Approval of civil flight procedures

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 states in requirement FPD.OR.100 ‘Flight Procedure Design Services (FPD)’ that flight procedures require prior approval by the competent authority prior to their deployment and use.

Royal Decree 310/2022 of 3 May supplementing the legal regime for the approval of airspace changes and civil flight procedures confers competence on the State Aviation Safety Agency for the approval of plans for the establishment or modification of civil flight procedures to be implemented at national level prior to their deployment and use.

In order to provide guidance to facilitate the application and understanding of this Royal Decree to applicants for projects to establish or modify civil flight procedures to be implemented at national level, AESA has developed guidance material which it makes available to the user.

• GUIDE TO REQUEST FOR APPROVAL PROJECTS OF CIVILE VUEL PROCEDURES 

In addition, a mailbox is made available to interested parties, to which they may direct their enquiries in connection with this procedure: consultas.ea.aesa@seguridadaerea.es

 

1.- APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF DRAFT CIVIL FLIGHT PROCEDURES

The administrative procedure governing the process is accessible through the AESA Electronic Headquarters, available at the following link:

• Approval of drafts for the establishment or modification of civil flight procedures.

The applicant shall submit to EASA an application in accordance with the following model, accompanied by the documentation described in Annex 2 to the guide material.

• Application for approval of drafts for the establishment or modification of civil flight procedures.
• Guide to Application for Approval of Draft Civil Flight Procedures.

 

2.- MODIFICATION OF CIVIL FLIGHT PROCEDURES THAT DO NOT REQUIRE APPROVAL PRIOR TO THEIR DEPLOYMENT AND USE

According to GM1 FPD.OR.100, prior approval by the competent authority will not be required when the redesign involves a minor modification of previously authorised manoeuvres.

Article 15(1)(b) of Royal Decree 310/2022 confers on the State Aviation Safety Agency the competence to establish the criteria for determining when a civil flight procedure will not be required for approval prior to its deployment and use.

Below is a list of modifications to civil flight procedures that will not require prior approval by EASA prior to their deployment and use.

• List of modifications to civil flight procedures that do not require approval prior to deployment and use

The applicant shall submit to EASA a notification form in accordance with the following format:

• Form for notification of establishment or modification of civil flight procedures not requiring approval..

These new designs which are not subject to prior approval by the competent authority shall be subject to regulatory review.

 

3.- DESIGN CRITERIA FOR THE TECHNICAL EVALUATION OF CIVIL FLIGHT PROCEDURES

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373 introduces specific requirements for flight procedures design service providers (FPDs) to ensure that airspace structures and flight procedures are designed, inspected and validated before they can be deployed and used by aircraft.

In accordance with FPD.TR.100 "Flight Procedure Design Requirements", "flight procedures shall be designed by the flight procedure design service provider in accordance with the requirements set out in Appendix 1 and design criteria determined by the competent authority, in order to ensure the safety of aircraft operations. The design criteria shall allow for the establishment of an appropriate obstacle clearance for flight procedures, where necessary.’

In addition, as indicated in AMC1 FPD.TR.100, such design criteria as determined by the Competent Authority should be based on the latest amendment to ICAO Doc. 8168 (PANS-OPS) Volume II and Doc. 9905 (RNP AR).

Article 15(1)(c) of Royal Decree 310/2022 confers on the State Aviation Safety Agency the competence to establish the design criteria to be met by civil flight procedures in accordance with requirement FPD.TR.100 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/373.

These criteria, established by a decision of the Directorate of the State Aviation Safety Agency, shall be required to apply in the design of the plans for the establishment or modification of the civil flight procedures to be implemented at national level, regardless of whether they need to be submitted to EASA for study and approval or not.

 

• Design criteria to be met by civil flight procedures to which Royal Decree 310/2022 applies, published 12 May 2025.