It is essential when filing VFR flight plans and sending associated messages to address them correctly, especially if pilots are sending these messages themselves through an AFTN terminal such as AFPEx rather than filing, say, at a flight briefing office or through the use of a flight plan filing service (e.g. SkyDemon). This post discusses the correct addresses to send the messages, with reference to official regulations and guidelines where appropriate.
Addressing a VFR flight plan
Flight plans are sent to several AFTN addresses. Unlike IFR flight plans which (at least in Europe) can get sent to a central unit for checking, processing and onward distribution, the responsibility of correctly addressing a VFR flight plan resides with the originator of the flight plan which is the pilot or operator, even if they are using a third-party service (CAP 694 Section 1 8.1 refers).
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management places the following requirements on the addressing of filed flight plan (FPL) messages:
11.4.2.2.2.2 A filed flight plan message shall be originated and addressed as follows by the ATS unit serving the departure aerodrome or, when applicable, by the ATS unit receiving a flight plan from an aircraft in flight:
a) an FPL message shall be sent to the ACC or flight information centre serving the control area or FIR within which the departure aerodrome is situated;
b) unless basic flight plan data are already available as a result of arrangements made for repetitive flight plans, an FPL message shall be sent to all centres in charge of each FIR or upper FIR along the route which are unable to process current data. In addition, an FPL message shall be sent to the aerodrome control tower at the destination aerodrome. If so required, an FPL message shall also be sent to flow management centres responsible for ATS units along the route;
c) when a potential re-clearance in flight (RIF) request is indicated in the flight plan, the FPL message shall be sent to the additional centres concerned and to the aerodrome control tower of the revised destination aerodrome;
d) where it has been agreed to use CPL messages but where information is required for early planning of traffic flow, an FPL message shall be transmitted to the ACCs concerned;
e) for a flight along routes where flight information service and alerting service only are provided, an FPL message shall be addressed to the centre in charge of each FIR or upper FIR along the route and to the aerodrome control tower at the destination aerodrome.
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
The scenarios (c) and (d) are unlikely to concern the private pilot operating under VFR. The units where the FPL needs to be sent are highlighted in bold. Basically, the list comprises:
- Destination aerodrome control tower (ZTZX).
- Area control centre (ACC) or flight information centre serving the control area or FIR of the departure aerodrome.
- All centres in charge of each FIR along the route.
- In practice, unless filing through the departure aerodrome’s reporting office, the control tower of the departure aerodrome itself.
There are additional national regulations on top of this general requirement. The rules and addresses to use can only be found in the AIP of the country: Section ENR 1.11 Addressing of Flight Plan Messages. For example, the UK AIP states the following:
3.1 A VFR Flight Plan is to be addressed to the Departure and Destination aerodrome (ICAO Location Indicator + ZTZX) plus any additional addresses as specified in the tables below (add all addresses that apply).
UK AIP ENR 1.11 Addressing of Flight Plan Messages
Where the ‘tables below’ are separated into two tables. The first one is to do with operating from specific aerodromes. For example, if flying into EGLK (Blackbushe) you should also address EGLFZTZX (Farnborough ATC) due to the proximity of the two aerodromes. The second table tells you the correct addresses of the flight information centres serving each FIR. For example, if entering or remaining in the London FIR, you should address EGZYVFRT.
As another example, the Spain AIP gives some different rules:
All IFR/VFR flight plans with origin, destination and/or overflying Spanish airspace, shall mandatory include the following addresses: GCGAYXYX, LEGNYXYX and LEPGYXYX.
In addition, the flight plan and associated messages will be routed to the following addresses:
(Flights not affected by the IFPS)
AIP Spain ENR 1.11 Addressing of Flight Plan Messages
Flight plan messages of VFR and/or OAT flights will be addressed, besides to the ARO (or assigned ARO) and TWR of the destination and alternative aerodrome, to the affected ATS units. The Spanish ATS addresses are the following:
LESCYFPX, for flights affecting Spanish airspace within Iberian Peninsula and Balearics.
GCCCYFPX, for flights affecting Canary Islands airspace.
This means if you fly from A to B in mainland Spain, the VFR flight plan goes to GCGAYXYX, LEGNYXYX, LEPGYXYX, LESCYFPX, and the destination and alternative aerodromes (ARO and TWR). Note that addressing the ARO of the destination aerodrome is a national regulation on top of the ICAO regulations above, which require addressing only the TWR of the destination aerodrome.
