Different approaches

Visual approaches are made in good weather to safe time. Depending on the direction the aircraft comes from, a bit of time might be safed by doing a visual approach rather than doing the full instrument approach.

Thanks for the reply.

I know that quite a few commercial jets come into LBA and request visual approaches even though the ILS is operational. I assumed it was for practice reasons but just wondered if anyone knew for definite!!

Normally if an airfield has an ILS/DME then this is the approach they’d use.
Most large airfields have a few approaches, 1 precision approach (the ILS) and at least 1 non precision approach (NDB/DME, VOR/DME or LOC/DME).

Smaller airfields like Gloucestershire only have an NDB/DME procedure so they can only use this.
I’ve seen commercial guys conduct an NDB/DME into Filton when an ILS was available, this could have been for practice, I assume company SOPs would stipulate you do a non precision approach once in a given timescale for currency although I cannot confirm this as I haven’t got my company’s SOPs just yet.

So normally the only other time you’d conduct an NDB/DME is if the ILS is unserviceable.
If you have an ILS and the Glideslope is unserviceable then you can normally conduct a LOC/DME approach.

As for a visual approach I guess it’s down to company SOPs, I’d imagine there are set criterias the conditions have to meet before they are allowed to do this. Airfield procedures could also dictate whether or not this is done.

Dean