Airway (aviation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In aviation, an airway is a designated route in the air. Airways are laid-out between navigation aids such as VORs and NDBs (NDB-based airways are rare in the United States, but are more common in much of the rest of the world).
In the United States low altitude airways (below 18,000 feet [5,500 m] MSL), appear on sectional, world aeronautical charts and enroute low altitude charts and are designated by the letter "V" (pronounced Victor, hence Victor airways). High altitude airways (above 18,000 ft [5,500 m] MSL), called jetways, appear on high altitude charts (that usually don't show topography, as the low altitude charts do) and are designated by the letter "J".
In Europe, Airways are corridors 10 nautical miles (19 km) wide of controlled airspace with a defined lower base, extending to FL245. They link the major airports giving protection to IFR flights during the climb and descent phases, and often for non-jet aircraft, cruise phases of flight. Historically they were laid out between VORs, however advances in navigational technology mean that nowadays this is not always the case. Like roads, each airway has a designator containing one letter and one to three numbers. All airspace above FL245 is class C controlled airspace, the equivalent to airways being called Upper Air Routes and have designators prefixed with a U. If an upper air route follows the same track as an airway its designator will be identical to the airway, prefixed with a U.
