Apron (GND)

Area of Responsibility

Hamburg can be staffed with two apron controllers. East Apron is the main station, which supersedes the area of West Apron.

Station	Station ID	Login	Frequency	AoR
East Apron	DHE	EDDH_E_GND	121.705	Apron 1 (incl. holding points)
West Apron	DHW	EDDH_W_GND	121.980	Apron 2, 4, 5, 6, (GA)

The area of responsibility is shown in the picture below. Additionally in Euroscope: Ground View > Functions > Maps > AoR

green = General Aviation Parking, movements delegated to Tower

Hamburg East Apron (EDDH_E_GND)

Parking

The DFS Pack includes the GroundRadar-Plugin which assigns parking positions by the airline and aircraft. In case of blocked gates, traffic flow/management concerns or pilot request, another position can be used.

Gate 1-7: These gates are intended for heavy aircrafts and block their respective A/B positions. Narrow body airliners with a max-wingspan of 36m shall use one of the A/B positions. They are mainly used by Star Alliance partners. Only gate 6 is suitable for an A380.

50s stands: Additional parking positions for all uses up to narrow body airliners. These stands can be used for low cost airlines beside the 80s stands on Apron 2. 

60s stands: Additional parking positions for all uses up to narrow body airliners. Do not use for inbound traffic!

Scenery problems: There are a lot of ground layout mismatches in different default and payware sceneries across all simulators because of the heavy reconstruction of Apron East in the last couple of years (Z1 Blue/Orange, new 50/60s stands). Stands 51-53 at Z3 are the safest option to use for inbound traffic, the 60s stands will likely cause taxiway incursions, so don't assign them.

Stand 8-12: Often used for virtual Airlines and additional parking positions for all Airlines.

Stand 42-43: Virtual Airlines and Cargo.

44-48 stands: mixed use, parking face west (e.g. business jets, long time parking, cargo extended parking space etc.). Taxi-Out stands for aircrafts with a max wingspan of 25m.

De-Icing: De-icing in Hamburg is provided directly at the parking position.  

Pushback

In Hamburg it is very important to use the apron and its taxiways efficiently. It is useful to instruct pushing traffic creative routings to avoid congestion. For medium to high traffic situations:

• make use of the orange and blue line on Z1
• consider straight out pushbacks from gates 3+4 into Z4 
• 50s stands: to avoid taxi via Z1, consider pushback directions opposite to the usual traffic flow
• Stand 10-12, 40+ at 33 departure: pushback face south and taxi to holding point B1
• caution: do not push stand 9 face south, as it will block the intersection

Taxiways

No checkpoints: The area of responsibility of East Apron includes the holding points. Checkpoints shown on charts are not applicable on VATSIM, as we do not simulate the Hamburg Airport company operating the apron.

Outbound traffic:  Z1 should be used towards the active departure runway. South to runway 33/05 and north to runway 23/15. Low traffic or creative routings may deviate from that. If possible, separate west/east outbound traffic at different holding points.

In medium to high traffic situations, where waiting in sequence is expected at the holding points, consider B1 for heavy aircrafts (up to aircraft code E), to avoid blocking the Z1/Z5 intersection.

Holding points A5 and B3 are only used for runway crossings.

Arriving traffic: Depending on the landing runway, aircrafts will usually enter the East Apron via B6 or A5/A6. The inbound routing is coupled to the outbound orientation of Z1, so it creates a a clockwise or counter-clockwise traffic flow to the gates. Low traffic or creative routings may deviate from that.

Helipad: Helipad East between B1 and B3 is not used that often or is closed via NOTAMS. Prefer using Helipad West. Departures directly from the parking position are not permitted. All helicopter traffic needs to air-taxi to the helipad, except helicopters based at the police station.

Hamburg West Apron (EDDH_W_GND)

East Apron controls this area, if West Apron is offline.  
Tower, East Apron and Delivery need to be online before West Apron can be staffed. 

Parking and Pushback

The DFS Pack includes the GroundRadar-Plugin which assigns parking positions by the airline and aircraft.  In case of blocked gates, traffic flow/management concerns or pilot request, another position can be used. 

80s stands - Low Cost Terminal: The "low-cost" terminal is located at the west apron, taxiway Y1. Airlines like Easy and Ryanair are positioned here. In busy traffic situations, these stands can also be used for all airlines (up to aircraft code D) to relieve the East Apron.

90s stands - Cargo: Stands 91-93 (taxiway Y3) are intended for heavy aircrafts and block their respective A/B positions. Narrow body airliners with a max-wingspan of 36m shall use one of the A/B positions.

