If you’re new to the NAT (North Atlantic) Operations, the Blue Spruce Routes have been around since forever. These are special routes that go via Greenland and Iceland, designed to help aircraft with limited navigation capabilities.
The Blue Spruce Routes will be officially deleted in March 2025. The ‘Iceland-Greenland corridor’ will replace Blue Spruce Routes as the backup option. A review is also underway to decide whether to keep or remove remaining ground-based navigation aids.
This decision was based on several good reasons:
– There aren’t enough ground-based navigation aids anymore to reliably support these routes.
– Hardly anyone uses them, as very few aircraft with single LRNS rely on them.
– The Iceland-Greenland surveillance corridor is a good enough alternative for aircraft with navigation issues.
– The difference in flight distance between Blue Spruce Routes and alternative corridors is so small it’s not worth keeping them.
If you want to know more about NAT operations, visit the smartcockpit.com FLIGHT OPS – NAVIGATION & ATC section and check your NAT operations knowledge with the Smartcockpit.com NAT quizzes.
