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#1658512
I’m planning a weekend trip later in the summer to Trier in Germany.

My route (VFR in an Arrow) takes me from Nottinghamshire to enter Dutch airspace at point NAVPI, routing just a little bit south west of Rotterdam and then across the northern part of Belgium routing roughly between Antwerp towards Liege.

I’ve done a lot of flying on the continent but the last time I crossed the whole of Belgium VFR was about 12 years ago. On that occasion, Brussels Departures cleared us through their Class C but we did have to take quite a few vectors and level changes which was not, shall we say, very efficient flying.

My question is what can I expect nowadays. Is Brussels likely to accept me in Class C VFR? Also, I note a lot of military / restricted airspace around Liege and Kleine Brogel. In practice, is a transit pretty straightforward?

Any recent info would help for planning purposes.

Many thanks

Geraint
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By Rob P
#1658514
May 1940?

Rob P
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By Peter Mundy
#1658515
Most of the military airspace in Belgium will be cold during the weekend. Probable exception Kleine Brogel
By Radar
#1658517
GP,
As Peter has pointed out, weekends the military should be closed,so no issues with crossing clearances. On your route, I would talk to Antwerp for a crossing clearance through their CTR. If you chose to transit between the Antwerp and Brussels zones, 99.9% certain you will be held below 1500' (below the Brussels TMA) through that narrow channel (along with everyone else transiting west / east and v.v.) A couple of considerations as you track east bound from BUN are the para jumping sites at Diest (EBDT) and Genk (EBZW). Diest may be active, Genk most certainly will be weekends.The guys at Liege are invariably accomodating so that should be no issue.

The biggest issue,IMO, with transitting Belgian airspace is the level of "service" one gets from Brussels info. It is higly dependent on the individual holding the mike. The military equivalent, Belga Radar, are a much better bet.
By Geraint Pinches
#1658518
Thanks for the helpful replies, Peter & Radar.

My route would take me north of Antwerp (in fact I’d be in Dutch airspace at that point close to Rotterdam) crossing into Belgian airspace near Gilze.

My route does however take me through Kleine Brogel airspace. Are they accommodating to VFR transits?

Cheers

Geraint
By Radar
#1658519
Geraint,
From my experience (numerous occasions - I'm based at EBZW) the guys at Kleine Brogel are great. They will accommodate you as far as possible. Weekends should be no problem, in any case. During the week, with low level bombing areas possibly active, they might be a bit more constrained. If the worst comes to the worst, continue eastbound in Dutch airspace, give Budel a call just to let them know you're crossing and talk to Beek TWR or APP for crossing into German airspace. Never a problem.

Enjoy the trip.

Damian
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1713779
I've just flown across Belgium south-north during the week. Have to say that the complexity of airspace is an issue - much like in the UK. The "service" from Brussles info (if they respond) and Belga Radar is comparable to London info. - ie not worth much. I found I was much better off talking to the relavent Military aerodromes en-route (florenne, Bauvechaine etc) for "transit" even if only flying close to their airspace/restricted areas and not through it/them as they told me about traffic, just like UK military LARS. In fact I found Belgium to be just like the UK, even down to the "radio service" at small aerodromes, which is the same as A/G - ie really not required but required by their Regs.

Regards, SD..