Flight Information Regions

Flight Information Regions (FIR) is a specified region of airspace in which a flight information service, an alerting service (ALRS), and an area control centre are provided.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) delegates which country is responsible for the operational control of a given Flight Information Regions. Flight Information Regionss are the largest regular division of airspace in use in the Earth today, and have existed at least since 1947.

Smaller countries' airspace is encompassed by a single FIR; larger countries' airspace is subdivided into a number of regional Flight Information Regionss.45

Some Flight Information Regionss encompass the territorial airspace of several countries. Oceanic airspace is divided into oceanic Flight Information Regionss and delegated to a controlling authority bordering that region. The division among authorities is done by international agreement through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).