In less than a month, you can take part in VATSIM's bi-annual Cross the Pond Eastbound event. The event will oversee Eastbound traffic (North America to Europe) at the end of this month on the Saturday, 30th October. The event will comprise of over 800 pilots with 50 routes and 200 controllers with 12 hours of ATC coverage.

For this year's event, the number of participants will be limited to combat overwhelmed controllers and airspace. If you'd like to participate in the event you can register in their lottery system; the expression of interest applications will be open on the 5th to the 11th October 1800 UTC, the first day of the application window will see the lottery system run into the evening. Afterwards, users who have applied will be given a time later in the week to select your slot. Those who score high in the lottery will be able to book first, this will allow them to have a wide range of booking choices. Conversely, those who score lower on the lottery will have minimal booking “or perhaps no” slots left to chose from.

There are numerous factors that are affecting the outcome of the lottery. People that booked last year and did not log in to fly will have a slimmer chance of getting a slot. Those who registered last year but did not receive a slot will have a higher chance of getting a slot for this event. 

The slot lottery system changes every year so to explore the different ways to allocate participants in the event, the event management reasoned that “there is no perfect way to do CTP slots" and the outcome of this is to "find the 'least worst' option”.

Between the 22nd and 27th of October (2100 UTC) slot holders must return to the booking website to reconfirm their ability to fly and also provide important routing and flight information “such as your callsign, maximum assignable flight level, and so on.” Once booking opens, you will be able to choose from the approved airfield in your registration. The airports were chosen after a vote by all members of VATSIM:

Departing:

KBOS Boston Logan International Airport

KORD Chicago O'Hare International Airport

KATL Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta

KJFK John F. Kennedy Airport

KMIA Miami International Airport

CYYZ Toronto Pearson

KIAD Washington Dulles International Airport

Arriving:

EHAM Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

LEBL Barcelona

EDDB Berlin Brandenburg

EIDW Dublin

EFHK Helsinki-Vantaa Airport

EGLL London Heathrow

LFPG Paris Charles De Gaulle

LOWW Vienna International Airport

If you'd like to partake in this year's Eastbound event, visit ctp.vatsim.net to register for your spot in the lottery. You can go to the CTP dedicated forum to watch for the latest updates, and for questions refer to their CTP (F.A.Q) page.