For better or worse, much of the job of an airline pilot is highly regulated and monitored, and as a result, operating around many airports can become very routine.
There are, however, a few airports out there that don’t fit the norm. Nice Côte d'Azur is one such example.
The site is on the French south coast and surrounded by a valley of high terrain. The parallel runways are orientated 04/22 and are situated right on the coastline. What makes this airport interesting is that ‘straight-in’ approaches are seldom approved.
This is due to noise restrictions overflying Cap d’ Antibes to the southwest. A local humorous rumour has it that some retired captains live there and persuaded the French aviation authorities to implement noise restrictions for the straight-in ILS approach! As a pilot, this is no problem. In fact, when I see this airport on my roster, I usually can’t resist a smile. Instead of the straight-in ILS, we fly the Riviera approach. This takes us from the northwest of Nice down south towards Saint Tropez and from there we make a left turn heading east over the sea. We fly to a waypoint RIVRU, approximately ten miles to the south of Nice, then fly either a VOR/DME approach, or more c…
