortmund TMA is partly class D and partly class E (with a TMZ below FL65).
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
Especially when landing on runway 24, pilots have to be aware of the restriction on the use of taxiway B. This taxiway is only available for aircraft up to 30t MTOM. Heavier aircraft must vacate via taxiway A.
Taxi
While Dortmund'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.
Parking
Stands 5 thru 12 are nose-out parking stands. This requires a push-in procedure for all arriving aircraft assigned to one of these stands.
Not all simulators and/or addons support push-in procedures. If you are unable for a push-in procedure, please inform ATC when you are assigned one the mentioned parking positions.
VFR Traffic
We ask all pilots to also read the General section with information relevant to all pilots.
Dortmund’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 Dortmund can result in situations where some VFR requests might be denied 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 Dortmund CTR has a top altitude of 2500 ft MSL, about 2000 ft AGL. Please pay close attention to setting the correct QNH and your altitude to avoid inadvertently entering airspace D above.
The following mandatory reporting points exist around the airport:
| Reporting point |
Use |
Location |
| E |
Entry from the S 24 operations Exit to the S 06 operations |
Ruhr bridge at Ardey and Dellwig |
| N |
Entry from the N 24 operations Exit to the N 06 operations |
highway A2 ramp Kamen |
| S |
Entry from the S 06 operations Exit to the S 24 operations |
Ruhr bridge at Geisecke |
| W |
Entry from the N 06 operations Exit to the N 24 operations |
lake Lanstroper See / garbage dump Welge |
Keep in mind that ATC might instruct you to use a different reporting point than the one you requested, if necessary.
Airspace D
The Dortmund TMA is partly class D, directly above the CTR, reaching up to 4500ft. All aircraft intending to enter this part of the TMA require a clearance from the responsible controller.
TMZ
The Dortmund TMA is partly class E with a partial transponder mandatory zone reaching up to FL65. All VFR aircraft inside the TMZ have to squawk 6102 and monitor 125.225.
Even when no dedicated controller is covering 125.225, you still have to set the squawk and monitor the frequency. During top down service at Dortmund, most controllers will use 125.225 as a secondary frequency and even if they don't, they can quickly activate it if they need to speak to you.