Classes of airspace

Australian airspace is structured similar to International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards. The aeronautical information publication (AIP) defines the different classes of airspace in Australia. The table below summarises AIP ENR 1.4:

Class	Type of flight	Separation provided	Service provided	Speed limitation	Radio communication requirements	SUBJ ATC CLR
A	IFR	All aircraft	ATC service	N/A	Continuous two-way	YES
	VFR not permitted (see AIP ENR 1.7)
C	IFR	IFR from IFR, IFR from VFR IFR from Special VFR	ATC service	250 kt below 10,000 ft AMSL, except where specified in ERSA, DAP or varied by ATC (see note 2)	Continuous two-way	YES
	VFR	VFR from IFR	ATC service for separation from IFR VFR/VFR traffic INFO (and traffic avoidance advice on request)	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	Continuous two-way	YES
	Special VFR	Special VFR from special VFR, when VIS does not meet VMC	ATC service		Continuous two-way	YES
D	IFR	IFR from IFR IFR from special VFR	ATC service, traffic information about VFR flights	200 kt IAS at or below 2500 ft AAL within 4 nm of the primary Class D aerodrome  (see note 3) 250 kt IAS  in the remaining Class D airspace	Continuous two-way	YES
	VFR	Nil	ATC service, traffic INFO on all other flights		Continuous two-way	YES
	Special VFR	Special VFR from special VFR when visibility is less than VMC	ATC service		Continuous two-way	YES
E	IFR	IFR from IFR	ATC service and traffic info on VFR flights as far as is practicable	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	Continuous two-way	YES
	VFR	Nil	FIS SIS—flight following O/R (ATC workload permit)	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	Continuous two-way	NO
G N*	Nil	FIS	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	Continuous two-way	NO
	Nil	FIS SIS—flight following O/R (ATC workload permitting)	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	VHF radio required for ops above 5000 ft AMSL and at aerodromes where carriage and use of radio is required	NO
			250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	250 kt IAS  below 10,000 ft AMSL	VHF radio required for ops in reduced VMC	NO
G S†	IFR	Nil	FIS O/R	250 kt IAS  below 10 000 ft AMSL	Continuous two-way	NO
	VFR	Nil	FIS O/R	250 kt IAS below 10,000 ft AMSL	Nil	NO

Notes

• if a radio is fitted to an aircraft it must be serviceable even though the carriage of a radio may
  not be mandatory
• N* = on and north of 65° south
• S† = south of 65° south
• ATC can vary the speed at their discretion.