Manchester Airport is a major international airport situated 7.5 miles southwest of Manchester. It is home to a number of based airlines including Jet2, easyJet, Ryanair, Flybe, Thomas Cook, TUI and many more.

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On an average day Manchester Airport will handle in excess of 700 movements ranging from small turboprops, medium sized airliners and very large aircraft such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747.

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To help facilitate the safe transit of VFR traffic from south to north and vice versa an area of airspace known as the Special Low Level Route is established. This airspace allows aeroplanes and helicopters to transit between Liverpool and Manchester without getting an individual ATC clearance as long as the following conditions are met.

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• Route not above altitude 1300ft on the Manchester QNH which is available on Manchester ATIS 128.175 MHz

• Remain clear of cloud and in sight of the surface

• Minimum flight visibility 4km

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To the east of the Manchester CTR there are a number of VRPs established to aid navigation over the Pennines region. Not only will these assist pilots in avoiding controlled airspace infringements but they will also aid pilots in avoiding the Danger Areas which may be active around the Buxton area. Further information on these Danger Areas can be found in the UK AIP ENR 5.1.

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An interactive chart of VRPs is shown below.

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A Frequency Monitoring Code of 7366 is in use for aircraft operating in the vicinity of Manchester controlled airspace and within the Manchester Low Level Route which are maintaining a listening watch on Manchester Radar on 118.580. Selection of this code does not imply the receipt of an ATC service and all aircraft are still responsible for maintaining their own terrain clearance, traffic avoidance and navigation at all times. Aircraft using this code are not expected to call ATC under normal circumstances.