TI-26-008 TC Midlands Splitting Procedures¶

Instruction ID	TI-26-008
Valid	01/08/2026
Applicable To	LAC Central & top-down airfields
Mandatory	Mandatory

Introduction¶

For Mid Summer Madness XX and VATSIM UK live, a temporary arrangement is made to allow for the splitting of TC Midlands.

If required due to controller workload, split TC Midlands positions (defined in this post) may be opened without the rest of TC Midlands being staffed.

Sectors¶

The TC Midlands group consists of 2 sectors, as shown below.

TC COWLY (West Side)¶

1. (Relief: LTC_MC__CTR)

TC COWLY handles LTMA inbounds from the North, and departures from Birmingham and East Midlands heading south. The occasional northbound flight is also handled, particularly Solent departures heading north, or traffic inbound to Birmingham via the SILVA 1B arrival. It covers the west side of TC Midlands.

TC WELIN (East Side)¶

1. (Relief: LTC_MW__CTR)

TC WELIN may be opened to focus on the northbound flow and is thus most useful during a significant inbound flow to either Birmingham or East Midlands. It does not have top-down responsibility of TC North West and can either be split off AC Daventry or TC Midlands. It covers the east side of TC Midlands.

Agreed Levels¶

A TC Midlands Agreed Levels Diagram showing the COWLY & WELIN split, as well as the associated agreements is available here.

Coordination with Adjacent Units, Sectors and Airfields¶

The following sectors should be informed when TC Midlands is split two ways: - AC Daventry - TC North - AC Clacton - TC East - PC Southeast - AC Worthing - AC Dover

Neighbouring ACCs are aware of these procedures. However, adjacent UK controllers (enroute, approach and aerodrome) may need guidance on top-down coverage.

Birmingham Procedures¶

When TC COWLY and TC WELIN are split by two different controllers, some variations to the standard documented procedures for Birmingham traffic are required.

Outbounds¶

Birmingham Departures to the south and east are transferred from BB AIR to BB APC who is responsible for IVV. BB APC will not climb departes above the initial SID altitude and they will transfer traffic to the TC COWLY sector when clean of inbound traffic.

Departures routing via the DTY SID (15) or UNGAP SID (33) will be climbed by TC COWLY to FL80 and then transferred to TC WELIN, released for climb to FL130 whilst in TC COWLY airspace.

Inbounds¶

SILVA 1B traffic (FL170-) is subject to coordination between TC COWLY and TC WELIN. TC may consider allocating FL80 to SILVA traffic to ensure separation against traffic from the east (FL90). Since the standing agreement to BB APC is descending FL90 from all directions, FL80 requires the agreement of BB APC.

When holding commences at GROVE, BB APC shall suspend the silent handover agreement. TC WELIN is then responsible for allocating levels at GROVE and aircraft will be transferred (from TC WELIN, TC COWLY or AC West) at the lowest available level under electronic abbreviated release. BB APC is responsible for the GROVE hold from FL70 to FL140.

When holding at GROVE, traffic routing via the HEMEL 1B arrival at and below FL110 shall be considered known to TC COWLY and will be transferred directly to BB APC from TC WELIN. Traffic that crosses the COWLY/WELIN boundary above FL110 must be coordinated by TC WELIN with the TC COWLY sector controller prior to it entering their airspace.

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Errors in this instruction should be reported to operations@vatsim.uk or in Discord.