These maps show the locations and facilities of all airfields worldwide that are capable of handling commercial jet aircraft. For each area, primary information is provided on a map, with supplementary data shown in a table. For an individual airfield, the map shows ICAO code, local beacon, best IFR approach, H24 availability and number of runways. The maps also show distances between neighbouring airports, selected airways, national borders and some geographical features. The tables supplement the maps by giving more specific information about the runways (direction, landing distance, bearing strength, IFR approach), and also airfield facilities (Rescue Fire Firefighting category, availability of jet fuel and customs, ATIS frequency). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
These maps are primarily aimed at commerical pilots, to increase situational awareness during the flight. Happily, at least 99% of flights arrive at their intended destination. However, occasionally the outcome is different, be it due to some technical or passenger related problem en-route, or weather or congestion at destination. Hence, knowledge of what alternate airfields are available during the flight is highly desirable. These maps will allow pilots to gain a fairly detailed picture of the facilities around them throughout the course of the flight. They also enable a quick assessment of the options available, if a diversion becomes necessary, in what will almost certainly be an already busy flight deck. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sample Maps | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Diversion Scenario | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
If such a diversion becomes necessary, the first port of call in most modern airliners would be blue circles on the HSI moving map display with ICAO 4 letter codes. On types such as the 757 these merely indicate the presence of a runway in excess of 1500m. No other information is given. Also, the coverage is probably less than 70% of what is really down there. Items we would like to know about would include the length, number and bearing strength of runways. Also what type of instrument approach is available. Is the airport open? Does it have fuel and/or customs? Other factors which are more operator specific, but no less important, would include availability of airfield charts and airfield performance data on board. To this it would also be advantageous if one’s own airline, or alliance member (eg oneworld) was a regular visitor. To answer all these questions could involve reaching for a multitude of manuals at a time of probable high workload. Hence these maps. All these questions are answered by referring to this one document. These maps cover the entire globe, and are grouped into areas, namely Europe, Americas, Asia, Australia/Pacific and Africa. Each map is paired with a table which gives secondary data. The author, Neil Scarrow has been a Pilot with a major European airline for 16 years. Captain for 8 years. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sample Table | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Amendment Status | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Major amendments, typically taking place twice a year will increment the issue number. Minor amendments will add a suffix to the issue, ie 5 becomes 5A, 5B etc. April 2011 Issues – Summary of changes Major Revision. Approximately 75 new airports added to charts in the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Iran, Japan, Oman, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, USA and Yemen. Rescue Fire Fighting category (RFF or ARFF) has been added to all tables. Okinawa island chain added to Japan map. The preface has also been updated, and contains a section on Aerodrome Codes and Rescue Fire Fighting categories, and the implications of these to aircraft operations. All author specific data reflects current status. There is now an IPAD version of these maps which comprises a single PDF with linked pages. Due to an ongoing issue with the IPAD regarding the rendering of complex PDFs, these maps are of lower resolution and are not suitable for printing. For printed versions of the maps, use the original files available from this site. To access the IPad version, please send an email. August 2010 Issues – Summary of changes Major Revision. Approximately 25 new airports added to charts in the following countries: China, India, Iraq, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, UAE, and Yemen. Several new runways added to existing airports. The L suffix to the ICAO labels have been checked and updated. Kingfisher Airlines and Air Berlin added to One World airlines. Xmas Islands, Cocos Islands and Socotra Islands added to maps. Airport names added to ICAO labels on European maps. New map created for Eastern Canada Atlantic Transition December 2009 Issues – Summary of changes Major Revision. Approximately 40 new airports added to charts in the following countries: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cambodia, Faroe Islands, France, Germany, Greece, Iran, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey and the UK. Several new runways added to existing airports – namely Almaty, Barrow, Fairbanks, Ganja, Greensboro, Oran and Tianjin. All airport information checked and updated from several sources, with a greater percentage now sourced directly from National AIP. All author specific data reflects current status – this has changed significantly due to the higher incidence of route launches and cancellations, which in itself is a reflection of the economic turmoil of 2009. April 2008 Issues – Summary of changes All maps except 37 and 38 have been updated. All tables have been updated. Some additions to Chinese Airports, both on maps and tables. Rivers added to most maps. Oneworld destination data now reflects the Summer 2008 timetable – note that this is the first major update to Oneworld data for two years. Author specific data changes reflects current documentation. July 2008 Issues – Summary of changes New Bangalore Airport VOBL replaces VOBG. New Hyderabad Airport VOHS replaces VOHY. Changes to author specific data reflect all the other changes. January 2009 Issues – Summary of changes Major Revision. Approximately 30 new airports added to charts in the following countries: Cameroun, China, Columbia, India, Iran, Iraq, Kazakstan, Kenya, Russia, Senegal, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine, Venezuela and the UK. Several new runways added to existing airports, such as Abu Dhabi, Chicago, Dalaman, Lhasa, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai and Washington. Old Bangalore airport VOBL re-instated. Mariana Islands included for first time. For airports with multiple runways, the bearing strength is now shown for individual runways instead of the principal runway only. All airport information checked and updated from several sources, typically changing a further 5% of the data in some way. All author specific data reflects current status, but has changed by about 5% also. The only page unchanged from previous issues is map 37. March 2009 Issues – Summary of changes Approximately 10 new Chinese airports added, which affects five pairs of maps and tables. Extra data also included about existing Chinese airports. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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