Modernisation of the Australian Aeronautical Information Publication

In order to modernise Airservices' aeronautical information and data products, Airservices is continuing to progress a number of activities to change the way it produces and publishes the Australian Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), primarily through migration of the AIP to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard eAIP format and modernisation of the way we produce our aeronautical charts.

This program is a key step in enhancing the way Airservices provides information, data products and related services.

Modernisation of the AIP will:

  • provide the ability to develop wider and more flexible range of aeronautical information and data products to support pilots, aircraft operators and the broader industry, including improving the ability for other key industry partners (such as application developers) to continue to innovate using aeronautical data from Airservices
  • provide more timely updates to aeronautical data to improve consistency of information and distribution
  • improve the level of digitisation of aeronautical data to promote a more dynamic and future oriented way of managing aeronautical data
  • ensure consistency with the ICAO recommended eAIP format and charting standards to improve interoperability, readability and standardisation.

Next Steps

During 2023 the following work will be continued:

  • Incorporation of DAH into the relevant ENR sections of the eAIP and removal of DAH as a standalone product.
  • Incorporation of non-aerodrome information published in ERSA into the relevant sections of the eAIP or other reference material and removal of these sections from ERSA.
  • Production of prototypes of selected AIP Charts and eAIP sections to be used to demonstrate the expected changes as a result of the modernisation

It is important to note that there are no planned changes to the print and distribution of AIP products during 2023 and customers will be informed in advance of any changes to these services.

Q&A Forum:

Airservices invites you to provide questions and comments using the Q&A box found at the bottom of this page. Questions and answers will be posted publicly to facilitate information sharing. Should you wish to contact us privately, please email stakeholder@airservicesaustralia.com


In order to modernise Airservices' aeronautical information and data products, Airservices is continuing to progress a number of activities to change the way it produces and publishes the Australian Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP), primarily through migration of the AIP to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard eAIP format and modernisation of the way we produce our aeronautical charts.

This program is a key step in enhancing the way Airservices provides information, data products and related services.

Modernisation of the AIP will:

  • provide the ability to develop wider and more flexible range of aeronautical information and data products to support pilots, aircraft operators and the broader industry, including improving the ability for other key industry partners (such as application developers) to continue to innovate using aeronautical data from Airservices
  • provide more timely updates to aeronautical data to improve consistency of information and distribution
  • improve the level of digitisation of aeronautical data to promote a more dynamic and future oriented way of managing aeronautical data
  • ensure consistency with the ICAO recommended eAIP format and charting standards to improve interoperability, readability and standardisation.

Next Steps

During 2023 the following work will be continued:

  • Incorporation of DAH into the relevant ENR sections of the eAIP and removal of DAH as a standalone product.
  • Incorporation of non-aerodrome information published in ERSA into the relevant sections of the eAIP or other reference material and removal of these sections from ERSA.
  • Production of prototypes of selected AIP Charts and eAIP sections to be used to demonstrate the expected changes as a result of the modernisation

It is important to note that there are no planned changes to the print and distribution of AIP products during 2023 and customers will be informed in advance of any changes to these services.

Q&A Forum:

Airservices invites you to provide questions and comments using the Q&A box found at the bottom of this page. Questions and answers will be posted publicly to facilitate information sharing. Should you wish to contact us privately, please email stakeholder@airservicesaustralia.com


Q&A Forum

Airservices is commencing a number of activities to change the way it produces and publishes the Australian Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP). Please use this Q&A forum is you have any questions on this change. 

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  • It would be good to produce pictorial guides for inbound / outbound lanes for major D class airports. CASA produced some as part Visual Pilot Guide in 2010 for Jandakot which was very good and has not since produced another. I found these to be a very useful quick reference guides for airport inbound / outbound lanes and seems like it would be a good idea to include in FAC information pictorially rather than in text. I still actually use these figures in visual pilot guide while flying as a quick reference confirmation of outbound / inbound lanes and circuit directions.

    Wade asked 23 days ago

    Hi,

    As you mentioned the Stay on Track series is produced by CASA, they have let us know that the guides, that cover many areas of Australia and are updated annually, are available online. These guides are quite lengthy, and a lot of the content does not fit within an ICAO eAIP therefore they will not be included.

