ENR 1 GENERAL RULES AND PROCEDURES

ENR 1.1 GENERAL RULES

 
 

ENR 1.1.1 General

The air traffic rules and procedures for Air Navigation Services within Reykjavík FIR/CTA that conform with regulations 770/2010, 787/2010, Annexes 2 and 11 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and to those portions, applicable to aircraft, of the Procedures for Air
Navigation Services - Rules of the Air and Air Traffic Services, and the Regional Supplementary Procedures applicable to the NAT Region.
See section GEN 3.3 for general information on Air Traffic Services (ATS) Provision.

See section ENR 1.8 for Supplementary Information for Reykjavik CTA published in ICAO Doc 7030.

ENR 1.1.2 Minimum safe altitude

General:

Except when necessary for take-off or landing, or except by permission from The Icelandic Transport Authority, aircraft shall not be flown over the congested areas of cities, towns or settlements or over an open-air assembly of persons, unless at such a height as will permit, in the event of an emergency arising, a landing to be made without undue hazard to persons or property on the surface.
VFR:

Except when necessary for take-off or landing, or except by permission from The Icelandic Transport Authority a VFR flight shall not be flown:
  1. over the congested areas of cities, towns or settlements or over an open-air assembly of persons at a height less than 1 000 ft above the highest obstacle within a radius of 600 m from the aircraft;
  2. elsewhere than as specified in a) above, at a height less than 500 ft above the ground or water.
IFR:

Except when necessary for take-off or landing, or except when specifically authorized by The Icelandic Transport Authority, an IFR flight shall be flown at a level which is not below the minimum flight altitude established on charts in this handbook.

The Icelandic Transport Authority may grant exemptions for flights conducted for special purposes.

ENR 1.1.3 Dropping of objects

Nothing shall be dropped or sprayed from an aircraft in flight except with permission from The Icelandic Transport Authority and as indicated by relevant information, advice or clearance from Isavia ANS.

ENR 1.1.4 Acrobatic flying

No aircraft shall be flown acrobatically except under conditions prescribed in Icelandic regulations and as indicated by relevant information, advice or clearance from Isavia ANS.

ENR 1.1.5 Skydiving

No skydiving shall be performed except under conditions prescribed in Icelandic regulations and as indicated by relevant information, advice or clearance from Isavia ANS.

ENR 1.1.6 Towing and advertising flights

No aircraft or other object shall be towed by an aircraft, except in accordance with an approval from Isavia ANS.

Permission shall be granted only if:
  1. the pilot holds the rating for towing;
  2. the aircraft is equipped with a calibrated barograph for recording altitudes during flight
  3. during the proposed flight not more than three aircraft are flying in formation, in which case a distance of at least 60 m shall be maintained both between the towed object of the preceding aircraft and the following aircraft, as well as between the aircraft;
  4. the legal liability insurance also explicitly covers the towing of objects.
The above applies to the towing of objects for advertising purposes and subpara. 2. does not apply to aerial work of rotor-craft. Towing of gliders does not require permission, as the rating for towing will suffice.

ENR 1.1.7 Times and units of measurement

In aviation Co-ordinated Universal Time (UTC) is used and units of measurement in accordance with the International System of Units (SI).

ENR 1.1.8 Airspace structure

The Icelandic Transport Authority establishes the classification of airspace on the basis of the classification described in ENR 1.4.

Within controlled airspace VFR flights may be prohibited completely or partly by the air traffic services with regard to limitation of space and time if urgently required by the degree of intensity of air traffic subject to air traffic control.

ENR 1.1.9 Prohibited areas and flight restrictions

The Icelandic Transport Authority establishes prohibited and restricted areas, if necessary, for the prevention of danger to public safety or order, especially for the safety of air traffic. The areas concerned are published in the AIP.

ENR 1.1.10 Balloons, kites and remotely piloted aircraft (drones or model aircraft)

