Flight information region

Common card · No. 364452

In aviation, a flight information region (FIR) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service, an alerting service (ALRS, which provides coordination for distress, search and rescue), and an area control centre are provided. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) delegates which country is responsible for the operational control of a given FIR. FIRs are the largest regular division of airspace in use in the world today, and have existed at least since 1947. Smaller countries' airspace is encompassed by a single FIR; larger countries' airspace is subdivided into a number of regional FIRs. Some FIRs encompass the territorial airspace of several countries. Oceanic airspace is divided into oceanic information regions and delegated to a controlling authority bordering that region. The division among authorities is done by international agreement through the ICAO. There is no standard size for FIRs. Some are merely vertical extensions of their respective...

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