Control area (aviation)

In aviation, a control area (CTA) is "a controlled airspace extending upwards from a specified limit above the earth", not less than 200m (700 feet), although the limit does not need to be established uniformly within a control area.^[1] ICAO recommends for the lower level to coincide with a VFR cruising level if the lower level limit of a control area is above 900 m (3000 feet) MSL (mean sea level), and the VFR cruising level to not have to be lowered to less than 200 m (700 feet) due to atmospheric conditions.^[1] The upper limit should be established when either air traffic control service will not be proveded above that level, or there is another (upper) control area above this control area.^[1]

Control areas are established in any areas when the density of air traffic is high:^[2]

An airway is a case of a "control area or portion of thereof established in the form of a corridor".^[3]
Terminal Control Area is "a control area normally established at the confluence of ATS routes in the vicinity of one or more major aerodromes."^[1]^[3]

A control area usually is situated on top of a control zone (CTR) and provides protection to aircraft climbing out from the airport by joining the low-level control zone to the nearest airways. In the UK, they are generally class A, D or E.

Control areas are particularly useful where there are busy airports located close together. In this case, a single CTA will sit over all of the individual airports' CTRs. In larger-scale cases, this is known as a terminal manoeuvring area (TMA, or TCA).

References

[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Annex 11 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation: Air Traffic Services" (PDF) (15 ed.). International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). July 2018. Retrieved 2024-06-28.
^ Smith, David (2021). Air Traffic Control Handbook. Manchester, England: Crécy Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-1-9108-0999-0.
^ ^a ^b "Air Traffic Services Safety Requirements (CAP670)". UK Civil Aviation Authority. June 2019. Retrieved 2024-06-28.

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