The ‘Temporary’ Restricted Area that has been in place over Custume Barracks in Athlone for an estimated 10 years has been made permanent. The TRA was put in place to facilitate the operations of the “Air Corps 112” HEMS service that operates from the Barracks. The Minister for Transport, in exercise of his powers under Section 7 of the Irish Aviation Authority Act, 1993, for reasons of safety, directed the Irish Aviation Authority to give effect by means of an airspace direction the request made by the Department of Defence in relation to the establishment of this restriction. No Airspace Change Proposal was published for this change which appears to be a unilateral decision by the Minister.
The new Restricted area has been designated as the EI-R24 and came into effect on the 18th of May without any consultation with industry. The area is centred on Custume Barracks and extends for a radius of 2NM from the surface to 2,000ft. Full details are available here.
General Aviation pilots operating in the midlands area should exercise extreme caution in the area of Athlone as this new restricted area does not feature on the current IAA Aeronautical Charts and is no longer the subject of a NOTAM. The only reference to the new restricted area is located in ENR5.1 and 5.2 of AIP Ireland.
