Cross the Ditch 25

Cross the Ditch 25

Pacific Waves

As the year winds down and the Northern winter closes in, where would you rather be than the islands of the South Pacific!

Join us as we celebrate the twenty-fifth Cross the Ditch by exploring the charms of the island nations and territories of the South Pacific. Over the course of the event we'll cross the ocean from Tahiti in the east to Australia in the west.

On VATSIM this December, the Pacific's warm sands and blue skies are calling, in Cross the Ditch 25: Pacific Waves.

What's it all about?

For eighteen hours this December, the skies over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand will be filled with aircraft all on a mission to Cross the Ditch.

An example of that typical down-under understatement, this "ditch" is over 1100nm wide. The flight routes all range from two and a half to three and a half hours flight time.

Throughout the event, Oceania's two divisions – VATNZ and VATPAC – will be providing full gate-to-gate ATC coverage, in the Southern Hemisphere's premiere oceanic event.

This is a great opportunity to experience Oceanic flying without the need to commit to an eight-hour flight!

If you're new to Oceanic Flying, our reporting tool makes taking part a breeze.

Event Times

This eighteen hour event is timed to allow pilots from all over the world to join the fun:

Waves

This season's event is organised in waves. Each airport will have a three-and-a-half-to-five hour departure window, during which time flights will be able to leave for the next destination. As the window closes, the departure window will open at the next destination.

Given each of the flights is 2 - 3.5hrs in length, the previous wave's flights will be arriving at the same airport as the next wave departs, maximising the amount of traffic at each airport.

NOTE: in order to ensure that you have ATC coverage throughout your flight, you MUST fly the wave route that is active at the time of your departure.

The individual routes are designed to ensure as much opposing traffic enroute as possible.

Each flight passes from one Oceania division to the other, and the result is six mini-flyins over the course of twenty hours!

The Waves for Cross the Ditch 25: Pacific Waves are:

Wave Flight Departure Window
UTC AEDT NZDT
1 Tahiti, French Polynesia (NTAA) to
Pago Pago, American Samoa (NSTU)
1700-2030 0400-0730 0600-0930
2 Pago Pago, American Samoa (NSTU) to
Nadi, Fiji (NFFN)
2030-0030 0730-1130 0930-1330
3 Nadi, Fiji (NFFN) to
Noumea, New Caledonia (NWWW)
2230-0300 0930-1400 1130-1600
4 Noumea, New Caledonia (NWWW) to
Christchurch, New Zealand (NZCH)
0030-0530 1130-1630 1330-1830
5 Christchurch, New Zealand (NZCH) to
Brisbane, Australia (YBBN)
0400-0730 1500-1830 1700-2030
Cross the Ditch 25: Pacific Waves Route Map

Calling all Pilots and Controllers

Flight plans are available from the Flight Plans section.

Book your flights now from the Flight Bookings page. Bookings made on this site help us plan for the event, and will also show up in vroute.

Controllers wanting to get in on the action can also apply now at the event's ATC Applications page.

Cross the Ditch is brought to you by VATPAC and VATNZ VATNZ - VATSIM New Zealand VATPAC - VATSIM Australia/Pacific