    Thanks

  • Great to see this project taking shape. Are there any plans to incorporate the Off Air Route Planning (OARP) Manual into the eAIP?

    Chris Wilson (Air NZ) asked about 1 month ago

    Hi Chris,

    Apologies for the slow response to your question. 

    The OARP is not a standard ICAO function published in an eAIP, therefore it is not in scope of this project to include. Planning for the long term publication of the OARP is ongoing and any changes will be communicated to industry. If you have any further questions/feedback regarding the OARP and its publication, contact the team via email: oarp@airservicesaustralia.com.

    Thanks.

  • When will the eaip be available for full scale implementation. As someone who is keen to begin using the electronic versions I’m curious as to how this will be deployed. Will paper copies be replaced by the eaip in full? Will I be able to conduct all my current aip activities with the eaip?

    Charliel asked 6 months ago

    Thanks for your question. The overall project timeline is still being finalised. We are currently reviewing industry, regulator and our own operational requirements and will be in a position to provide more information later this year. 

    Over the coming months we will be engaging with industry, which will further inform this timeline. Please keep an eye on this page for further information as we would appreciate your feedback. 

    While the eAIP was designed to support transition away from printed products, we expect to be providing AIP information in a printable format for some time to come.  

    The eAIP will contain all information required of an AIP. Our transition approach will ensure that any variations in location or presentation of content are shared with the aviation community to support transition from the current to future AIP Products.

  • Will there be a newsletter (Like the ones which are sent out for new SUP and AIC) when new AMDT will be published?

    Nina Suter (skyguide) asked 10 months ago

    Hi,

    SUP and AIC can be published at any time which is why notification is sent out to those who request it when a new one issued. The IAIP (and when it is transitioned to the eAIP) is published on a fixed and regular schedule so there is no requirement to notify users of its release. The IAIP/eAIP is available online 56 days (i.e., 2 AIRAC cycles) prior to it being effective.

    Thanks 

  • I have a suggestion to make rather than asking a question. ERSA contains a diagram of each runway at significantly important airports and airfields. If, off the upwind end of each runway there was a 90deg arrow showing the circuit direction, visiting aircraft would be alerted to the correct circuit direction without having to look for this in the small print. It could be used to show left hand circuits versus runways with right hand circuits.

    Dave Smith asked 11 months ago

    Hi Dave,

    Thank you for the suggestion, we won’t be showing circuit direction on aerodrome charts either in the ERSA or in the future eAIP, as it’s out of scope in regard to ICAO standardisation. 

    The purpose of an aerodrome chart is to provide flight crews with information which will facilitate the ground movement of aircraft, including:

    a) from the aircraft stand to the runway; and

    b) from the runway to the aircraft stand.

    As you mentioned the circuit information is contained in the text-based sections of the IAIP which is as per the ICAO recommendations.

  • Hi there, AIP GEN 3.3.7 was the original reference. It appears to have been changed in Dec 21

    jhaselgrove asked about 1 year ago

    Hi, could you please email ais@airservicesaustralia.com with your specific question as the reference you have provided doesn't relate to the content in your question. Thanks. 

  • I have only just noticed that the Air Traffic Information section has significantly changed with regard to the spacing and timings for information being provided controllers to IFR aircraft. I wondered what the background was for the change, as the new language seems decidedly vague and general. Have those specifications moved to a different manual, or been removed entirely? The Jepp Reference used to be section 8.14, but not certain what the AIP one used to be.

    jhaselgrove asked about 1 year ago

    Hello, could you please provide the exact section of the AIP that you are referring to so I can look into this further for you? Thanks. 

  • Will future AIP and eAIP include VMC tables rather than refering readers to a MOS? I notice the Isavia Iceland publication linked in AIC H11/22 as a format example includes the relevent table, as any useful aeronautical book should.

    biggles the elder asked about 1 year ago

    Hello,

    As the content related to VMC is owned by CASA I have reached out to them for a response and received the following:

    The intent when reviewing the AIP is not to repeat existing text already present elsewhere. As such, there is currently no intent to repeat the Part 91 MOS regarding VMC criteria in the AIP. ENR 1.2 para 2.1 references, correctly, the source regulatory information in section 2.07 of the Part 91 MOS. As another example of an AIP that doesn’t have their VFR conditions repeated in the AIP is the Canadian AIP. The intent of the examples used in AIC H11/22 is to demonstrate the format of the electronic AIP and not to rationalise the content.

