Winter 2020

Winter has returned to the Southern Hemisphere, and even as the nations of the South Pacific begin their recovery, the region's skies are eerily quiet.

But on VATSIM, pilots from around the world will once again pack Oceania's skies as they continue their mission to...

Cross the Ditch!

What's it all about?

For twenty hours this June, the skies over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand will be filled with aircraft all on a mission to Cross the Ditch.

An example of that typical down-under understatement, this "ditch" is over 1100nm wide. The flight routes all range from three to four-and-a-half hours flight time.

Throughout the event, the Oceania region's two divisions will be providing full gate-to-gate ATC coverage, in the Southern Hemisphere's premiere oceanic event.

This is a great opportunity to experience Oceanic flying without the need to commit to an eight-hour flight!

If you're new to Oceanic Flying, our reporting tool makes taking part a breeze.

Event Times

This twenty hour event is timed to allow pilots from all over the world to join the fun:

• UTC: Saturday 20th June 2020 18:00 - Sunday 21st June 2020 14:00
• AEST: Sunday 21st June 2020 04:00 - Monday 22nd June 2020 00:00
• NZST: Sunday 21st June 2020 06:00 - Monday 22nd June 2020 02:00

Waves

This season's event is organised in waves. Each airport will have a two-to-four hour departure window, during which time flights will be able to leave for the next destination. As the window closes, the departure window will open at the next destination.

Given each of the flights is 3 - 4.5hrs in length, the previous wave's flights will be arriving at the same airport as the next wave departs, maximising the amount of traffic at each airport.

NOTE: in order to ensure that you have ATC coverage throughout your flight, you MUST fly the wave route that is active at the time of your departure.

The individual routes are designed to ensure as much opposing traffic enroute as possible.

Each flight passes from one Oceania division to the other, and the result is six mini-flyins over the course of twenty hours!

The Waves for Cross the Ditch 18 - Winter 2020 are:

Calling all Pilots and Controllers

Flight plans are available from the Flight Plans section.

Book your flights now from the Flight Bookings page. Bookings made on this site help us plan for the event, and will also show up in vroute.

Controllers wanting to get in on the action can also apply now at the event's ATC Applications page.

Cross the Ditch is brought to you by VATPAC and VATNZ