General
Before you fly...
Welcome to Köln/Bonn! This airport is located within the most complex airspace within Germany. During the day, it's a relatively quiet airport, often seeing more VFR than IFR traffic; however, unlike many other German airports, there is no night flying restriction which results in high traffic volumes - especially cargo flights - during the night. Additionally, Köln/Bonn serves as a base for the German Air Force, primarily its executive transport wing, and two rescue helicopters are stationed here.
Although the airport has a relatively simple layout, due to the limited space and complex airspace structure in this area, 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, Köln/Bonn can be a great airport to get used to more complex airspaces once you have gotten a bit more comfortable with flying on the network. However, when there is a lot of traffic (e.g. during events), the airport can quickly become very busy and reach its capacity, so beginners might want to avoid flying here during these times.
Runway update
With AIRAC 2404, Köln/Bonn's runways 14/32 were renamed to 13/31. This change has not yet propagated to flight simulator sceneries. Please keep in mind that your scenery will likely have outdated runway numbers which results in SIDs and RNAV transitions not being available in the FMC for MSFS users. Please make sure you are using a sufficiently up to date AIRAC due to the procedure overhaul that has accompanied this change and install this MSFS addon into your Community folder to ensure you can load procedures for the renamed runways in your FMC.
Parking position
Please make sure you choose an appropriate stand for your aircraft type.
Passenger flights use parking positions on the Northeastern apron (all A-, B-, C-, and D-stands).
Passenger aircraft with a wingspan of more than 36 m should only park at A- and B-stands. Parking at C- and D-stands with these aircraft will most likely result in additional delay during periods of high traffic as your pushback will cause a "traffic jam" for other pilots.
Cargo flights use parking positions on the central apron (all E-, F-, and W-stands).
General aviation aircraft use the GA apron at hangars I, II, and III.
Military traffic uses the military apron located East of runway 13R/31L.
777 parking positions
With the PMDG 777 release for MSFS we suggest using the following parking positions for the best experience. Only the positions below are suitable for the B773/B77W.
- B11, B17, B21: MSR
- C50: DLH group, MSR
- D15, D19, D23: BAW, THY
- E9, E13, E15, E17, E19, E21, E31, E33, E35, E41, E43, E45: cargo, overflow positions
- F21, F23, F25, F31: cargo, overflow positions
Communication
Complex instructions
As space is at a premium on Köln/Bonn's apron and controllers have to find creative solutions to avoid delays, you may well encounter instructions that you are unable to comply with. This doesn't even have to be a lack of skill on your part: sometimes your simulator simply doesn't have the functionality required.
If you receive an instruction that you are unable to comply with for any reason, hold position and inform ATC immediately!
If you are unsure what the controller wants you to do, hold position and inform ATC immediately. Not doing so will most likely result in you doing something else than ATC expects, thus causing major problems and delays; on the other hand, controllers have no problem with you asking for an explanation or a different instruction.
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!
Colored lines
Parts of the Northwestern apron utilize colored taxiway lines which allow for more efficient taxi operations with aircraft up to a wingspan of 36 meters.
If ATC instructs you to use one of these colored lines, but they are missing from your scenery, hold position and inform ATC immediately.
taxiing on the blue line with opposite traffic on the orange line
two aircraft passing each other on the orange and blue lines