Starting today, Dutch Caribbean Virtual Area Control Center will be the new name of the community controlling the Curaçao Flight Information Region, part of VATSIM Caribbean, on the VATSIM Network. This change has been made in an effort to grow the community and create a more recognizable brand among pilots and controllers on the VATSIM Network. Our ultimate hope is that this will help us to attract more people to join our community in the future!
The new name drops the letters FIR (Flight Information Region) and introduces our Dutch Caribbean community as a VACC, short for Virtual Area Control Center. This is a term used by many VATSIM (sub)divisions to better define what we as controllers do on the VATSIM Network. An area control center (ACC), also known as a center or en-route center, is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR). We therefore believe Dutch Caribbean VACC is a more appropriate name for our facility and community.
We all hope everyone is excited as we are for the future of the Dutch Caribbean VACC, and look forward to welcoming you, be it as a pilot or controller!