LEH AIRPORT GUIDE

This document is based on real world charts.

It intended for flight simulation use only.
Do not use for real navigation!
 YOUR GUIDE TO LEH KUSHOK BAKULA RIMPOCHE AIRPORT

Table of Contents
Airport Brief
 General Information
 Runway Information
 Communication Information
 Introduction
 Airfield Information
 Alternate table
 Special notes
 Waypoints
 Arrival
 Approach and landing quick reference (A320 & B737)
 Departure
 Missed approach
 Ground movement

Creating Waypoints
 Airbus A318/A319/A320
 Boeing 737-700/800

Conclusion
Sceneries
General Information
Location : LEH IND
ICAO/IATA : VILH/IXL
Lat/Long : N34o 08.2', E077o 32.8'
Sunrise: 0135 Z
Sunset : 1141 Z

Runway Information

Runway : 07
Length X Width : 9555 ft X 150 ft
Surface Type : asphalt
TDZ-Elev : 10859 ft

Communication Information

Leh Tower : 127.300

 1. Introduction
Leh airfield marks the most difficult approach in India. We have
adapted the real-life procedures with necessary changes and
omissions in this chart. Aircrafts flying to and from LEH are
specially equipped for high altitude operations, in particular the
HIGH ALTITUDE LANDING switch.
Depending on your sim and aircraft vendor, you might not have this
mode. You can still fly to LEH on IVAO with its absence, but it will call
for manually controlling pressurization and cancelling cabin altitude
warnings. Radar vectoring during approach and departure will not
available below FL200 due to terrain restrictions.

ENSURE YOU HAVE READ AND FOLLOW THE PROCEDURES IN THIS

CHART DURING EVENTS, ELSE YOU MIGHT BE ASKED TO DISCONNECT .

2. Airfield Information
The airfield lies North of River Indus. The Indo‐Pakistan Line of Actual
Control runs around 50 NM Northwest of Leh airfield. Due to
mountainous terrain, operations to / from Leh terminal area and part
of route segment are permitted only for VFR operations. You must file
your Flight Rules as Y ( IFR - VFR) for arrivals and Z (VFR - IFR) for
departures on IVA P.
Due to the high altitude and terrain, there will be severe performance
limitations, be sure to fly with an appropriately loaded aircraft.
3. Alternate Table
Airport ICAO IATA Initial HDG (deg) GCD (NM)
Chandigarh VICG IXC 191 211
Dehradun VIDN DED 172 238
Delhi VIDP DEL 184 334
Srinagar VISR SXR 267 138
4. Special notes

 Being a performance limited runway, flight crew must be careful in correct line‐
up point for takeoff and also not to lose runway while setting take‐off thrust
due negative runway slope.

 When conditions are below ISA, i.e. when Leh runway temperature is
less than ‐6o C, the pressure altimeter shall be over‐reading. Exercise
caution.

 We are publishing only one approach and departure procedure each.

The routing ensures you can depart onto or arrive from the
W39 airway.

 Due to the high altitude expect to use more thrust to taxi.

 Only taxiway A and B are allowed for civil ops. Do not vacate/enter
onto any other taxiway unless operating as military traffic.

 Only Flaps 1 (Both A320 and 737) is to be used for departure, with full
thrust and no reduced thrust. Engine bleeds must be off with APU
running for takeoff. (APU bleed available till approx. 17000 ft)

 Take-off thrust rating is available for 10 minutes, if required. Fire-

walling of engines is permitted.

 Pilots must create the waypoints given in next page and follow
the appropriate route at all times.

 Keep a keen lookout to ensure terrain clearance and correct altitude

at check points
5. Waypoints
Point Latitude Longitude
LH01 N 33 19.0 E 078 02.0
LH02 N 34 00.0 E 077 39.9
LH03 N 34 08.4 E 077 33.6
LH04 N 34 11.0 E 077 29.3
LH05 N 34 08.5 E 077 27.6
LH06 N 34 07.2 E 077 29.7
LH07 N 34 11.1 E 077 23.8
LH08 N 34 11.6 E 077 17.0
LH09 N 34 12.4 E 077 13.5
LH10 N 34 11.5 E 077 20.1

6. Arrival
 Routing: Aircrafts arriving into Leh must follow the route below to land at
runway 07.
LELAX -> LH01 -> LH02 -> LLH -> LH03 -> LH04 -> LH05 -> LH06
It is advised to keep autopilot on to at least waypoint LH05. Pilots should
ensure proper energy management by getting into landing config. a bit
early than late. Max bank of 25o can be used. You might get cabin
altitude warnings and "descend profile too steep" warnings, ensure to
ignore the former and to make the latter null and void by staying
within flight envelope. You will have to disable GPWS warnings.

Page has the essential supplementary items to normal checklist for both
A320 and B737 family.
TRANSITION ALTITUDE : 24000 ft Visual approach
TRANSITION LEVEL (QNH<=1013hpa) : FL 225
TRANSITION LEVEL (QNH<=1013hpa) : FL 250 Airport Elevation 10859'

Point Altitude Speed

LH01 +/at FL230 Minimum clean speed
LH02 16000ft 150kts
LLH Fmc profile Vapp
LH03 14500ft Vapp
LH04 13000ft Vapp
LH05 12000ft Vapp
LH06 11200ft Vapp

Gear down, landing flaps and Vapp by LLH

7 Leh Approach & Landing Quick Reference

 Airbus A318/A319/A320

At TOD:

o HIGH ALT LANDING switch - ON

o ANTI ICE - As required
o MCDU Landing Flaps - Conf 3, ensure no CF for RW07

If No Engine Bleed Landing is required, start APU

o GPWS: TERR & SYS - OFF

o LDG FLAP 3 - ON

At Transition Level or as advised by ATC:

o Set LEH QNH and carry out/complete Normal Approach checklist

At 16000 ft

o Auto/BRK - MED
o Approach mode - Activate
o If no engine bleed landing - verify APU bleed on and cabin pressure stabilized

By LLH carryout normal landing checklist, flaps 3 and gear down.

