Flight path
An airway (English airway, aviation abbreviation: AWY ) serves air traffic control to much flown routes. It runs in a number of straight pieces between beacons or waypoints ( engl. intersections ) and may pass through several states. In Europe, they typically have a width of 10 nautical miles ( 18,5 km).
Airways, in addition to transport areas (English terminal control area, TMA, at airports ) are an important element of the air traffic control procedures. The altitude assigned by air traffic control body, usually by assigning a flight level ( engl. flight level, FL), also taking into account the rules for the selection of semi-circular cruising areas.
In the blue-violet traffic imprint of aeronautical charts airways receive a distinctive color and name. So, for example, runs AWY A5 ( airway alpha five) across Central Europe to the southeast.
Responsible for flight safety to the airways are responsible for current position air traffic control units ( ACC Area Control Centre or UACC, Upper Area Control Center), due to the narrow airspace in Europe, regardless of the state. The competence areas may coincide with the flight information regions ( FIR Flight Information Region ) and the Upper Flight Information Regions ( UIR, upper flight information region ).
In Germany it is called airways flight routes ( ATS routes) and to dispense with the lateral extent. Airways in the strictest sense of the definition so 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.
Direction of flight
On Air tickets airways are often characterized in addition to their name with E or O. "E" stands for "even " - " even number ", "O " stands for " odd" - " odd number ". Often is still an arrow in front of it or behind it: eg " ← E" or " e → " or "← O" or " O →". This means that this air street on even-numbered and odd flight levels (or IFR flight altitudes ) can be flown in the direction indicated. Although the International Civil Aviation Organization ( ICAO) has actually determined that these levels have to judge with the semicircular flight rules, in countries with preferential transport in north-south direction (eg, Norway, Italy or Florida) additional rules. For example, it says in Florida in addition: NOSE - northbound odd, southbound even ( odd on North Course FL; South Course on just FL).