In practice, software applications will address the messages automatically almost all the time, but an understanding of where to find the defining rules can be useful. For example, by creating a flight plan in AFPEx from LEGR to LEJR (two airports in mainland Spain), the automatically generated address list is the following: LEJRZTZX (destination tower), LEGRZPZX (origin ATS Reporting Office ARO), LEPGYXYX (mandatory), LEGNYXYX (mandatory), LESCYFPX (ATS for Spanish airspace within Iberian Peninsula and Balearics), GCGAYXYX (mandatory). The extra address LEGRZPZX is the ARO of LEGR because the flight plan was not filed through them. However, it seems that to fully comply with the Spanish AIP, the FPL also needs to be addressed to LEJRZPZX (destination ARO), and AFPEx cannot automatically meet this requirement.
Addressing the associated movement messages
The following are called movement messages (ICAO Doc 4444):
11.4.2.2.1 Movement messages comprise:
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
— filed flight plan messages FPL (11.4.2.2.2)
— delay messages DLA (11.4.2.2.3)
— modification messages CHG (11.4.2.2.4)
— flight plan cancellation messages CNL (11.4.2.2.5)
— departure messages DEP (11.4.2.2.6)
— arrival messages ARR (11.4.2.2.7).
We have discussed the addressing of FPLs in detail. The addressing of the associated messages (DLA, CHG, CNL, DEP, ARR) is less covered in the AIPs or other commonly available guides. The defining rules are given in ICAO Doc 4444.
The delay DLA message needs to be transmitted if a controlled flight is delayed by more than 30 minutes from its estimated off-block time (EOBT) and for other flights delayed by more than 60 minutes. The addressing requirements are:
11.4.2.2.3.2 The DLA message shall be transmitted by the ATS unit serving the departure aerodrome to all recipients of basic flight plan data.
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
The modification CHG message is sent when a flight plan needs to be modified. It is worth noting that not all modifications can be done by a CHG message and some would require the flight plan to be cancelled and re-submitted. The addressing requirements of the CHG message are:
11.4.2.2.4 The CHG message shall be sent to those recipients of basic flight plan data which are affected by the change. Relevant revised basic flight plan data shall be provided to such affected entities not previously having received this.
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
The cancellation CNL message is used to cancel the flight plan. The addressing requirements are:
11.4.2.2.5 The ATS unit serving the departure aerodrome shall transmit the CNL message to ATS units which have received basic flight plan data.
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
The departure message DEP is sent when the flight departs, also known as opening a flight plan. It is highly unlikely that a private pilot needs to manually address this message, unless opening a flight plan for another flight that they are not piloting themselves. It is the duty of the ATS unit at the departing aerodrome to open the flight plan. If the departing aerodrome has no ATS unit, the pilot would either nominate a person on the ground to open the flight plan by telephone or contact the parent ATSU of the departing aerodrome by radio.
11.4.2.2.6.2 The DEP message shall be transmitted by the ATS unit serving the departure aerodrome to all recipients of basic flight plan data.
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
In simple terms, the DLA, CHG, CNL, DEP messages should be sent to all the original recipients of the flight plan.
Addressing an arrival message
The arrival ARR message is sent when a flight arrives at either the destination or another aerodrome. Sending this message closes the flight plan. Normally this is the responsibility of the ATS unit at the aerodrome of landing, however, pilots may close flight plans by telephone or some other means if landing out-of-hours or at an aerodrome with no ATS. The addressing of an ARR message is more complicated and there is a risk that search and rescue activities can be instigated if the ARR message has not been addressed correctly. The requirements are:
11.4.2.2.7.1 When an arrival report is received by the ATS unit serving the arrival aerodrome, this unit shall transmit an ARR message:
a) for a landing at the destination aerodrome:
1) to the ACC or flight information centre in whose area the arrival aerodrome is located, if required by that unit; and
2) to the ATS unit, at the departure aerodrome, which originated the flight plan message, if that message included a request for an ARR message;b) for a landing at an alternate or other aerodrome:
1) to the ACC or flight information centre in whose area the arrival aerodrome is located; and
2) to the aerodrome control tower at the destination aerodrome; and
3) to the air traffic services reporting office at the departure aerodrome; and
4) to the ACC or flight information centre in charge of each FIR or upper FIR through which the aircraft would have passed according to the flight plan, had it not diverted.11.4.2.2.7.2 When a controlled flight which has experienced failure of two-way communication has landed, the aerodrome control tower at the arrival aerodrome shall transmit an ARR message:
a) for a landing at the destination aerodrome:
1) to all ATS units concerned with the flight during the period of the communication failure; and
2) to all other ATS units which may have been alerted;b) for a landing at an aerodrome other than the destination aerodrome:
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management
to the ATS unit serving the destination aerodrome; this unit shall then transmit an ARR message to other ATS units concerned or alerted as in a) above.
Resources
ICAO Doc 4444 Air Traffic Management (15th Edition) – site archive, not up-to-date.
UK CAP 694 the UK Flight Planning Guide (CAA Link). Download site archive instead.