Pushbacks at the northern stands (81, 82, 91) need to stay clear of D1:
Either a pushback face north, straight back or a short pushback face south needs to be issued, since D1 is in the responsibility of Tower. Depending on the departure runway, aircrafts facing north might need extensive coordination, e.g. an intersection take-off or a longer taxi-route with a released taxiway D1.

General Aviation (GA + Apron 4): General Aviation Parking is between D1 and G (green area). Apron 4 is the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) and is often used by smaller business jets or commercial props. 

Movement at GA delegated to Tower (green area): Taxiing out of and into the general aviation parking area is delegated to tower to ensure a steady traffic flow. Parking positions are not assigned to arriving traffic. Outbound traffic should be handed over to tower when they report ready for pushback or taxi, whichever comes first. 

Apron 5 + 6: Lufthansa Technik - these aprons are only used on pilot request. Apron 6 taxi out needs to be coordinated with tower. In real life these aprons are private property and often a push/pull out through the gates is needed. This is not applicable on Vatsim.

De-Icing: De-icing in Hamburg is provided directly at the parking position.  

Police and rescue helicopters: The police helicopters are based at Hamburg Airport east of apron 5 (H Pol1 / H Pol 2), Callsign "Libelle". These helipads are not reachable via air-taxi and can only be used for direct arrival/departures. Pilots will communicate directly with the tower.

There are no rescue helicopters located at the airport but within the area of the tower control zone.

Taxiways

Outbound traffic: Use G for outbound traffic unless an intersection take-off (e.g. D8/D9) was coordinated. In that case airplanes hold short of D1 while being handed over to Tower.

Arriving traffic: Expect aircrafts on all possible entry points of your area of responsibility and check the provided stand assignment. If you disagree with the chosen stand, coordinate in time with the other stations. Tower will transfer airplanes on D1 with an instruction to hold short of Y3 or Y1. Clear the traffic on D1 as quick as possible.

Helipads: Helipad West is the main arrival/departure point for helicopters in Hamburg. Departures directly from the parking position are not permitted. All helicopter traffic needs to air-taxi to the helipad, except helicopters based at the police station.

Taxiway Restrictions

Unless otherwise stated below, taxiways are suited for aircraft code F movements. For information regarding aircraft dimensions consult the Aircraft Performance Database. ICAO aircraft code definitions can be found at Skybrary.

Euroscope: Ground View > Functions > Maps > Restrictions

click to open bigger view

Apron East

Taxiway	Restrictions
Alpha 1	Aircraft code E or below
Alpha 4	max wingspan 36m
Bravo 1	Aircraft code E or below
Bravo 5	max wingspan 36m, Aircraft code C or below
Zulu 1	Orange und Blue Line: max wingspan 36m
Zulu 4	Aircraft code C or below
Zulu 5	south of Z1: Aircraft code E or below
Zulu 7	max wingspan 25m
Zulu 8	max wingspan 36m

Apron West

Taxiway	Restriction
Foxtrott	Aircraft code D or below
Golf	for pushback: Aircraft code D or below
Tango	max wingspan 80m; >80m tow to Apron 6
Uniform	max wingspan 60m; >36m tow to Apron 5
Victor	max wingspan 28,65m max length 30,3m landing gear width 4,9m
Whiskey	max wingspan 24m, closed
Yankee 1	Aircraft code D or below
Yankee 4	max wingspan 30m
Yankee 5+6	max wingspan 12m
Yankee 7	max wingspan 29m

Tower

Holding Point	Restrictions
Delta 4	Aircraft code C or below
Delta 6	Aircraft code D or below
Delta 7	Aircraft code C or below
Delta 8	Aircraft code D or below
Echo 4	Aircraft code E or below

Efficient Traffic Management

Because of the small apron size in Hamburg, the controller has to guarantee an efficient traffic flow. For this, there are some points to keep an eye on while staffing one of the apron positions:

• In case of traffic crossing runway 15/33 at G/B3: coordinate with Tower and get a release for  the runway crossing, so that pilots don't have to switch to tower frequency 
• delay pushbacks if needed to prevent overloaded holding points or taxiways
• plan pushbacks and their routing the most efficient way
• make use of the orange and blue line on Z1
• consider straight out pushbacks from gates 3+4 into Z4 
• 50s stands: to avoid taxi via Z1, consider pushback directions opposite to the usual traffic flow
  
• if possible, separate west/east outbound traffic at different holding points
• Apron 2: coordinate intersection take-offs at D8 (dep. runway 23) or D9 (dep. runway 33)