Cub Driver wrote:
Last week I was in Greenland, at Narsarsuaq, formerly the USAAF and
USAF airfield Bluie West One.

It's a fabulous place, but one aspect of the Narsarsuaq airfield
really astonished me. There is a tower, six days a week during normal
daylight hours, but the tower only gives advice; the pilot is always
in control, and makes his own decisions.

Is this very unusual?


It seems that you have met AFIS - Aerodrome Flight Information
Service. The guy in the tower is not a qualified ATC controller,
but he's able to provide the minimum information needed for
night or IFR operations.

AFAIK, AFIS is in use on smaller European airports.

--

Tauno Voipio (Piper Turbo Arrow IV at EFHF)
tauno voipio (at) iki fi