Maghreb
Letter of Agreement
Between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
1
Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
Content
1. Introduction 3
2. General Procedures 3
2.1. Cruising flight levels 4
3. Sector Layout 4
3.1. Spain 5
3.2. Maghreb 5
4. Neighbouring Airports With Coordinated Descent 6
4.1. Tanger (GMTT) 6
4.2. Tetouan (GMTN) 6
4.3. Málaga (LEMG) 7
4.4. Gibraltar (LXGB) 7
4.5. Melilla (GEML) 8
4.6. Dakhla international airport (GMMH) 9
4.7. Lanzarote (GCRR) 9
4.8. Fuerteventura (GCFV) 9
5. Amendment History 10
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Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
1. Introduction
The purpose of this Letter of Agreement (LoA) is to define the coordination
procedures between the FIRs of Madrid (LECM), Canarias (GCCC) and
Casablanca (GMMM) for the Provision of AirTraffic Services.
The procedures in this LoA are for use on the VATSIM Network only and should
never be adopted for real world use.
2. General Procedures
●Traffic shall be transferred to the neighbouring sector 10 NM before reaching
its boundary.
●Traffic shall be transferred complying with the separation guidelines as
of RVSM (5 NM horizontally / 1000 ft vertically).
●In case of having a sequence of traffic with the same destination, extra 5 NM
shall be applied horizontally. Making a total horizontal separation of 10 NM.
●In case of traffic being transferred while climbing or descending, traffic shall
be transferred 3000 ft before reaching its Cleared Flight Level.
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Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
2.1. Cruising flight levels
●Everything going towards mainland Spain will fly an EVEN Flight Level.
●Everything going towards the Canary Islands will fly an ODD Flight Level.
3. Sector Layout
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Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
3.1. Spain
*Below F245
Check Spain vACC sectors in the following link: sectors
3.2. Maghreb
Check Maghreb vACC sectors in the following link: sectors
The positions that are above in the table have priority over those that are below
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Position
Name
Frequency
Sector
LECS_SM2_CTR
Sevilla Control
135.025
1
LECS_NCS_CTR
Sevilla Control
132.675
2
LECS_CTR
Sevilla Control
133.350
1 and 2
LECM_ALL_CTR
Madrid Control
133.750
1 and 2
GCCC_RW3_CTR
Canarias Control
126.100
10
GCCC_RES_CTR
Canarias Control
129.100
11
GCCC_R6_CTR
Canarias Control
123.650
10 and 11
GCCO_CTR
Canarias Radio
130.950 - 8861 kHz
12 and 13*
Position
Name
Frequency
Sector
GMAC_ON_CTR
Agadir Radar
136.000
3
GMAC_OS_CTR
Agadir Radar
124.500
7
GMAC_O_CTR
Agadir Radar
136.000
3 and 7
GMAC_WN_CTR
Agadir Radar
128.800
4
GMAC_WS_CTR
Agadir Radar
127.000
8
GMAC_W_CTR
Agadir Radar
128.800
4 and 8
GMAC_CTR
Agadir Radar
124.500
3, 4, 7 and 8
GMMM_N_CTR
Casablanca Radar
125.500
5
GMMM_S_CTR
Casablanca Radar
126.700
9
GMMM_E_CTR
Casablanca Radar
125.100
6
GMMM_CTR
Casablanca Radar
126.500
5, 6 and 9
GMMM_ALL_CTR
Casablanca Radar
131.925
3 to 9
Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
4. Neighbouring Airports With Coordinated Descent
4.1. Tanger (GMTT)
The location of Tanger airport makes coordination quite challenging as 90%
of the descent of planes inbound from the north will be handled by Spanish
ATC. In consequence the arrival shall be given by Spanish ATC as well. All
transfers regarding planes inbound Tanger from Spanish ATC will be done
directly to GMTT_APP (Ibn Batouta Approach - 121.200) if online, otherwise
to GMMM_N_CTR, GMMM_CTR or GMMM_ALL_CTR.
Arrivals:
Departures:
All Departures towards Spanish Airspace will be instructed to climb to FL100
and 3000 ft before reaching that altitude will be transferred to the
appropriate Spanish ATS.
4.2. Tetouan (GMTN)
Just like Tanger, Tetouan is quite a challenging airport when it comes to
coordination as well. Tetouan doesn’t receive as much traffic so the arrival
procedures are quite a bit easier. Tetouan does not have any STAR
procedure and only one runway has an established approach procedure.
