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Jeddah Approach Control

OEJN / JED — Saudi Arabia

Jeddah (OEJN / JED) is one of the real-world terminal areas you can control in the free ATC Radar Simulator. Its approach (APP) airspace — centred near 21°40.9'N 39°9.4'E in Saudi Arabia — is modelled with real runways, radio navaids and instrument procedures. As the approach controller you sequence arriving traffic onto the ILS approach, launch departures on their standard instrument departures, and keep every flight safely separated on the radar.

King Abdulaziz International, on the Red Sea coast, is the main gateway for millions of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims bound for Mecca, producing dramatic seasonal traffic peaks. Marshalling waves of widebodies from every corner of the world is what makes Jeddah approach distinctive.

Jeddah’s defining feature is the Hajj: for several weeks a year the airport absorbs one of the largest peaceful airlifts on earth, with charter widebodies from every corner of the world converging on its dedicated pilgrim terminal. The parallel north–south runways handle a constant mix of long-haul arrivals, the busy Riyadh shuttle and royal flight movements, all funnelled along the Red Sea coastline.

Runways

Runways 16C, 34C, 16L, 34R, 16R, 34L are equipped with an ILS (Instrument Landing System) — a localizer for lateral guidance and a glideslope for the descent path down to the threshold. In the simulator you turn arrivals onto the extended centreline, clear them for the approach, and watch them capture the localizer and glideslope automatically.

Radio navaids

VOR/DME: JDW

Standard arrivals (STARs)

Standard departures (SIDs)

The terminal airspace

• Transition level: FL60 — below it aircraft fly altitudes on the local QNH; at or above it they fly standard flight levels.
• Upper limit: FL130 — overflights cross the sector below this level.
• The terminal control area (TMA) extends roughly 70 NM around the field.
• Entry / exit fixes on the boundary: JDWVEMEMMISAMMUVOLNOMDABOSUTEGMEGIMDAPULULUBOMOXMIGDADATAPEGREPISLAM

How to control Jeddah in the simulator

Jeddah’s challenge is volume with variety: pilgrim charters, shuttle narrow-bodies and long-haul heavies share the same two streams, so speed control does more work than vectors. Build the sequence early over the coastal fixes and the parallel runways will absorb a remarkable rate.

Pick Jeddah when you start a session, then double-click an aircraft's data block to assume it. Give it radar headings, climb or descend it to a level and control its speed to build an orderly stream toward the runway. Turn arrivals onto final, clear them for the ILS, and keep at least 3 NM and 1,000 ft between aircraft — the short-term conflict alert (STCA) warns you before a loss of separation. New to it? Read the guide to approach radar control and the ATC glossary first.