ENR 1.11 Addressing of Flight Plans for Domestic or International Flight Planning

  1. General Information
    1. In order to safely and efficiently exercise their responsibilities, controllers must receive the most current and accurate flight plan information available. For departing aircraft, this information is normally received in the form of an ICAO Filed Flight Plan (FPL). For aircraft inbound from an adjacent facility, flight plan information may also be received in the form of an FPL, however, if available, the most current information is received via inter-facility automated interface in the form of a Current Flight Plan (CPL). Although the FPL and CPL are similar, they differ in that the FPL contains the requested route/altitude, while the CPL contains the route/altitude actually assigned to the aircraft.
    2. Within domestic U.S. (contiguous 48 states) airspace, only the first en route facility needs to receive flight plan data, whether from the filer or an adjacent facility. This is due to the fact that U.S. en route computer systems automatically forward current flight plan data and revisions from facility to facility. The inappropriate addressing of an FPL by the filer may create processing and/or controller workload issues, resulting in delays.
    3. Please refer to guidance in the scenarios below to ensure that FPLs are addressed correctly.
  2. Addressing Guidance

    NOTE-

    In this section, U.S. Domestic Airspace includes the 48 contiguous states and Puerto Rico.

    Please use the following criteria when selecting addresses for transmission of the ICAO FPL to U.S. Air Traffic Control (ATC):
    1. Address the FPL to the departure ARTCC only. Do not address subsequent U.S. domestic facilities.

      NOTE-

      If a flight leaves U.S. domestic airspace and later re-enters U.S. domestic airspace, the return portion of the flight should be addressed per guidance in Scenarios 2.3 or 2.4 below, as applicable.

    2. U.S. Domestic to International Destinations
      • Address the FPL to the departure ARTCC.
      • Do not address subsequent U.S. domestic facilities.
      • Address the FPL to New York, Oakland, and/or Anchorage Oceanic, as appropriate.
      • Address any non-U.S. FIRs in accordance with ICAO Doc 4444, Procedures for Air Navigation Services — Air Traffic Management, and other published procedures.
    3. From Canada to or through U.S. Domestic Airspace
      • Address non-U.S. FIRs in accordance with ICAO Doc 4444 and other published procedures.
      • Do not address the FPL to any U.S. domestic ARTCC.
      • Address the FPL to New York, Oakland and/or Anchorage Oceanic, as appropriate.
      • Address any non-U.S. FIRs in accordance with ICAO Doc 4444 and other published procedures.
    4. International (non-Canada) to or through U.S. Domestic Airspace
      • Address FPLs to non-U.S. FIRs in accordance with ICAO Doc 4444 and other published procedures.
      • Address the FPL to the first domestic U.S. ARTCC.
      • Do not address subsequent U.S. domestic facilities.
      • Address the FPL to New York, Oakland and/or Anchorage Oceanic, as appropriate
      • Address any non-U.S. FIRs in accordance with ICAO Doc 4444 and other published procedures.
  3. Addresses to the Air Route Traffic Control Centers and to Flight Data

    NOTE-

    Messages addressed using an ARTCC flight data address (i.e., ZRZX) are not processed by the computer. Response and/or interpretation of these messages are dependent on flight data personnel action. Note: ZTZX (ATC Tower) is not used in the United States.

    1. ARTCC NADIN/AFTN Addresses
      The addressing convention used for U.S. domestic FIR/ARTCCs is as follows:
      1. KZxxZRZX addresses the message only to the facility Flight Data Unit via Aeronautical Information System Replacement (AISR).

        EXAMPLE-

        KZLCZRZX

      2. KZxxZQZX addresses the message to both Flight Data and the En Route Computer.

        EXAMPLE-

        KZLCZQZX

        NOTE-

        New York ARTCC and Oakland ARTCC require additional addresses for flights entering the Oceanic FIR. For international flight plan addressing, see ENR 7, Oceanic Operations, ENR 7.1 General Procedures, 2. Flight Plan Filing Requirements.