APPROACH, ARRIVAL, AND DEPARTURE DEFINITION PROPERTIES

This page lists the different elements and attributes required to generate properly formed XML for approaches, arrivals, and departures into and from airports. The information on this page is used along with the information for creating an Airport - since approaches are specifically for airports - which can be found here:

 

The <Approach> , <Arrival> and <Departure> elements would go inside of the <Airport> element, and you can (and normally would) define multiple approaches, arrivals, and departures in a single airport.

NOTE: Editing Approach, Arrival and Departure data may prevent the simulation performing further automatic updates to the NavData for the airport. Please see the following section for more information: Note On Navigation Data

 

 

<Approach>

This element is used to add an approach to an airport, and you can have multiple approach elements for each airport. Approaches are made up of three components, which must occur in the following order: <Approach>, <ApproachLegs>, and <Transition> elements. The attributes used when defining an approach are as follows:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
type The type of approach.

Enum:

  1. GPS
  2. ILS
  3. LDA
  4. LOCALIZER
  5. LOCALIZER_BACKCOURSE
  6. NDB
  7. NDBDME
  8. RNAV
  9. SDF
  10. VOR
  11. VORDME
 Yes
runway The runway number the approach is attached to. Note that you do not suffix the designator onto this value, but instead define it separately in the designator attribute.

Integer:

  1. 1 - 36

 

or Enum:

  1. EAST
  2. NORTH
  3. NORTHEAST
  4. NORTHWEST
  5. SOUTH
  6. SOUTHEAST
  7. SOUTHWEST
  8. WEST
 No
designator Designator of the runway being added.

Enum:

  1. NONE
  2. C
  3. CENTER
  4. L
  5. LEFT
  6. R
  7. RIGHT
  8. W
  9. WATER
  10. A
  11. B
 No
suffix Single character identifier.

String

 No
gpsOverlay Whether it has a has a GPS overlay or not. Bool No
fixType The type of FAF.

Enum:

  1. NDB
  2. TERMINAL_NDB
  3. TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
  4. VOR
  5. WAYPOINT
 Yes
fixRegion The station region of the FAF (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String Yes
fixIdent The station identity of the FAF (maximum 5 characters).

String

 Yes
altitude Altitude for final approach in meters.

Float

 Yes
heading The final course heading start, from 0.0° to 360.0°. Float Yes
missedAltitude Missed approach altitude in meters

Float

 Yes

 

 

<ApproachLegs>

This element is used to add approach legs to an airport approach. The <ApproachLegs> element has no attributes and is used as a container to hold a list of <Leg /> elements which describe the individual segments of the approach. You normally have multiple <ApproachLegs> sub-elements in a single <Approach> definition.

 

 

<MissedApproachLegs>

This element is used to add legs for a missed approach path to an airport approach. The <MissedApproachLegs> element has no attributes and is used as a container to hold a list of <Leg /> elements which describe the individual segments of the approach. You normally have multiple <MissedApproachLegs> sub-elements in a single <Approach> definition.

 

 

<Arrival>

This element is used to add an arrival route to an airport, and you can have multiple arrival elements for each airport. Arrival routes are made up of multiple components, which must occur in the following order: <EnrouteTransitions>, <CommonRouteLegs>, and <RunwayTransitions>. The only required attribute when defining an arrival is as follows:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
Name The name of the arrival route as defined by the official airport charts, eg: "LIBER4" String Yes

 

 

<Departure>

This element is used to add an arrival route to an airport, and you can have multiple arrival elements for each airport. Arrival routes are made up of multiple components, which must occur in the following order: <RunwayTransitions>,  <CommonRouteLegs>, and <EnrouteTransitions>. The only required attribute when defining an arrival is as follows:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
Name The name of the departure route as defined by the official airport charts, eg: "GLEEN7" String Yes

 

 

<EnrouteTransitions>

This is a sub-element of both the <Arrival> and <Departure> elements. This is a required element, although if you have no transitions you can make this a simple self-closing element, eg: <EnrouteTransitions />. This element has no attributes and is a container element for <EnrouteTransitionLegs>.

 

<EnrouteTransitionLegs>

This is a sub-element of the <EnrouteTransitions> container, and is used to list the various legs that comprise the transition route. This element should contain multiple <Leg /> elements and has a single attribute:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
Name The name of the route transition as defined by the official airport charts, eg: "PUYVO" String Yes

 

 

<CommonRouteLegs>

This is a sub-element of both the <Arrival> and <Departure> elements. This is a required element, although if you have no common routes you can make this a simple self-closing element, eg: <CommonRouteLegs />. This element has no attributes and is a container element for multiple <Leg /> elements.


 

<RunwayTransitions>

This is a sub-element of both the <Arrival> and <Departure> elements. This is a required element, has no attributes and is a container element for one or more <RunwayTransitionLegs>.

 

<RunwayTransitionLegs>

This is a sub-element of the <RunwayTransitions> container, and is used to list the various legs that comprise the runway transition. This element should contain multiple <Leg /> elements and has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
number Number of the runway the transition legs belongs to. Note that you do not suffix the designator onto this value, but instead define it separately in the designator attribute.
  1. Integer:
  2. 1 - 36

 

or Enum:

  1. EAST
  2. NORTH
  3. NORTHEAST
  4. NORTHWEST
  5. SOUTH
  6. SOUTHEAST
  7. SOUTHWEST
  8. WEST
 Yes
designator Designator of the runway the transition legs are being added to.