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Via
RWY 28 (preferential)
RWY 10
Altitude at FIX
Transfer Point
ABIRO
ABIRO 2A
ABIRO 1A
FL100 at BAMBA
10 NM before BAMBA
NORLO
NORLO 2A
NORLO 1A
FL060 at ADKIM
10 NM before ADKIM
LAMAD
LAMAD 2A
LAMAD 1A
FL100 at GALTO
10 NM before GALTO
Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
Arrivals:
Arrivals shall be instructed to descent to FL70 and be transferred 10 NM
before reaching GALTO to GMTN_TWR (Saniat R'mel Tower - 119.000)
procedural.
Departures:
Departures will be instructed to climb to FL60 and 3000 ft before reaching
that altitude will be transferred to the appropriate Spanish ATS.
4.3. Málaga (LEMG)
The sunny airport in Costa del Sol might not be as challenging as Tanger
when it comes to ATC coordination but still is situated close enough for it to
have some coordination to be done between the two ATS providers.
Arrivals:
4.4. Gibraltar (LXGB)
The strategically well-situated British airport makes coordination quite
complicated. As a reminder, Gibraltar is controlled by VATSIMUK.
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Via
RWY 12/13
(preferential)
RWY 31
PIMOS
PIMOS 1A
PIMOS 1B
EPATA
EPATA 1A
EPATA 1B
VJF
VJF 1A
VJF 1B
Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
Arrivals:
Arrivals from the south to Gibraltar are unlikely but possible. There are two
possible entries:
●Via BAMBA, in which case arrival will be provided by Spanish
controllers and later on transferred to Casablanca for further
descent. From BARPA to PIMOS the ATC service will be provided by
Gibraltar Approach. If offline, traffic may be told to switch over to
Unicom.
●Via GALTO, in which case the arrival will be provided by Casablanca
and later on transferred directly to Gibraltar Approach.
4.5. Melilla (GEML)
For the purpose of simplification Casablanca has delegated a box of airspace
around Melilla to the Area Control Center of Seville. Thanks to that, planes
transiting from Spain to Melilla won’t have to change unnecessarily
between frequencies.
As seen in the image below, this delegation of airspace goes from surface up
to FL60. From FL70 onwards, this airspace is controlled by Casablanca.
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Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
4.6. Dakhla international airport (GMMH)
Traffic with destination GMMH shall be transferred from Casablanca Radar
to Canarias Radio (GCCO_CTR) 10 NM before the waypoint SOLNA.
GCCO_CTR makes the handoff to GMMH_APP (Dakhla Approach - 119.500)
when cleared to FL120.
4.7. Lanzarote (GCRR)
Coordination is not very complicated for Lanzarote, but traffic arriving GCRR
via TERTO or DEVLA must begin the descent and have a STAR assigned
before entering the Canary Islands airspace because the TOD is usually
found in the Casablanca FIR.
RWY 03 (preferential) RWY 21
4.8. Fuerteventura (GCFV)
Pretty much the same as Lanzarote, traffic arriving GCFV via RUSIK must
begin the descent and have a STAR assigned before entering the Canary
Islands airspace because the TOD is usually found in the Casablanca FIR.
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Via
STAR
Altitude at FIX
Via
STAR
Altitude at FIX
TERTO
TERTO 1P
FL290 at TERTO
TERTO
TERTO 5Q
FL250 at TERTO
DEVLA
DEVLA 4P
FL150 at DEVLA
DEVLA
DEVLA 5Q
FL150 at DEVLA
Via
RWY 01 (preferential)
RWY 19
Altitude at FIX
RUSIK
RUSIK 4S
RUSIK 5W
FL200 at RUSIK
Letter of Agreement between Maghreb vACC and Spain vACC
5. Amendment History
This document has been created through collaborative efforts between the ATC
Operations Departments of Spain vACC and Maghreb vACC. It has undergone
thorough review and received approval from:
●Spain vACC Director - Alberto Medina (1195243)
●Spain vACC Deputy Director - Dani García (1273782)
●Spain vACC Operations Director - Toni Monner (1206448)
●Spain vACC Deputy Operations Director - Álvaro Ruiz (1495376)
●Maghreb vACC Director - Réda (1171306)
●Maghreb vACC Deputy Director - Aymen (1356990)
●Maghreb vACC Operations Director - Bobbie (1444138)
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Revision
Effective Date
Notes
1
10 January 2020
First publication
2
1 July 2022
Staff, logo and Moroccan Sahara operation’s updated
3
2 November 2023
Format, logos, names, sectors and procedures updated. Added GCRR and GCFV
