ATC SERVICE

Safety is the main focus when providing ATC Service, close liaison is imperative between the ATC Service and the operators of airlines, other airspace users, aerodrome management and when applicable, the military.

The Objectives are:

a. To prevent collisions between aircraft;
b. To expedite and maintain an orderly flow;
c. To provide advice and information useful to safely conduct a flight;
d. To notify appropriate organizations regarding aircraft in need of SaR

The three Basic Services are:

a. Air Traffic Control Service to accomplish paragraphs a) and b) above

• Area Control Service - ATS to Enroute controlled traffic;
• Approach Control Service - ATS associated with arrival and departure traffic;
• Aerodrome Control Service - ATS associated with aerodrome traffic

b. Flight Information Service to accomplish paragraph c) above

c. Alerting Service to accomplish paragraph d) above

To finalize Flight Information Regions (FIR) are defined as those portions of the airspace where it is determined that Flight Information Service (FIS) and Alerting Service will be provided, since in VATSIM.net this last service is extremely unnecessary, due to obvious reasons, the main Air Traffic Service will revolve around FIS.

Control Areas (CTA) and Control Zones (CTR) are defined as those portions of the airspace where it has been determined that an Air Traffic Control Service will be provided to IFR flights and VFR flights within certain airspace classifications. CTA and CTR form part of a FIR.

Next week we will cover AIRSPACE CLASSIFICATION stay tuned!