An unmanned free balloon shall not be operated without a permission from The Icelandic Transport Authority. An unmanned free balloon shall be operated in such a manner as to minimize hazards to persons, property or other aircraft and in accordance with the conditions specified in appendix 4 to the Icelandic regulation 770/2010 on flight rules.
Rules on flight of remotely piloted aircraft (drones or aircraft models) can be found in Regulation No. 990/2017 on the operation of remotely piloted aircraft. The regulation distinguishes between flight of remotely piloted aircraft for leisure or professional purpose, but specific requirements apply to the operations of remotely piloted aircraft when used for professional purpose.
Following are general restrictions on the flight of remotely piloted aircraft (drones or aircraft models) according to the Regulation, but further requirements for the flight of remotely piloted aircraft (drones or aircraft models) are stipulated in the Regulation.
It is prohibited to fly a remotely piloted aircraft over crowds of people.
Within urban areas, remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) that is being flown for leisure may weigh a maximum of 3 kg.
Without consent from the owner, caretaker or residents´ association, remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) may not be flown closer to residential buildings or premises, than 50 meters.
In areas outside urban areas, remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) weighing a maximum of 25 kg may be flown. Without consent from the owner or caretaker, remotely piloted aircraft may not be flown closer to summer houses, residential buildings or premises outside urban areas, than 150 meters.
The instructions, restrictions and prohibition by air traffic services, police, the Icelandic Coast Guard, the Icelandic Transport Authority and other authorities on flights of remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) in specific areas shall be followed, including restrictions of flights within protected areas based on the Nature Conservation Act or on the basis of special acts that may apply to the area concerned.
All air traffic as well as other traffic shall be taken into account. Airspace shall be monitored where remote piloted flights (drone or aircraft model) take place so that the flight can be stopped or diverted if manned aircraft approaches the space. At the same time, care shall be taken that flights will not interfere with any other traffic such as ships or vehicles and not impair the attention of pilots or other persons on board. Remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) shall keep out of the way of other traffic and may not be used to affect other traffic.
It is prohibited to fly a remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) at an altitude greater than 120 m above the ground or sea.

It is prohibited to fly within 150 meters from public buildings such as Parliament, the President's Residence, ministries, police stations and prisons.

A permit from the airport operator is required for flying a remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) within an aerodrome area.
A permit from Isavia is required for flying a remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) within:
  1. 2 km from Keflavik Airport, Reykjavik Airport, Akureyri Airport and Egilsstadir Airport;
  2. 1.5 km from the boundary of other airports with scheduled air transport.
with the exception that flights may be operated below the height of the highest structures in the immediate vicinity of the flight trajectory of the aircraft.

Application for permission shall be filed on the Isavia website.
Extreme caution and care shall be exercised in the proximity of other aerodromes and landing and take-off areas. Remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) shall always make way for other air traffic. Information on boundaries of runways and scheduled air service airports can be found on the website of the Icelandic Transport Authority.
Remotely piloted aircraft flights (drone or aircraft model) shall always be conducted within the visual line of sight of a remote pilot or an RPA observer of a remotely piloted aircraft. However, a remotely piloted aircraft (drone or aircraft model) weighing less than 3 kg may be flown out of line of sight of a remote pilot in case of flights outside urban and habited areas provided that spacing is ensured and provided that the flight does not threaten persons, animals and manned aircraft or causes damage to property or disruption to bird colonies or wildlife habitats.
The Icelandic Transport Authority issues permits and exemptions for the operations of non-recreational, remotely piloted aircraft, according to Regulation No 990/2017.
Application for permission or exemptions for the operations of non-recreational, remotely piloted aircraft shall be filed on the Icetra website.

ENR 1.1.11 Microlight operations

Microlight flying is only allowed in accordance with regulation 770/2010 on flight rules and regluation 779/2007 on microlight procedures and the following conditions:
  1. the pilot has visual contact with the ground;
  2. from sunrise to sunset;
  3. flying over cities, other densely populated areas and assemblies of persons is prohibited;
  4. flying so as it will cause danger to people or property is prohibited, dropping or distributing objects or other substances from microlight causing danger to people or property is prohibited;
  5. flying within controlled airspace is only allowed with special approval from the appropriate ATS authority. Flying within 5 NM radius of an aerodrome with ATS service requires coordination with the ATS service at that aerodrome. Information on air traffic service airspace: ENR 2.1.
     
Special procedures for microlight operations around airports are to be found in AD 2.20 for the relevant airport.

ENR 1.1.12 Supersonic flight

Supersonic flight is prohibited within BIRD FIR as follows:
  1. Over land and within 12 NM from the base line of the Icelandic territorial waters, below FL300.
  2. Over sea outside 12 NM, below FL150.

ENR 1.1.13 Formation flights

The Reykjavík OACC is the central coordinating agency of the IFR airspace reservation service.

Agencies planning to use this service must file an APREQ with the Reykjavík OACC via e-mail acc@isavia.is with 24 hours prior notice.
Aircraft shall not be flown in formation except by pre- arrangement among the pilots-in-command of the aircraft taking part in the flight and, for formation flight in controlled airspace, in accordance with the following:
  1. the formation operates as a single aircraft with regard to navigation and position reporting;
  2. separation between aircraft in the flight shall be the responsibility of the flight leader and the pilots-in- command of the other aircraft in the flight and shall include periods of transition when aircraft are manoeuvring to attain their own separation within the formation and during join-up and breakaway; and
  3. a distance not exceeding 0.5 NM laterally and longitudinally and 100 ft vertically from the flight leader shall be maintained by each aircraft.
Flight planning shall be in accordance with AIP ENR 1.8.3.1.3.4   regarding number and type of aircraft.