Trying to fly the iFly Max and Fenix as close to RL as possible.   One thing I'm not clear on - how is it decided what approach to fly?   For instance, at my home airport, the primary runway has an ILS (also with CAT I-III options) and two RNAV approaches. Also always have the option of a visual approach.   I get the various CAT options for the ILS but given that the RNAV approaches have similar minimums to a standard ILS approach, who makes the decision on which approach is used?    Looking at Flight Aware, it appears that most of the time, the ILS is used, so if that's the case, what's the point of the RNAV options?  

Any info on this would be much appreciated. 

Here are the the things that impact what approach we will get assigned. Winds, weather and traffic flow. Winds will mainly govern what runways are used. Aircraft will have wind limits, most impactful, tail wind limits. There is a certification tailwind limit for takeoff and landing. So operations will change based on the winds. weather is another big factor. If the ceiling and visibility is lower than the minimums for an approach, you won't get assigned that approach. There are cases in which aircraft may have enhanced vision capability and the FAA/authorities may allow you to go 100FT below those minimums for precision approaches. We have that ability in Gulfstreams, other biz jets and FEDEX has it too. In that case, you would request it if below normal minimums and you meet the criteria. Traffic flow is another big one. If it's dense and busy, controllers will routinely give visual approaches as it helps with bunching traffic in. Unless it's a feeder approach, visuals may require less vectoring. You will see this at places like KLGA. Last impact is pilot preference. You can request a certain approach, especially if you need it for currency. At the end of the day, you will anticipate and brief an approach based on winds, weather, the usual and preference. Most likely you will see a visual or ILS based on the weather and approaches available.  

19 minutes ago, 11bee said:

I get the various CAT options for the ILS but given that the RNAV approaches have similar minimums to a standard ILS approach, who makes the decision on which approach is used?    Looking at Flight Aware, it appears that most of the time, the ILS is used, so if that's the case, what's the point of the RNAV options?

I missed this part, but it depends. If that ILS or a portion of it is out(Glide Slope), then that RNAV may get you in if there's weather. You may have better luck with the RNAV in that case, especially an RNP approach. Some places only have RNAV approaches, plus it's cheaper than ILS or other radio based approaches. If you haven't flown one in a while, you may request it over the ILS if the weather is good. 

At my airport (you guessed it CYVR), the ILS or visual is the standard as advertised on the atis but the RNAV is available on request. If the ILS is unavailable, then the RNAV becomes the standard IFR approach. With either of the 3 options, everyone would still get vectored to final for spacing needs.

IRL it kinda depends on a lot of factors (G550flyer summed it up pretty well hehe)

At airports with a control tower, the tower will usually select the runway(s) in use, the overlying approach/departure control will select the approach (instrument or visual) to that runway....and then that dictates what STAR/transition would be in use.  This is USA only I've got no idea how they do it in rest of the world.  Flying an ILS in severe clear VFR is totally normal at larger airports where it's easier to sequence and separate aircraft by putting everyone on the same approach.

In the USA, to add to all the above, nowadays, the decision to do an ILS vs RNAV really depends on what the pilot prefers. In most cases TRACON will clear the aircraft for whatever the pilots ask for. In smaller cases, ATC may need a specific approach but I’m finding that exceedingly rare.

At KSAN and KLAX, their approach clearances are “cleared for rwy xx approach.” It’s not even an assigned approach anymore. It’s great because that leaves the choice completely up to us as long as we fly to the correct runway.

13 hours ago, 11bee said:

how is it decided what approach to fly?

Well, I have FSHud, so I let them decide for me. Sometimes, when flying to SKBO, I may request to change runway depending on the terminal I want to park at (if domestic or international), but that's because I'm very familiar with this airport.