NAV CANADA to Perform Routine Flight Checks at Billy Bishop Airport on Friday, October 18, 2019

 
As part of recent airspace enhancements at Billy Bishop Airport, NAV CANADA has introduced new instrument procedures that will significantly reduce overflight of residentially populated areas during flight inspections. Further, as a direct result of NAV CANADA’s new procedures, the distance flown by each inspection flight arrival to runway 08 has decreased by 16 nautical miles, saving 71 litres of fuel per flight and preventing the release of approximately 973 mega tonnes of GHG emissions each year.
 
Background
 
Flight inspections support safe operations at the airport by ensuring navigational aids are calibrated and functioning optimally and by certifying instrument procedures used by pilots. NAV CANADA currently has two Canadair Regional Jet (CRJ-100) aircraft for conducting these routine flight inspections across Canada.
 
The CRJ-100 will neither land nor take-off from the Billy Bishop Airport runway, as this is not required for flight checks. The aircraft will undertake certain procedures in Billy Bishop Airport’s airspace, but will maintain compliance with the 1983 Tripartite Agreement, which restricts what type of aircraft can land/take-off at Billy Bishop Airport.
 
The first flight check with the CRJ-100 at Billy Bishop Airport took place on June 6, 2019.