Volume 38 | Thursday, November 4th, 2021
Utilizing Nav Fees and the Permit Layer When Flight Planning
Welcome back to Jump Seat. As international travel ramps up and operators revert to their usual flight patterns, we’d like to spotlight a new feature that will help you produce accurate charter quotes and manage your operating costs. With the introduction of the Nav Fees tool, you can take some guesswork out of international trip planning and gain visibility to the true operating cost of your mission.
Navigation (Nav) Fees:

Nav fees are air navigation charges that are levied on aircraft when flying through an airspace to cover the air navigation services that are provided to the pilots. The estimated total cost, in USD, of nav fees is displayed below each computed route within the route pane on the Create FPL page. Clicking on the hyperlinked value total will open a pop-up window with a breakdown of the Nav Fees costs. Overflight permit requirements and charges are independent of Nav Fees and are not included in the estimated Nav Fees cost.
Permit Layer:

Within the ARINCDirect Mapping Tool, there is permit information for both private and charter flights. This information includes overflight, landing, and tech stop requirements. If a country requires a permit to operate, a polygon will appear on the mapping tool. If a polygon is clicked, a popup window will appear with additional information to include if an overflight, landing, or tech stop permit is required or not, a hyperlink to a country AIS/AIP, and any additional information that may include if a permit number is required in ICAO Item 18, if an overflight is required for any flights transiting the FIR or landmass only, along with many other items.

Utilization Example:

Take, for instance, a flight from Anchorage, Alaska (PANC) to Tokyo, Japan (RJTT) on a Gulfstream G550. The Auto-Generated Route has an Estimated Time En Route (ETE) of 7 hours and 39 minutes with an estimated Nav Fees cost of $2,570 USD.
Utilizing the mapping tool, with the private permit information and flight information regions (FIRs) checked, you can see the route overflies Russia which requires an overflight permit. 
If you would like to compare the above routing to one that avoids Russian airspace, you can utilize the “Avoid FIR(s)” box at the bottom of the routing pane. Click on the “Lookup FIR(s)” button and enter “Russia” into the search box. Check the “All” box to avoid all Russian FIR(s) and resync the route. The Auto-Generated Route is east of Russia, does not require an overflight permit, and has an estimated Nav Fees of $225 USD. However, the ETE is about 30 minutes longer than the option over Russia due to stronger headwinds.
Depending on your operating cost per hour, it may be more advantageous to avoid overflying Russia and pay less in Nav Fees and permit costs.
Using these two tools can help you compare options and optimize your flight to save money and time. If you need any help with the Nav Fees or Permit Layer tools embedded within ARINCDirect flight planning, please contact our 24x7 Flight Operations team at +1 410-266-2266 or [email protected].
Did you know?
  • The Nav Fees data shown here is collected and updated routinely to ensure the latest information is available. However, this is still an estimate based upon the latest collected data at the time of your flight plan generation. The final value is included in your invoices from the various official authorities tasked with levying charges and collecting fees.
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Thank you for reading!