Aeronautical Information Service (AIS) — Page 360, Lesson 479

Right, we’re in the middle of the Aeronautical Information Service chapter, and I’ve just walked you through the structure of the AIP — the Aeronautical Information Publication. Now I want to take you into Part 3 of that publication, which is the part that deals with aerodromes, and then I want to show you how the whole AIP gets kept up to date through amendments. So, Part 3 — Aerodromes. This part is made up of four sections, and it contains information concerning aerodromes and heliports. Now, a key point here is that each aerodrome entry contains specified information in accordance with a set schedule. What that means in practice is that the same type of information appears in the same place for every aerodrome, so a pilot or a dispatcher always knows exactly where to look. For instance, AD2.3 for EGLL — that’s Heathrow — contains details of the operational hours of the aerodrome. And AD2.3 for EGTK — that’s Oxford — contains the same information, just applicable to that aerodrome. So the schedule is identical; only the data changes. Let me walk you through the four sections. The first is AD 0. That’s the preface material. It contains the Preface itself, the List of hand amendments to Part 3, and the Table of Contents to Part 3. So it’s the front matter that tells you how the document is organised and what’s been changed by hand. The second section is AD 1 — Aerodrome/Heliports — Introduction. This holds the general introductory material: aeronautical and helicopter availability; rescue and fire fighting services and the snow plan; an index to aerodromes and heliports; and the grouping of aerodromes and heliports. So this is where you’d find out, for example, what fire category an aerodrome has, or how aerodromes are grouped for operational purposes. The third section is AD 2 — Aerodromes — Detailed information. This is the big one. It contains detailed information about aerodromes, and it also covers helicopter landing areas if those are located at the aerodromes themselves. The information is listed under 24 sub-sections, and those sub-sections include things like: aprons, taxiways and check locations; surface movement guidance and control systems and markings; radio navigation and landing aids; charts relating to an aerodrome; and refuelling facilities. So AD 2 is where you get the operational detail of a specific aerodrome. The fourth section is AD 3 — Heliports. This contains detailed information about heliports that are not located at aerodromes — so standalone heliports. And this one is listed under 23 sub-sections, one fewer than AD 2. Now, let’s move on to how the AIP is kept current — this is section 18.16, AIP Amendments. All changes to the AIP, or new information on a reprinted page, are identified by a distinctive symbol or annotation. In the UK, that symbol is a vertical black line in the page margin, placed adjacent to the amended or new data. So when you open a page and see that black line in the margin, you know something on that page has changed. The AIP is amended or reissued at regular intervals, as necessary, to keep the data up to date. The normal method of amendment is by replacement pages — you don’t rewrite the whole book, you just swap out the affected pages. Permanent changes to the AIP are published as AIP amendments, and each AIP amendment is allocated a consecutive serial number. So there’s a traceable sequence — you can always tell which amendment is the latest, and you can check that your copy has all of them applied. So to tie it together: Part 3 gives you the aerodrome and heliport data in a fixed, predictable structure — AD 0 for front matter, AD 1 for introduction, AD 2 for aerodromes in 24 sub-sections, AD 3 for heliports in 23 sub-sections — and then the amendment system keeps that data current, with the vertical black line marking changes and consecutive serial numbers tracking each amendment.