ICAO AIRAC System

AIRAC System: The AIRAC (Aeronautical Information Regulation and Control) system consists of common effective dates recurring every 28 days. On these effective dates, various aviation-related changes become applicable, most notably aeronautical information published in accordance with the AIRAC cycle.

• The reference date is 8 November 2018.
• The AIRAC system became applicable on 1 November 1964 in accordance with ICAO Annex 15.

AIRAC Cycle Number: Although not explicitly defined in ICAO Annex 15, AIRAC cycle numbers are widely used to identify a particular effective AIRAC cycle. The first two digits represent the last two digits of the year, while the last two digits represent the sequence number of the cycle within that year. For example, 8 November 2018 corresponds to 1812.

Dates Prior to the Effective Date

Various dates before the effective date are commonly used by different stakeholders for planning, coordination, publication, and distribution purposes. Certain dates specified in ICAO Annex 15 are as follows:

28 Days Before the Effective Date

• Latest date by which information subject to the AIRAC system must reach users.
• Latest date by which a "NIL" notification must be issued if no information has been provided for the relevant effective date.

42 Days Before the Effective Date

• Latest date by which information subject to the AIRAC system must be provided to AIS units in order to ensure timely distribution to recipients.

56 Days Before the Effective Date

• Recommended date for major planned changes to reach recipients, such as:
  • Opening of new international airports.
  • Opening of new runways for IFR operations at international airports.
  • Significant changes to the ATS (Air Traffic Services) route network structure.
  • Significant changes to the design or structure of terminal procedures (e.g. SID, STAR).

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Jeppesen Publication Dates

Each revision letter and its associated charts are marked with an issue date. Issue dates do not necessarily coincide with AIRAC effective dates. A chart published on a particular issue date may contain an effective date printed on the chart itself. If no effective date is specified, the chart is effective from receipt.

• Most European coverages have weekly issue dates occurring every Friday.
• All other coverages have bi-weekly issue dates.

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EUROCONTROL NM Dates

RAD (Route Availability Document) Timeliness

• AIRAC -42: RAD cut-off date.
• AIRAC -28: RAD publication date.

AUP (Airspace Use Plan) Planning Timelines

• AIRAC -15: Earliest date on which a Draft AUP can be created.
• AIRAC -6 to AIRAC -2: Period during which the Draft AUP is visible on the Network Operations Portal (NOP).

CACD AIRAC Data Provision Phases

• First Phase (AIRAC -70 days): Deadline for pre-validation of static data.
• Second Phase (between AIRAC -56 and -43 days): Period for Route Availability Document (RAD) validation.
• Third Phase (between AIRAC -33 and -22 days): Final AIRAC validation stage.
• Standard Publication: 42 days prior to the effective date.
• Recommended Publication: 56 days prior to the effective date.