Airway

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An airway ( airway , aviation abbreviation: AWY) is used for air traffic control on routes that are frequently flown. It runs in several straight pieces between radio beacons or waypoints (English intersections ) and can cross several states. In Europe, they are typically 10 nautical miles (18.5 km) wide .

In addition to the local traffic areas ( Terminal Control Area , TMA, at airports), airways are an important element of air traffic control procedures. The flying height assigned by the air traffic control authority, usually by assigning a flight surface (engl. Flight level , FL), also taking into account the rules for the selection of semi-circular flight levels .

The air traffic control offices responsible for the current position ( ACC , Area Control Center or UACC , Upper Area Control Center ) are responsible for flight safety on the airways, regardless of the respective country due to the narrow airspace in Europe. The areas of responsibility can coincide with the flight information areas (FIR, flight information area ) and the upper flight information areas (UIR, upper flight information region ).

In Germany , airways are called air traffic routes (ATS routes) and they do not extend sideways. Airways in the narrowest sense of the definition do not exist in the Federal Republic of Germany .

The position determination along the Airways carried onboard autonomous with radio navigation , inertial navigation , or satellite navigation .

Flight direction

Airways are often marked with an E or O in addition to their name on flight maps. "E" stands for "even" - "even number", "O" stands for "odd" - "odd number". Often there is an arrow in front of or behind it: z. B. "← E" or "E →" or "← O" or "O →". This means that this airway can be flown in the specified direction on even or odd flight levels (or IFR flight altitudes). Although the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO ) has actually stipulated that these altitudes must be based on the semicircular flight rules , there are additional regulations in countries with preferential traffic in north-south direction (e.g. Norway, Italy or Florida) . For example, in Florida it also says: NOSE - northbound odd, southbound even (FL odd on north course; FL on south course).

Web links

Responsible for airways in German airspace:

For Austria and Switzerland:

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dieter Franzen: Compact learning program BZF . Kuppenheim 2006, ISBN 3-930996-05-7 , pp. 150 .