The North Atlantic (NAT) Region

MNPS
The North Atlantic (NAT) Regio

The North Atlantic Region encompasses virtually all of the
non-domestic airspace over the Atlantic Ocean between
roughly 20° north latitude and the North Pole except the
airspace of New York Oceanic West. It is divided into a
total of seven Oceanic Control Areas (OCAs) / Flight
Information Regions (FIRs). These OCAs / FIRs are as
follows
• Nuuk BGGL FIR (airspace above FL195 south of
63°30" N is controlled by Gander, north of that latitude
is controlled by Reykjavik and is considered part of
their respective control area
• Reykjavik OCA / BIRD FI
• Bodø Oceanic ENOB FIR / Bodø OCA (above FL195
• Gander OCA / CZQX FI
• Shanwick OCA / EGGX FI
• New York Oceanic East OCA / KZWY FI
• Santa Maria OCA / LPPO FI
Embedded within the North Atlantic Region are a number
of domestic CTAs / TMAs including
• Reykjavik (Iceland
• Santa Maria (The Azores
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Separatio
Separation within NAT airspace is procedural and is based
on altitude, distance and time.Vertical separation of 1000'
is provided between FL60 and FL280 as well as in the
Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum airspace. Flights
above FL410 will be separated by 2000' vertically
Lateral separation is distance based and is approximately
one degree of latitude. Performance Based
Communications and Surveillance (PBCS) tracks (formerly
Reduced Lateral Separation Minimum (RLatSM) tracks)
allow suitably equipped, certi ed and authorised aircraft to
y tracks separated by half of one degree
Longitudinal separation between subsequent aircraft

following the same track (in-trail) and between aircraft on
intersecting tracks is time-based and is thus expressed in
clock minutes. The standard time interval between aircraft
following the same route with the same assigned speed is
10 minutes. That time interval wil be adjusted to
accommodate aircraft with different speed assignments,
shorter if the leading aircraft is faster and longer if the
leading aircraft is slower. Aircraft separation is assessed in
terms of differences between the respectie ATAs / ETAs at
common points. The maintenance of in-trail separations is
aided by the application of the Mach Number Technique in
which jet aircraft are assigned a speci c mach number as
part of their clearance. However, aircraft clock errors
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resulting in waypoint ATA and ETA errors in position

reports can lead to an erosion of actual longitudinal
separations between aircraft. It is thus vitally important
that the time-keeping device intended to be used to
indicate waypoint passing times is accurate, and is
synchronised to an acceptable UTC time signal before
commencing ight in NAT airspace
Operation of Transponder
Transponders should be operated at all times while in

North Atlantic (NAT) region and set to squawk Code 2000.
However, the last ATC assigned code must be retained for
a period of 30 minutes after entry into NAT airspace unless
otherwise directed by ATC. One exception to this
requirement should be noted. Because of the limited time
spent in the NAT HLA airspace when ying on Route
Tango 9 (across the Bay of Biscay just west of the BOTA
boundary), the change from the last assigned domestic
code to Code 2000 should be made northbound 10
minutes after passing BEGAS and southbound 10 minutes
after passing LASNO
These procedures in no way affect the use of the special
purpose codes 7500, 7600 and 7700
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High Level Airspace (HLA
A large portion of the airspace of the North Atlantic
Region, between FLs 285 and 420 inclusive, is designated
as the NAT High Level Airspace (NAT HLA). Until February
2016, most of this airspace was designated Minimum
Navigation Performance Standards (MNPS) airspace. The
re-designation from MNPS to HLA is in keeping with the
transition from capability based (MNPS) to Performance
Based Navigation (PBN) in this segment of the NAT
airspace. The lateral dimensions of the HLA include
Gander, Reykjavik, Bodø Oceanic, Shanwick (except the
Shannon Oceanic Transition Area (SOTA) and Brest
Oceanic Transition Area (BOTA)), Santa Maria Oceanic
and that portion of New York Oceanic East that is north of
27° N. Within this airspace a formal Approval Process by
the State of Registry of the aircraft or the State of the
Operator ensures that aircraft meet de ned NAT HLA
Standards and that appropriate crew procedures and
training have been adopted. HLA Standards include the
requirement for two approved independent Long Range
Navigation Systems (LRNS). It should be noted that State
Approvals for NAT MNPS operations granted prior to 04
February 2016 will be valid for NAT HLA operations with
the exception that those Approvals issued prior to 01
January 2015 and based upon the earlier “6.3 NMs”
MNPS standard, will not be valid beyond January 2020
The unique, unidirectional, exible track structure of the
North Atlantic Organised Track System (NAT OTS) is
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located within HLA, predominantly in the Gander and

Shanwick Oceanic CTAs
Provisions for Aircraft Not

Meeting HLA / MNPS Criteri
Aircraft not meeting the navigation requirements for HLA
airspace can choose to y above FL420 or below FL285.
Additionally, within the HLA, special routes, referred to as
"Blue Spruce Routes", have been designated for aircraft
equipped with only one LRNS plus normal short-range
navigation equipment (VOR, DME, ADF), which require to
cross the North Atlantic between Europe and North
America (or vice versa). As these routes are within NAT
HLA Airspace, State approval must be obtained prior to
ying along them. These routes are also available for
interim use by aircraft normally approved for unrestricted
NAT HLA operations that have suffered a partial loss of
navigation capability and have only a single remaining
functional LRNS
Data Link Mandated Airspac

The rst phase of the mandate for data link services in the
North Atlantic (NAT) region commenced 7 February 2013.
As of that date, all aircraft operating on or at any point
along two speci ed tracks within the NAT OTS between FL
360 to FL 390 (inclusive) during the OTS validity period
were required to be tted with, and using, Controller Pilot
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Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and Automatic

Dependent Surveillance - Contract (ADS-C)
Phase 2A of the ICAO NAT Region Data Link Mandate
was implemented on 05 February 2015. In this phase the
CPDLC / ADS-C mandated airspace includes all OTS
tracks at FL 350 to FL 390, inclusive. To ight plan or y in
the altitude band FL 350-390 inclusive on any OTS track,
aircraft must be equipped with and operating FANS 1/A or
equivalent CPDLC and ADS-C
Phase 2B, commencing 7 December 2017, expanded
CPCLC / ADS-C mandated airspace to include FL 350 to
FL 390 (inclusive) throughout the ICAO NAT region
Phase 2C, commencing 30 January 2020, further expands
CPCLC / ADS-C mandated airspace to include FL 290 and
above throughout the ICAO NAT region
With full implementation of Data Link Mandated Airspace,
there will be a corridor, in the same geographic area as
the current Blue Spruce Routes, for aircraft not equipped
with CPDLC / ADS-C. Aircraft using this corridor will,
however, require Automatic Dependent Surveillance -
Broadcast (ADS-B) equipment.
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The North Atlantic (NAT) Region

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MNPS

The North Atlantic (NAT) Regio

Longitudinal separation between subsequent aircraft

resulting in waypoint ATA and ETA errors in position

Transponders should be operated at all times while in

located within HLA, predominantly in the Gander and

Provisions for Aircraft Not

Data Link Mandated Airspac

Data Link Communications (CPDLC) and Automatic

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