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18-650: Lahore Area Control Centre is one of three Area Control Centers in Pakistan operated by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority and based at Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore . Lahore ACC air traffic controllers provide en route and terminal control services to aircraft in the Lahore Flight Information Region (FIR). The Lahore FIR airspace covers Pakistani airspace between

36-487: A different ICAO code. Pilots typically use high frequency radio instead of very high frequency radio to communicate with a center when flying over the ocean, because of HF's relatively greater propagation over long distances. Military aircraft, however, are typically equipped with ARC-231 SATCOMs that allow over-the-horizon communication. Area control centers (ACCs) control IFR air traffic in their flight information region (FIR). The current list of FIRs and ACCs

54-450: A first-come, first-served basis. Aircraft passing from one sector to another are handed off and requested to change frequencies to contact the next sector controller. Sector boundaries are specified by an aeronautical chart . Air traffic controllers working within a center communicate via radio with pilots of instrument flight rules ( IFR ) aircraft passing through the center's airspace. A center's communication frequencies (typically in

72-410: A map of a particular airport facility to an overview of the instrument routes covering an entire continent (e.g., global navigation charts), and many types in between. Visual flight charts are categorized according to their scale , which is proportional to the size of the area covered by one map. The amount of detail is necessarily reduced when larger areas are represented on a map. When an aircraft

90-477: A plane's arrival and intentions from its pre-filed flight plan . Some centers have ICAO-designated responsibility for airspace located over an ocean such as ZNY and ZOA, the majority of which is international airspace . Because substantial volumes of oceanic airspace lie beyond the range of ground-based radars, oceanic airspace controllers have to estimate the position of an airplane from pilot reports and computer models ( procedural control ), rather than observing

108-689: A single facility. For example, NATS combines the London Terminal Control Centre (LTCC) and London Area Control Centre (LACC) in Swanwick, Hampshire . The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) defines an ARTCC as: [a] facility established to provide air traffic control service to aircraft operating on IFR flight plans within controlled airspace, principally during the en-route phase of flight. When equipment capabilities and controller workload permit, certain advisory/assistance services may be provided to VFR aircraft. An ARTCC

126-579: Is also part of the Bobcat Air Traffic Flow Management program, which helps to optimize traffic flow through Kabul FIR. Due to lower navigation and surveillance capabilities, and limited ATS provision capabilities, Kabul FIR often becomes very congested airspace with limited number of operating routes and flight levels. Whereas the level allocation is made by AeroThai, the primary responsibility for tactical management of level allocation rests with Lahore ACC. The Lahore ACC assumes control of

144-423: Is flying under instrument flight rules (IFR), the pilot will often have no visual reference to the ground, and must therefore rely on external (e.g. GPS or VOR ) aids in order to navigate. Although in some situations air traffic control may issue radar vectors to direct an aircraft's path, this is usually done to facilitate traffic flow, and will not be the sole means of navigating to an important point, such as

162-492: Is maintained by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Note that the cited ICAO source gives the shapefile coordinates for each FIR, and also its page source gives a list of current ACCs in text form. The following is the alphabetic list of all ACCs and their FIRs as of October 2011 : Aeronautical chart Specific charts are used for each phase of a flight and may vary from

180-681: Is the U.S. equivalent of an area control center (ACC). There are 22 ARTCCs located in nineteen states. The flight information region controlled by a center may be further administratively subdivided into areas comprising two to nine sectors. Each area is staffed by a set of controllers trained on all the sectors in that area. Sectors use distinct radio frequencies for communication with aircraft. Each sector also has secure landline communications with adjacent sectors, approach controls, areas, ARTCCs, flight service centers, and military aviation control facilities. These landline communications are shared among all sectors that need them and are available on

198-876: The 30° North to 37° North . To the south is the Karachi FIR . To the north is the Urumqi FIR . To the east is the Delhi FIR . To the west is the Kabul FIR . Lahore ACC is divided into three control sectors: Lahore ACC is equipped with Indra's Aircon 2100 radar system. and provides air traffic control services to all air traffic and its airspace. It also expedites sequencing of arrivals and departures along STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes) and SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures). Certain exceptions include military airspace and lower-level airspace controlled by local airport towers and TRACONs, such as Cherat Approach. Lahore ACC

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216-512: The very high frequency aviation bands , using amplitude modulation (AM) 118 MHz to 137 MHz, for overland control) are published in aeronautical charts and manuals, and are also announced to a pilot by the previous controller during a hand-off. Most VHF radio assignments also have a UHF (225 to 380 MHz) paired frequency used for military flights. In addition to radios to communicate with aircraft, center controllers have access to communication links with other centers and TRACONs . In

234-959: The United States, centers are electronically linked through the National Airspace System , which allows nationwide coordination of traffic flow to manage congestion. Centers in the United States also have electronic access to nationwide radar data. Controllers use radar to monitor the progress of flights and instruct aircraft to perform course adjustments as needed to maintain separation from other aircraft. Aircraft with center contact can be readily distinguished by their transponders . Pilots may request altitude adjustments or course changes for reasons including avoidance of turbulence or adverse weather conditions. Controllers can assign routing relative to location fixes derived from latitude and longitude , or from radionavigation beacons such as VORs . Typically, centers have advance notice of

252-436: The control of a terminal control center or another center. Most centers are operated by the national governments of the countries in which they are located. The general operations of centers worldwide, and the boundaries of the airspace each center controls, are governed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In some cases, the function of an area control center and a terminal control center are combined in

270-560: The following airports: Area Control Center In air traffic control , an area control center ( ACC ), also known as a center or en-route center , is a facility responsible for controlling aircraft flying in the airspace of a given flight information region (FIR) at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures. In the US, such a center is referred to as an air route traffic control center ( ARTCC ). A center typically accepts traffic from — and ultimately passes traffic to —

288-515: The position directly ( radar control , also known as positive control). Pilots flying over an ocean can determine their own positions accurately using the Global Positioning System or other means, and can supply periodic updates to a center. A center's control service for an oceanic flight information region may be operationally distinct from its service for one over land, employing different communications frequencies, controllers, and

306-429: The position from which an aircraft commences its approach to landing. Charts used for IFR flights contain an abundance of information regarding locations of waypoints , known as " fixes ", which are defined by measurements from electronic beacons of various types, as well as the routes connecting these waypoints. Only limited topographic information is found on IFR charts, although the minimum safe altitudes available on

324-787: The routes are shown. En-route low- and high-altitude charts are published with a scale that depends upon the density of navigation information required in the vicinity. Information from IFR charts is often programmed into a flight management system or autopilot , which eases the task of following (or deviating from) a flight plan. Terminal procedure publications such as standard terminal arrival plates, standard instrument departure plates and other documentation provide detailed information for arrival, departure and taxiing at each approved airport having instrument capabilities of some sort. Aeronautical charts may be purchased at fixed-base operators (FBOs), internet supply sources, or catalogs of aeronautical gear. They may also be viewed online from

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