ENR 1.10  Flight planning

(Restriction, Limitation or advisory Information)

1.10.1  PROCEDURES FOR THE SUBMISSION OF A FLIGHT PLAN

1.10.1.1 General

A flight plan shall be submitted as per the requirements specified in ICAO Annex 2 - Rules of the Air, Chapter 3.3. The format and content of the flight plan form shall be according to ICAO PANS - ATM Doc 4444, Chapter 4.4:

  1. any IFR flight,

  2. any VFR flight.

    1. departing from or destined for an aerodrome within a CTR;

    2. crossing any CTR within BAHRAIN FIR;

    3. across any International State Boundary or the FIR / UIR boundary.

1.10.1.2 Time of submission

Except for repetitive flight plans, a flight plan shall be submitted up to 120 Hours and at least 60 minutes prior to EOBT, taking into account requirements for timely information of ATS units in airspace along the route to be flown, including requirements for early submission for ATS Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) purposes.

1.10.1.3 Submission of Flight Plan

  1. Flight plans shall be submitted via AFTN to “OBBBZQZX”

  2. In absence of AFS, a flight plan shall be submitted by email BAHFPL@mtt.gov.bh or Fax +973 17323876. An acknowledgement of receipt must be obtained via Tel: +973 17321181 / +973 17321182

10.10.1.4 ADDITIONAL FLIGHT PLAN REQUIREMENTS

All FPL within OBBB FIR should include:

  1. Entry and exit point for overflying flights.

  2. Entry point for landing BAHRAIN aerodromes.

  3. Exit point for departing from BAHRAIN aerodromes.

Adherence to ATS route structure

No flight plans shall be filed for routes deviating from the published STANDARD ROUTE DOCUMENT, unless prior permission has been obtained from BAHRAIN ACC.

Authorization for special flights

Flights of a specific character such as survey flights, scientific research flights etc. may be exempted from the restriction specified above.

Request for exemption shall be mailed so as to be received at least one week before the intended day of operation to:

Post:

Undersecretary for Civil Aviation
Bahrain Civil Aviation Affairs

1.10.2  REPETITIVE FLIGHT PLAN SYSTEM

RPL System not in use in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

1.10.3  CHANGE TO THE SUBMITTED FLIGHT PLAN

All changes to a flight plan submitted for an IFR flight or a controlled VFR flight and significant changes to a flight plan submitted for an uncontrolled VFR flight shall be reported as soon as possible to the appropriate ATS unit.

1.10.3.1 In the event of a delay in departure of 30 minutes or more for a flight for which a flight plan has been submitted, the flight plan shall be amended or a new flight plan shall be submitted after the old plan has been cancelled.

Note 1: If a delay in departure of a controlled flight is not properly reported, the relevant flight plan date may no longer be readily available to the appropriate ATS unit when a clearance is ultimately requested, which will consequently result in extra delay for the flight.

Note 2: If a delay in departure (or cancellation) of an uncontrolled VFR flight is not properly reported, alerting or search and rescue action may be unnecessarily initiated, when the flight fails to arrive at the destination aerodrome within 30 minutes after current ETA.

1.10.3.2 Whenever a flight, for which a flight plan has been submitted, is cancelled, the appropriate ATS unit shall be informed immediately.

Changes to a current flight plan for a controlled flight during flight shall be reported or requested subject to the provisions in Annex 2.3.6.2 (Adherence to flight plan).

Significant changes to a flight plan for an uncontrolled VFR flight include changes in endurance, or total number of persons on board and changes in time estimates of 30 minutes or more.

1.10.3.3  Arrival report (Closing a flight plan)

A report of arrival shall be made at the earliest possible moment after landing to the airport office of the arrival aerodrome by any flight for which a flight plan has been submitted except when the arrival has been acknowledged by the local ATS unit.

After landing at an aerodrome which is not the destination aerodrome (diversionary landing) the local ATS unit shall be specifically informed accordingly.

In the absence of a local ATS unit at the aerodrome of diversionary landing the pilot is responsible for passing the arrival report to the destination aerodrome.

  1. aircraft identification

  2. departure aerodrome

  3. destination aerodrome

  4. time of arrival

In the case of diversion, insert between "destination aerodrome" an "time of arrival":

  1. the "arrival aerodrome"

1.10.4  ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS RELATED TO RVSM AIRSPACE

Note: Flights will not be given access to BAHRAIN RVSM airspace when:

  1. No flight plan has been received, or

  2. A flight plan has been received but the required RVSM data has not been included in the flight plan.

1.10.4.1 Except as indicated in ENR 1.10.4.3 flight between FL 290 to FL 410 is for exclusive use of RVSM approved aircraft. Non - RVSM certified aircraft shall flight plan accordingly.
1.10.4.2 Operators of RVSM certified aircraft shall insert the letter "W" in item 10 of the flight plan regardless of the requested level.
1.10.4.3 Acceptance of non - RVSM certified State aircraft for flight at RVSM levels is subject to prevailling traffic conditions. RVSM certified aircraft will be offered priority in order to make maximum use of airspace capacity.

Note: Consequently, operators of State aircraft intending to navigate within BAHRAIN FIR / BAHRAIN UIR are advised to dispatch RVSM certified aircraft or flight plan at non - RVSM levels.

1.10.4.4 Operators of non - RVSM certified State aircraft requesting a flight level within RVSM airspace shall insert the phrase "STS / NONRVSM" in item 18 of the flight plan.
1.10.4.5 In addition to the requirements of ENR 1.10.4.4 operators of non - RVSM certified State aircraft requesting to operate in RVSM airspace shall include the letter "M" in item 8 of the flight plan.
1.10.4.6 The flight plan for an aircraft intending to operate across or within the lateral limits of RVSM airspace shall include:

  1. The entry point and requested flight level for that portion of the route commencing immediately after the entry point.

  2. The exit point and requested flight level for that portion of the route commencing immediately after the exit point.