What are the different types of UK airspace?

In the UK there are currently five classes of airspace; A,C,D,E and G. The classification of the airspace within a FIR determines the flight rules which apply and the minimum air traffic services which are to be provided. Classes A, C, D and E are areas of controlled airspace and G is uncontrolled airspace.



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A generic term that covers the different classification of airspace (Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, and Class E airspace) and defined dimensions within which air traffic control service is provided to IFR flights and to VFR flights in accordance with the airspace classification.

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There are two categories of airspace or airspace areas: Regulatory (Class A, B, C, D, and E airspace areas, restricted and prohibited areas). Nonregulatory (military operations areas [MOA], warning areas, alert areas, controlled firing areas [CFA], and national security areas [NSA]).

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Class F. Class F is not used in the United States. In Canada, Class F is the equivalent of U.S. special use airspace including restricted and alert areas, while ICAO defines it as a hybrid of Class E and Class G, in which ATC separation guidance is available but not required for IFR operation.

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In short, the real purpose of Class F is to allow flights to remain IFR in uncontrolled environments. Since this is a sort of mix between Class E and Class G airspace, there is no Class F inside the United States.

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Class A airspace is generally the airspace from 18,000 feet (~3.4 miles, 5.5 km) mean sea level (MSL) up to and including flight level (FL) 600 (~11.4 miles, 18.3 km), including the airspace overlying the waters within 12 nautical miles (NM) (~13.8 miles, 22.2 km) of the coast of the 48 contiguous states and Alaska.

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Class D airspace is most often found starting at the surface and extending up to and including 2,500 feet within a radius of 5 statute miles from the primary airport.

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Class C airspace is designed to establish and maintain safe separation of mixed general aviation and airline traffic. It is usually upside-down wedding cake shaped and depicted on charts with two bold magenta rings along with numbers indicating the airspace floor and ceiling within each ring.

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Since Class D is controlled airspace all the way to the surface, you can't fly VFR when the ceiling (a broken or overcast cloud layer) is less than 1000' AGL (FAR 91.155 (c)), or when the visibility is less than 3 SM.

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Class C airspace is used around airports with a moderate traffic level. Class D is used for smaller airports that have a control tower. The U.S. uses a modified version of the ICAO class C and D airspace, where only radio contact with ATC rather than an ATC clearance is required for VFR operations.

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