> So if there is a departing plane waiting on the runway or someone crossing then the approaching plane is given "cleared approach runway 08" but never "cleared

> So if there is a departing plane waiting on the runway or someone crossing then the approaching plane is given "cleared approach runway 08" but never "cleared to land". Which also means that if you are piloting the landing plane then at your decision height you have to go around. My understanding was that the word "cleared" was to be avoided when you aren't actually cleared to land/take off, and the correct wording was now "continue approach runway 08". There has been a decent amount of study of the cognitive interpretation of exact wordings, resulting in a standardised phrasing that avoids misinterpretation. It's a good thing. Using the word "cleared" could easily cause a lazy/tired/overloaded pilot over a noisy channel to think they are cleared to land.