Sent an email to Luftfarstilsynet (Norwegian CAA) whilst I was on holiday to try and clarify the activations of some areas of restricted airspace - UC1 and UC1Z - as it wasn’t clear whether they were always active or, like the Highlands back home, activated by NOTAM.
Bit late for me this time, but I’ve just had a reply that will come in handy next time and might be of interest to others:
Hei Joe,
Disse områdene aktiveres av NOTAM.
Lengre forklaring:
UC1 og UC1Z er FUA-områder, med en egen prosedyre.
Dette fleksible luftrommet finnes over hele Norge.
UC1 er her (hentet fra AIP Norge, IPPC - Norwegian Aerodrome Info):
UC1Z er «buffersonen» til område.
Videre info om aktuelt område finner du her: Avinor - eAIP Norge.
AIP Norge – Part 2 – ENR5.2 Militære flyoperasjoner:Teksten:
AUP og UUP publiseres i Norge via NOTAM.
Roughly:
These areas are activated by NOTAM.
UC1 and UC1Z are Flexible Use Airspace areas.
This flexible airspace can be found all over Norway.UC1Z is the “buffer zone” of the area.
Further information about the relevant area can be found here: Avinor - eAIP Norge.
AIP Norway – Part 2 – ENR5.2 Military flight operations:Training sessions can be scheduled 24 hours a day unless otherwise stated. Planned use is specified daily via AUP/UUP. Actual activity times may differ from planned activity. Information about actual activation can be obtained from the luntraik service
Airspace Use Plans and Updated Airspace Use Plans are published in Norway via NOTAM.
So yes, pretty much the same as the Highlands - activated by NOTAM for military training exercises.
I was using a combination of the NINOX app and the maps on safetofly.no to check airspace restrictions and view NOTAMs, so should be all set for our next visit.