 Boeing 737 / 738

At TOD:

o Select HIGH ALT LAND switch ‐ ON

o Set LAND ALT indicator ‐ 10900 ft.
o ANTI ICE - As required

If No Engine Bleed Landing is required, start APU

o Select TERRAIN Switch – ON

o Carry out Normal Descent Check List

At Transition Level or as advised by ATC:

o Set LEH QNH and carry out/complete Normal Approach checklist

At 20000 ft

o Flap Inhibit Switch ‐ Inhibit

At 16000 ft

o Auto brake - 3
o If no engine bleed landing - verify APU bleed on and cabin pressure stabilized

By LLH carryout normal landing checklist, flaps 3 and gear down.

8. Departure
 Routing: Aircrafts departing from Leh must follow the route out of
runway 25.
LH06 -> LH05 -> LH07 -> Lh08 -> LH09 -> LH10 -> LH05 -> LLH

Turn right immediately after reaching South bank of river Indus.

Climb to 18000 ft with TO/GA thrust, start inbound turn to LH10
only after reaching 21000 ft at 180 kts or below, flaps 1.
Use max bank 30o for inbound turn. Cleanup by LLH.

Report to assigned controller when overhead LLH to establish and

proceed on W39 airway.
9. Missed approach

If not stabilised by 10900 ft (Leh QNH) on finals, it is mandatory to go-

around. Go-around flaps setting shall be Flaps 1. Turn RIGHT climbing to
on track 100(M). Continue climbing to point LH01, select flaps 5, turn
LEFT and continue climbing to report over LLH. On clearance from ATC,
while approaching point LH02, select gear down, landing config flaps
and follow the normal approach and landing procedure.

 Ground movements
o Pushback is unavailable, all stands are taxi-in and taxi-out. Pilots
must confirm apron along with stand.

o Apron 2: Aircrafts must taxi straight into B and turn left at the
end of B to park in their respective stands facing South.

o Departing aircrafts are only allowed via A, ensure to backtrack 07

and lineup at the beginning of 25.

o Runway 25 is used for departures only and 07 for arrivals only.

o Single engine taxi is not allowed.

o De-icing facilities unavailable, pilots must be cautious about ice

buildup.
10. Creating Waypoints
It is mandatory to create and follow custom waypoints to avoid high terrain
areas, also atc will use these points are reference. If you are unaware about
how to do so, this we will be your perfect opportunity to learn. We are using
A320, B737 for example as they are most commonly flown types to this
airfield.

Airbus A319/320/321

 Select DATA on the MCDU.

 Navigate to the next page using Right Arrow key.
 Press R1 LSK -
"PILOT WAYPOINTS"
Enables creation, review and
deletion of pilot-defined WPTs.

 Press R5 LSK -
"NEW WAYPOINT"
Pressing R5 LSK will take you
to New Waypoint page.

 IDENT
Type in the name of the waypoint you
want to create, for example LH01 in our
case.
Press the L1 LSK
  LAT/LONG
Here you need to enter
Latitude/Longitude in the
format- xxxx.xN/xxxxx.xE
we used 3319.0N/07802.0E
for LH01
Press L2 LSK

 Press on R6 LSK "STORE"

Now, you have successfully entered your
waypoint you have to select STORE to
save it. You can enter the waypoint in
your flight plan like any other waypoint.

Now you can use this new waypoint in your F-PLN page

Note: If you have duplicate waypoints with the same names, check the coordinates when they
appear as options in the fmc/mcdu while entering them in flight plan. Wait for the IRS to align
so the closest waypoints with similar names appear first.
 Boeing B737-700/800
Press INDEX (L6 LSK)
Press on NAV DATA (R1 LSK)

Type the name of the waypoint

Press R6 LSK

to get it in the box

 On ce the waypoint is in the box
Press on LH01(R6 LSK)

again to confirm it

 Enter Latitude
LAT Format- Nxxxx.x
Press L3 LSK

 Enter Longitude
LONG Format- Exxxx.x
Press R3 LSK

 Recheck LAT/LONG
Press EXEC to store it

Just like Airbus you can enter the custom

waypoints in your flight plan just like any
other waypoint
Conclusion

You should be ready to fly in and out of Leh now. The key here is to stay
calm and embrace the challenge with proper preparation. Again in real
world aircrafts flying into high altitude airfields are specially equipped to
do so. From what we have seen so far, none of the sims have aircrafts with
High Altitude Landing switches. They are located on the overhead panel for
both A320 and B737, in-case you find them, you are most welcome to use
this mode.

Airbus A320 family Boeing 737 family

Sceneries

FSX/P3D : https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/files/15513/fsx-vilh-
scenery-v13/

X-Plane 11: https://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?/files/file/51287-vilh-

leh-kushok-bakula-rimpochee-airport/