| Service | Frequency |
|---|---|
| Tower | 118.630 |
Verified against the UK eAIP, AIRAC 09/2026.
Manchester is a controlled airfield, and the exercise here is the airspace rather than the circuit. You are asking to cross it, and the answer may be no. Read back the clearance in full, and if you do not get one, remain outside.
Initial call
Manchester Tower
Manchester Approach, G-ABCD.
G-ABCD, Manchester Approach, pass your message.
First call is your callsign and the station only. Wait to be asked for the message.
Passing your message
Manchester Tower
G-ABCD, Cessna 152, from Cambridge to Norwich, 5 miles south of the zone, 2,000 feet on QNH one zero one five, request zone transit.
G-ABCD, remain outside controlled airspace, squawk four five two one.
Type, route, position, level and request, in that order. “Remain outside controlled airspace” is an instruction, not a refusal — it means stay out until you are cleared in.
The clearance
Manchester Tower
Cleared to enter controlled airspace, not above 2,000 feet, QNH one zero one five, G-CD.
G-ABCD, cleared to enter controlled airspace via the overhead, not above 2,000 feet, QNH one zero one five.
A clearance is read back in full — route, level and pressure setting. CAP 413 Edition 24 §2.69 lists all fourteen mandatory readbacks.
Leaving
Manchester Tower
G-CD, clear of the zone to the north, request frequency change to Norwich.
G-CD, roger, freecall Norwich Approach one one niner decimal three five five, good day.
You report leaving; the controller does not narrate it for you.
If you are not given a transit, the answer is to remain outside controlled airspace and route around. Say what you intend to do instead — “roger, remaining outside controlled airspace, routing to the east” — so the controller knows where you are going. Examiners are listening for exactly that.
Frequencies and procedures on this page are for training. Always check the current UK AIP and NOTAMs before flight. TowerTalk is a training aid and is not approved or endorsed by the CAA.