Volume 46 | Thursday, March 3rd, 2022

Avoiding FIRs and UIRs

Welcome back to Jump Seat. In times of geopolitical uncertainty, restrictions may be imposed which prevent flight operations to, from, or over certain countries. In today’s article we would like to highlight some of the tools available on the ARINCDirect website to assist you with generating routes that meet political or operational requirements.

Before looking into avoiding Flight Information Regions (FIRs), Upper Information Regions (UIRs), or specific countries, it is best to review all available resources. One of those resources can be the mapping tool that is accessed by clicking in the map thumbnail on Create Flight Plan page. From there you can select the World Countries to display an overlay with a political map. To display FIRs/UIRs you will need to select “Layers” and then scroll down to the Restrictions subsection where you can opt to display Flight Information Regions. You are able to display both the political map and FIRs at the same time. Note that toggling between the World Hi and World Lo maps will change the FIRs/UIRs shown.   Once you are ready to begin inputting your flight planning preferences scroll down to the Avoid FIR(s) field, just below the Routing section. There, enter the FIRs you would like the Auto-Generated route to avoid. You also have access to the Lookup FIR(s) tool to assist with searches.

After your flight planning inputs are set and a city pair is entered the engine will work to produce routing options adhering to published Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) routes and restrictions while also avoiding the specified FIRs/UIRs. If the Auto-Generated route is unable to avoid the requested FIRs/UIRs a message will display, for example: Warning: unable to avoid FIR(s): KZOB. Note that using the Ignore Route Restrictions box or selecting Requested in the FL section will also disregard your inputs in the Avoid FIR(s) box and generate a route that does not take FIR avoidance or restrictions into consideration.

Image Note: Selected FIRs and UIRs will also be highlighted on the map as shown above. Account admins are able to set FIRs to be automatically avoided via the My Company tab and then Company Preferences. Enter the FIRs into the Avoid FIR(s) box and then select Save. Once this has been completed, all plans by default will auto-populate those FIRs in the Avoid FIR(s) section of the Create Flight Plan page. They can then be modified on that page to suit your operational need.

ARINCDirect has created flight planning restrictions that encompass Ukraine and portions of Belarus and Russia based on active published NOTAMS. These restrictions will prevent flights to, from, and within the highlighted airspace and can be viewed by enabling Flight Planning Restrictions on the map. Again, using Requested FL or selecting Ignore Route Restrictions will disable the restrictions that were put in place.

For those who wish to avoid those countries in their entirety, please refer to the following list and consult published NOTAMS for the most up to date information:

Russia – High/Low  ULLL – Sankt Peterburg UUWV – Moscow URRV – Rostov – Na- Donu  UWWW - Samara USSV – Yekaterinburg USTV – Tyumen  UNNT – Novosibirsk UNKL – Krasnoyarsk UEEE – Yakutsk

UIII – Irkutsk UHHH – Khabarovsk UHMM – Magadan  UHPP – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky  *UMKK - Kalingrad (Part of Russia, though located west of Lithuania. Consult NOTAMS to see if overflights are permitted)

Belarus – High/Low  UMMV- Minsk  Ukraine – High  UKBU - Kyiv  Ukraine – Low   UKDV – Dnipro UKBV – Kyiv UKFV - Simferopol UKLV – Lviv UKOV - Odessa

The situation in Russia and Ukraine is evolving. Operators are responsible for ensuring they have reviewed the latest information and confirmed the NOTAMs and restrictions applicable to their flight plans. If you have any questions about the Avoid FIR(s) feature or where to find relevant NOTAMs, please reach out to our Flight Operations team at +1 410-266-2266 or [email protected].

Did you know? FIRs and UIRs were first established in 1947 when ICAO was created.

Useful Links The public version of CFMU Network Operations Portal is an invaluable resource to stay informed on the status of European airspace. Refer to the Network Headline News for information related to airspace closures.  The FAA site for Prohibitions, Restrictions and Notices is another location to check for country-specific guidance.

Thank you for reading!

Contact Us Past Jump Seat Articles Sign up for Izon, the Collins Connected Platform today! https://collinsizon.com Izon Setup Guide