ESPAÑA

1. OBJECT

The purpose of this AIC is to inform Spanish airspace users of the changes that will take place in the Air Traffic Services Reporting Offices (AROs) of most Spanish airports.

2. CONTEXT

The ATS Reporting Offices (ARO) are in charge of receiving reports concerning air traffic services, providing flight plan management services, flight monitoring and alerting services.

This set is hereinafter referred to as the ARO service . Currently, AROs can be located at the aerodromes they serve or at the Centralized ARO. For cases of aerodromes and heliports that do not have an ARO in the AD, this service is provided from another ARO to which they have been assigned, as indicated in ENR 1.10.

Currently, the ARO service in Spain is provided by different entities:

• AENA: at aerodromes in the AENA network and assigned aerodromes.

• Air Force : at military aerodromes and assigned aerodromes.

• ENAIRE: at certain aerodromes in the AENA network and other assigned aerodromes.

• Others: at airports not operated by AENA (Andorra/La Seu d'Urgell, Castellón, etc.).

This change involves a transition from the current operational scenario where the AROs are physically located in the airports of the AENA network, to another operational scenario where ENAIRE will provide the ARO service centrally, from a single office, for 42 airports in the AENA network and their assigned aerodromes and heliports (currently listed in the AIP ENR 1.10).

This Centralized ARO will be located at the Madrid ACC, in Torrejón de Ardoz.

3. AREA OF APPLICATION

The following table lists the Aena ARO offices that will cease to provide ARO services following this change:

4. MODE OF OPERATION OF THE CENTRALIZED ARO

The airports of the AENA network and their assigned aerodromes and heliports will be grouped into geographical zones covering aerodromes that are geographically close to each other.

Each Centralized ARO Technician will be assigned the ARO service of one or more geographical areas. Each geographical area will have a different contact number so that calls may be routed to the technician providing the ARO service for that specific area.

The following table shows the geographical zones that have been defined and the airports contained in each of them:

Note:  The aerodromes and heliports currently under the responsibility of each Airport in this table (listed in AIP ENR 1.10) will be included in the same geographical area to which the Airport belongs.

The contact details for each geographical area are as follows:

Means of submitting FPL and associated messages to the Centralized ARO:

a) Prior to departure:

• Through the ENAIRE website  https://notampib.enaire.es/icaro/ . (1).

• Through an ICARO client. (1).

• By telephone.

• Via AFTN (Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network). (2).

• Other means as determined by the IFPS.

• Other means as instructed by the appropriate ATS authority.

b) During the flight:

• By radio to the appropriate air traffic services unit.

(1) When submitting a flight plan or associated message through the ENAIRE website or through an ICARO client, the "CENTRALIZED ARO" shall be selected as the ARO office.

(2) The AFTN addresses for sending flight plan messages or associated messages are as follows: 

• For Airports within the AENA network: to the ARO address of each airport (ICAO code of the airport of origin followed by ZPZX).

• For aerodromes and heliports without a designated ARO and listed in ENR 1.10: to the AFTN address of the CENTRALIZED ARO (LEANZPZX).

Changes with the mode of operation of the Centralized ARO

I. The ARO service will no longer be provided in person at the current AENA AROs and therefore no FPL or associated messages may be submitted in person.

II. The current AENA ARO terminals granting access to ICARO XXI in order to submit FPLs or associated messages will be removed.

III. Flight plans can no longer be submitted via FAX.

IV. The Centralized ARO provide service 24H.

V. At Airports where the ATS service schedule does not cover all Airport operating hours, the pilot shall report the flight departure or arrival to the Centralized ARO office, when these occur outside the ATS schedule.

5. PHASES AND DEADLINES FOR THE CHANGEOVER

The transfer of the ARO service from AENA to the Centralized ARO will be carried out in several phases in order to ensure its continuity. During each phase, a group of ARO offices will be transferred, and each ARO will be transferred on a different day within that period.
The following table displays the ARO offices to be taken over by the Centralized ARO in each phase and the scheduled dates for each phase.

6. PUBLICATION OF USER INFORMATION

The AIP information will be kept up to date by the means available for this purpose (AMDT/NOTAM/SUPPLEMENT).