Enum:

  1. NONE
  2. C
  3. CENTER
  4. L
  5. LEFT
  6. R
  7. RIGHT
  8. W
  9. WATER
  10. A
  11. B
  12. E
  13. N
  14. NE
  15. NW
  16. S
  17. SE
  18. SW
  19. W
 No

 

 

<Transition>

This element is used to add transitions to an airport approach. A <Transition> element contains a list of <DmeArc /> and/or <TransitionLegs> sub-elements, and if both are present the <DmeArc> must be entered first. The <Leg /> and <DmeArc> elements describe the individual segments of the transition. The attributes you can apply to this element are as follows:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
transitionType The transition type.

Enum:

  1. FULL
  2. DME
 Yes
fixType The type of IAF.

Enum:

  1. NDB
  2. TERMINAL_NDB
  3. TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
  4. VOR
  5. WAYPOINT
 Yes
fixRegion The station region of the IAF (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String Yes
fixIdent The station identity of the IAF (maximum 5 characters).

String

 Yes
altitude Altitude of the first leg of the transition in meters.

Float

 Yes

 

<DmeArc />

This element is used to add a DME arc to an approach transition. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

 

Attribute Description Type Required
radial The angle of the arc from the transmitter, from 1.0° to 360.0°. Float Yes
distance DME distance.

Float

 Yes
dmeRegion DME station region (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String Yes
dmeIdent DME station identity of the associated navaid (maximum 5 characters).

String

 Yes

 

<TransitionLegs>

This element is used to add legs for a transition during an airport approach. The <TransitionLegs> element has no attributes and is used as a container to hold a list of <Leg> elements which describe the individual segments of the transition.

 

 

<Leg />

This element is used to add legs to the <EnrouteTransitionLegs>, <CommonRouteLegs>, <RunwayTransitionLegs>, <TransitionLegs>, <ApproachLegs>, and <MissedApproachLegs>, elements. The specific information required to define the leg depends on the type. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes (a table of required and optional attributes is included further down the page):

 

Attribute Description Type
type The type of leg. The meaning of each 2-letter approach leg code is defined in the 424-16 specification document maintained by ARINC Incorporated and is a standard used in navigation databases and flight management systems. You can order the complete specification, which includes complete definitions and illustrations of each type, from the ARINC web site.

Description:

Enum:
DME arc to fix AF
course to altitude CA
course to DME distance CD
course to fix CF
course to intercept CI
course to radial CR
direct to fix DF
fix to altitude FA
track from fix FC
track from fix to DME distance FD
track from fix to manual terminator FM
racetrack course reversal to altitude HA
racetrack course reversal to fix HF
racetrack course reversal to manual terminator HM
initial fix IF
procedure turn PI
constant radius arc RF
track to fix TF
heading to altitude VA
heading to dme distance VD
heading to intercept VI
heading to manual termination VM
heading to radial VR
fixType The type of fix.

Enum:

  1. NDB
  2. TERMINAL_NDB
  3. TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
  4. VOR
  5. WAYPOINT
fixRegion The fix region code (maximum 3 characters, based on iso-3166-2). String
fixIdent The fix identity (maximum 5 characters).

String
flyOver This indicates whether the leg is intended to fly over (TRUE) the given point, or fly by (FALSE) the given point Bool
turnDirection Turn direction supplied for this leg, which can be L (Left), R (Right) or E (Either), where the default is E.

Enum:

  1. L
  2. R
  3. E
recommendedType Type of "target" for this leg.

Enum:

  1. NDB
  2. TERMINAL_NDB
  3. TERMINAL_WAYPOINT
  4. VOR
  5. WAYPOINT
  6. RUNWAY
  7. LOCALIZER
recommendedRegion 2 or 3 character region code, based on iso-3166-2. String
recommendedIdent 5 character (max) identity code String
theta The heading, from 0.0° to 360.0°. Float
rho Distance, in meters. You may suffix the value with "N" to get nautical miles, eg: "34N" String
trueCourse True North course, from 0.0° to 360.0°. If used, then do not enter a value for magneticCourse. Float
magneticCourse Magnetic North course, from 0.0° to 360.0°. If used, then do not enter a value for trueCourse. Float
distance Distance, in meters. You may suffix the value with "N" to get nautical miles, eg: "34N". If used, then do not enter a value for time. String
time Time, in minutes. If used, then do not enter a value for distance. Float
altitudeDescriptor Value that describes how altitude1 and altitude2 are interpreted. Please see the table below for more details. String
altitude1 First altitude level, in meters. Float
altitude2 First altitude level, in meters. Float

 

All of the leg types either require, or can take as optional, an altitude code letter (the altitudeDescriptor field) and either one or two altitude values. The following table shows the range of values and how they are interpreted:

 

altitudeDescriptor altitude1 Required altitude2 Required Description
+ - Fly at or above altitude1
- - Fly at or below altitude1
(space) - Fly at altitude1
A - -  
B Fly at or above altitude1 and at or below altitude2
C - Fly at or above altitude2
G - -  
H - -  
I - -  
J - -  
V - -  

 

The following table shows the different Leg types and their associated Required and Optional attributes:

 

Attribute AF CA CD CF CI CR DF FA FC FD FM HA HF HM IF PI RF TF VA VD VI VM VR
fixType                
fixRegion                
fixIdent                
flyOver                        
turnDirection    
recommendedType      
recommendedRegion      
recommendedIdent      
theta                
rho                    
trueCourse    
magneticCourse    
distance                    
time                                  
altitudeDescriptor
altitude1
altitude2