  • Hi there, H11/22 speaks to the transfer of all aerodrome (ERSA FAC) info being transferred from ERSA to EAIP. Can Airservices confirm that this will be for all CERTIFIED and NON-CERTIFIED aerodromes that are contained within the existing ERSA. And should there be any 'unvalidated' aerodromes (either cert or un-cert), will this also transfer across the EAIP OR will Airservices be making a policy to no longer contain any 'unvalidated' data within the EAIP? In addition, will EAIP data contain all of the FAC data currently contained within ERSA, as much of this is invaluable information that has been gained over many years. My concern is that to 'meet ICAO requirements' that there won't be the appropriate fields in the new EAIP AD template to retain this invaluable info. This is a very important project for Airservices and industry. It should (finally) modernise our AIP and align it to best practice. Furthermore, it will enable single source data, remove duplication and of course enable Airservices to respond to charting changes much better than the existing and inadequate long lead times for producing charts. Industry will therefore expect the cost savings being derived from this project to flow into cost savings to industry. It would be very much expected that Airservices do not see this as an opportunity to impose further costs onto industry. Thanks

    Matt Bouttell (RAAus) asked about 1 year ago

    Hi Matt,

    There are multiple parts to your questions so I have answered them below individually:

    H11/22 speaks to the transfer of all aerodrome (ERSA FAC) info being transferred from ERSA to EAIP. Can Airservices confirm that this will be for all CERTIFIED and NON-CERTIFIED aerodromes that are contained within the existing ERSA.

    ERSA FAC that are published at the time of cut-over will be published in the eAIP (see next question for further detail).

    And should there be any 'unvalidated' aerodromes (either cert or un-cert), will this also transfer across the EAIP OR will Airservices be making a policy to no longer contain any 'unvalidated' data within the EAIP? 

    Since the introduction of CASR175 the amount of unverified data and information published across all the AIP products has been greatly reduced and work continues to establish owners for the remaining unverified content. At the time of cut-over, unverified ERSA FAC entries will not be published in the eAIP, however unverified obstacles and aerodromes will continue to be published on charts with symbology to clearly identify the difference between unverified and verified information.

    In addition, will EAIP data contain all the FAC data currently contained within ERSA, as much of this is invaluable information that has been gained over many years. My concern is that to 'meet ICAO requirements' that there will not be the appropriate fields in the new EAIP AD template to retain this invaluable info.

    The content (as opposed to the format) within ERSA FAC entries is largely ICAO compliant, and although the presentation of some information may change there is no requirement to remove any information, apart from that which may be duplicated in other areas of the eAIP

    Industry will therefore expect the cost savings being derived from this project to flow into cost savings to industry. It would be very much expected that Airservices do not see this as an opportunity to impose further costs onto industry.

    The eAIP, like the current AIP products, will continue to be freely available from the Airservices website. There have been no decisions of what the impact will be of the introduction of the eAIP will have on the print and subscription services currently being offered, however as per the ICAO standards, the eAIP will be produced in a printable format.

  • sir, i,m not to concerned about changers to the aip, but my gripe is with the ersa, 4 ersas per yr is redicules. not to mention the waste of money. the amount of hrs pvt pilots fly ea yr is low and yet to keep your nav bag up to scratch { in casa of a ramp check } the waste of money on 4 ersas per yr is ludicrus. 2 would b ample, jan to june---july to dec , i urge u to give this plenty of thought , rgds graham hepner arn 127631

    rocky asked about 1 year ago

    Hi Graham,

    Australia is quite unique in only having 4 major AIP updates a year, the ICAO standard is 28 days however due to printing requirements we are not able to produce that many updates.

    Due to the large number of changes per cycle, especially the number that require NOTAM to be issued, we will not be looking at reducing the number of ERSA updates at this stage.

    If you have any further questions or feedback that is not related to the eAIP project please email ais@airservicesaustralia.com