Hello,

 

I've been wondering what the difference is between asking for start-up clearance and flightplan (FLP) clearance. Because in some phraseology examples they say "XXX123, stand 1, information A, (etc.), request start-up to XXX" and sometimes (and the way I've learnt to do it) they say "XXX123, stand 1, information A, (etc.), request clearance to XXX", but what's the difference more than that you get your Engine start clearance thogether with the FLP clearance? Is there any benefit of doing it one way or Another or is it just personal preferance?

 

Thanks in advance.

Startup clearance is purely that - clearance from ATC to start your engines.

All right, thanks. Now, why would one request the startup clearance instead of FLP clearance, or the otherway around? What are the benefits of request startup immediately, rather than doing it during push, or so on?

a startup clearance does not replace a flight plan clearance. they would have gotten the route clearance prior. you probably missed it on your scanner since the clearance was probably sent via acars datalink. this kind of stuff is all 'local' procedure.

Ok, I understand that a startup clearance doesn't replace  a route clearance, but you may get them both at the same time it seems. And at some smaller Airports, you're clearance isn't Always available staright away, so in that case you'd get your clearance later I assume.

 

And if a chart says something like "Request start-up and CLR not earlier than 30 min prior to EOBT...", does that mean you should call them with the request stat-up phraseology, or can you still just request the clearance itself first?

Indeed, many smaller airports give you your route clearance whilst taxying to the active runway, EGPF is a good example of that.  But you need to remember, the two are completely different.

 

For Start up and Clearance, you might find this request at airports where there are slot conditions  - again, EGPF can suffer from this during certain times of the year whereby the Airline/Aircraft will put in the clearance request so that they can get themselves into the slot allocation queue - happens a lot when the French ATC go on strike of maybe there is bad weather at EGLL/EGKK.  They may then be given an earlier start clearance if the slot time improves.