Operators Guide; Flying To Super Bowl 50

Super Bowl 50 will take place on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Game time will be at 3:30 p.m. (PST). Due to the increased air traffic expected at area airports, and at Las Vegas Mc Carran International Airport (LAS), operators are encourgeed to review the following resources.

Courtesy NBAA operations guide for Super Bowl 50.

Ramp Reservations for California Airports

Note that there will not be an FAA slot-based Special Traffic Management Program (E-STMP) implemented for Super Bowl 50, However, ramp reservations will be required for both IFR/VFR arrivals and departures from Thursday, Feb. 4 through Monday, Feb. 8 at all San Francisco Bay, Napa Valley and Monterey Peninsula-area airports. Please note, reservations will also be required for “drop and go” operations. Ramp reservations can be obtained through your FBO.

The following airports will have requirements for ramp arrival and departure reservations.

Airport Location Identifier
San Francisco International San Francisco, CA SFO
Oakland International Oakland, CA OAK
Hayward Executive Hayward, CA HWD
Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International San Jose, CA SJC
Livermore Municipal Livermore, CA LVK
Buchanan Field Concord, CA CCR
Napa County Napa, CA APC
Charles M. Schultz – Sonoma County Santa Rosa, CA STS
Monterey Regional Monterey, CA MRY
Watsonville Municipal Watsonville, CA WVI
Salinas Municipal Salinas, CA SNS
Reid-Hillview Airport of Santa Clara County San Jose, CA RHV
Moffett Federal Airfield Mountain View, CA NUQ
San Carlos Airport San Carlos, CA SQL
Hollister Municipal Hollister, CA CVH

Ramp Reservations Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS)

Ramp reservations will be required through your FBO of choice at LAS. It is highly recommended that you obtain your ramp reservation as soon as possible as parking is limited. When contacting your LAS FBO, provide them with your scheduled arrival and departure time.

In addition, FAA ATC traffic management initiatives might be needed if air traffic demand exceeds the airport capacity. LAS capacity has been decreased due to a runway construction project. If a ground delay program is needed at LAS, an expected departure clearance time (EDCT) will be given to the flight operator by ATC. An ATC issued EDCT will take precedence over a ramp reservation. Please note, however, your ramp reservation will still be honored. Additional traffic management initiatives are possible for the Las Vegas area airports such as miles in trail, flow metering times and/or ground stops.

Ramp reservations are not required at Henderson Executive (HND) and North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), however, it is highly recommended that flight operators contact the FBO at HND or VGT in advance to provide operational details.

Route Requirements

Arrival Route Requirements

Dates and times differ based on destination airport.

Departure Route Requirements

Sunday, Feb. 7, 5 p.m. (PST) (0100z) through Monday, Feb. 8, 8 p.m. (PST) (09/0400z)

Due to the expected heavy volume of departures, users must file specific routes from Feb. 7, 5 p.m. (PST) through Feb. 8, 8 p.m. (PST) (08/0100z to 09/0400z). These routes will be specific to airport of origin and direction of flight and/or destination. These routes can be found in the FAA special traffic management procedures NOTAMs.

Airport Specific NOTAMs

Review the traffic management procedures, including arrival and departure route requirements, for the airports below:

Temporary Flight Restrictions

FDC NOTAM 6/6446 has been released for the San Jose, CA area in relation to Super Bowl 50 on February 07, 2016.

A 10 nautical mile TFR ring centered on Levi’s Stadium (or the SJC306003.0) prohibits GA operations at the following airports from 1400 local (2200z) until 2359 local (08/0759z) on Feb. 7, 2016.

  • Norman Mineta San Jose International (SJC)
  • Moffett Federal Airport (NUQ)
  • Palo Alto Airport (PAO)
  • Reid-Hillview Airport San Jose (RHV)

A 32 nautical mile TFR ring centered on SJC306003.0 has additional restrictions between the 10 nautical mile and 32 nautical mile areas from 1400 local (2200z) until 2359 local (08/0759z) on Feb. 7, 2016.

Flight operations on an active IFR flight plan, squawking a discrete transponder code and talking to ATC will be allowed to operate between the 10nm and 32nm rings.

The NOTAM details can be found on the FAA TFR NOTAM web page.

Air Traffic Management Initiatives

FAA ATC Air Traffic Management Initiatives can be expected throughout the week and may include the following:

  • Ground Delay Programs
  • Airspace Flow Programs
  • Collaborative Trajectory Options Program
  • Time Based Metering
  • Miles in Trail
  • Airborne Holding
  • Ground Stops

Filing Flight Plans Early

Operators flying to San Francisco-area airports through Feb. 8 should make sure their flight plans have been submitted through a CDM-participating flight plan service provider or flight planning tool ​​the night before operation. These providers include Fltplan.com​, Rockwell Collins/ARINC Direct, Universal, Jeppesen and others​. ​Doing so will ensure that flight plan information is known to FAA before potential ground delay programs are implemented. This is especially the case for operators flying to SFO, OAK and SJC due to the possibility of programs into those airports. If flight plans are filed after a ground delay program has been implemented, it is likely operators will see excessive delays.

Airfiles and Destination Changes

Traffic management initiatives for this event are designed to provide equitable airspace access. To maintain program integrity and minimize delays, no airborne IFR filing or airborne changes of destination will be allowed within 200nm of Northern California TRACON Terminal airspace, except in emergency situations. Duplicate flight plans (same time/call sign) to multiple airport destinations are subject to removal from the system.

Source:  NBAA National Businesss Aviation Associaion

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