Major Principles of Overflight Permits

Overflight permits are agreements from Civil Aviation Authorities (CAAs) to overfly that country’s airspace. These vary in terms of rules and airspace coverage area, depending on the country. It’s always significant to form overflight permit supplies in advance with your 3rd-party provider for the deliberate route of flight.

The following is an overview of what you required to classify: 

1. Overflight Permit Supplies

Many countries execute overflying permit supplies, which apply to both private non-revenue and charter (non-scheduled commercial) flight activity. For aircraft flying on trial or non-full safety certificates, overflight permits are generally required even if the country in question does not require a permit for standard General Aviation (GA) flights. Experimental aircraft generally face longer permit lead times, additional documentation and specific aircraft operating limitations.

2. Overflight Permits are not always Required

While most countries in Asia, Africa, and South America need overflight permits, for private non-revenue and charter flights, these licenses are generally not required for Europe. If you’re working on a new aircraft, however, most European countries do require permits to overfly.

3. Permit Lead Time Varies

Overflight permits can usually be handled within three to five business days, and this is the case for most of Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and South America. Some countries, however, need longer permit lead times. Mongolia, for instance, needs 14 business days to accept an overflight permit while Togo requires 10 days, Myanmar obligations nine days and Indonesia requires seven business days. For short notice, overflight license requests may be possible at the preference of local CAAs.

4. Permit Supplies for chosen Routings

Once you decide the countries, you’ll be overflying, you’ll need to research particular supplies for each country regarding permit lead times, necessary information/documentation, and Flight Information Regions (FIRs), among other concerns. It’s important to evaluate the entire routing against flight charts to ensure you do not miss any necessary permits.

5. No-go Routings

There are many examples around the world when you aren’t permitted to use an exact route or operate between two countries. Some examples are as follows:

In most circumstances, you cannot work directly between Taiwan and China, or between Argentina and the Falkland Islands.

6. Determining Routing

Aeronautical Information Publications (AIPs) generally dictate rules, including overflight permit requirements, for each country. Some AIPs, however, may be difficult to find or may be written in the country’s native language, with no English versions available. When you plan a trip, it’s authoritative that you regulate a practical route of flight. Direction-finding is based on best winds, for example, may set you up for airways that may be closed, one-way only, or not available to GA. It’s always required to create a useable routing – and not a routing that puts you over countries that may be sanctioned or prohibited for your particular flight operation due to protection limitations, company operational specifications, and/or lead passenger preferences.

Conclusion

When dealing with the world of overflight permits, it’s significant that operators understand all requirements and restrictions. Moreover to what has been covered above, also consider special request formats, documentation requirements, operating hours, potential language barriers and urgent request/revision options.