Air Information Publications

Introduction

As part of basic preparation before any flight, pilots need to be able to brief themselves about:

•Air Traffic Control procedures regarding departure, en route, destination and alternate airfields.

•Frequencies of communication and navigation aids (navaids) en route and at airfields.

•Radio navigation and approach aids.

•Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS), Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS) and in-flight weather services.

•Danger, Restricted and Prohibited Areas; Military training areas, Air Navigation Obstacles and Aerial Sporting and Recreational Activities.

In many operations offices and flight planning rooms a lot of this information is available on wall boards, often in the form of maps. Also, much of it will be available on printed maps and charts, such as those produced by Jeppesen and AERAD, amongst others.

However, these are secondary sources. Jeppesen and AERAD (and others) are not the authority on airspace, frequencies, and navigation aids. They merely print and reproduce, in an easily accessible form, information extracted from documents produced by the national aviation authority of that country (CAA, FAA, DGAC, etc). It is this national aviation authority which is the primary source.

These primary source documents are:

Air Information Publication (AIP). A publication issued by or with the authority of a State and containing aeronautical information of a lasting character essential to air navigation.

The United Kingdom Air Information Publication is an example.

AIP Supplements. Temporary changes to the information contained in the AIP which are published by means of special pages.

In the UK these are printed on yellow paper and filed in the AIP SUPPLEMENT SECTION of the UK AIP, GENERAL (GEN) volume.

NOTAM. A notice distributed by means of telecommunications containing information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.

A NOTAM is originated and issued promptly whenever information to be distributed is of a temporary nature and short duration or when operationally significant permanent changes of long duration are made at short notice. They are displayed in, or issued by, operations and flight planning centres.

Air Information Publications 1

Publications Information Air 1

Format of an AIP

The format of an AIP produced by an ICAO contracting state conforms to a common standard in accordance with the Standards and Recommended Practices (SARP) of Annex 15 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and with the Aeronautical Information Services Manual (ICAO Doc 8126). Thus the Air Information Publication United Kingdom is a typical reference document. It is divided into:

•VOLUME I - AIP PART 1, GENERAL (GEN) and AIP SUPPLEMENTS (AIP SUP)

•VOLUME II - AIP PART 2, EN ROUTE (ENR)

•VOLUME III - AIP PART 3, AERODROMES (AD)

AIP Gen - Location Indicators

GEN 2.4 - LOCATION INDICATORS

ENCODE

Figure 1.1 Location indicators

Location Indicators are allocated mainly to licensed aerodromes, Air Control Centres and Flight Information Centres. An indicator comprises four letters; the first two denote the country and the last two the airfield or centre. Thus:

Agency Designator, three letters, and Office Designator, one letter, may be added after the Location Indicator. This allows messages to be directed to an agency and/or an office at a particular location.

For example the Agency Designators for an Air Traffic Control Unit and a Flight Information Centre, at any location, are ZAZ and ZIZ; the Office Designators at any location for Freight and Cargo and Passenger Handling are F and P.

Normally, for day to day operations, pilots need to be aware only of the significance of the Location Indicator, particularly when filing a Flight Plan (CA48), where the entries for departure, destination and diversion airfields, and FIR/UIR boundaries, are represented by a particular four-letter code.

AIP GEN - NOTAMS (Notices to Airmen)

(Ref. UK AIP GEN 3.1)

All operationally significant information not covered by AIP Amendment or AIP Supplement will be issued as a NOTAM.

All operationally significant changes issued as Aeronautical Regulation and Control (AIRAC) AIP Amendments, AIP Supplements or Aviation Information Circulars (AIC) will be additionally announced by “Trigger” NOTAMS, which remain valid for 15 days after a permanent change and for the complete duration of any temporary change or condition.

Three categories of NOTAMS are disseminated by the Aeronautical Fixed Service (AFS):

•NOTAMN, which contains new information.

•NOTAMR, which replaces a previous one.

•NOTAMC, which cancels a previous one.

UK NOTAMS are divided into two categories:

•Those containing information on UK International Airports and en route information of interest to both international and domestic recipients. (A to H, J and exceptionally X).

•Those containing information on domestic aerodromes and information to domestic recipients only. (L to N, R and exceptionally X).

Edited Example NOTAMS:

•Series A

(A0012/99 NOTAMN)

E)MIDHURST DVOR ‘MID’ 114.000MHZ U/S)

•Series E

(E0011/99 NOTAMR)

E)NO STOPWAY LIGHTS ON RWY 09 DUE WIP RESITING)

Air Information Publications 1