Delivery

General Procedures

Frankfurt Delivery is responsible for enroute and startup clearances. For all departures (IFR and VFR) Frankfurt Delivery is the first station to call. Furthermore Frankfurt Delivery has to ensure that pilots have filed a reasonable route and requested flight level (5000ft to EDDH with an A320 is not reasonable).

When IFR and startup clearance are issued, Delivery transfers the aircraft to the next responsible Apron station. If startup clearance cannot be given immediately, the pilot should be told to stay on Delivery frequency as well as the expected startup time. This procedure is often necessary during events where slots are used or during any event with heavy outbound traffic.

Mind the different initial climbs for the different SIDs and runways!

Euroscope: Delivery shall ensure that the initial climb is set and the correct SID is coded into the flightplan (very important for Center!). When issuing startup the corresponding ground state "SUG" (Startup Given) and the clearance received flag need to be set.

Events: For events Delivery has a very important role regarding the efficient traffic flow at the airport and runways. Check the usage of slots as well as the Event Coordinator article for more information. During events startup should only be issued when the outbound is ready for pushback within the next 5 minutes. Otherwise clearance can already be given and the pilot needs to report ready for startup on Delivery frequency.

SID Assignment

The runway used for departure and the corresponding SID are based on the first waypoint of a flight plan. Outbounds to the north will always use runway 25C/07C. Departures to the east, south and west will get runway 18 for departure. There is only one exception of that during 07 operations, where outbounds to the east will also use runway 07C. For aircraft parked in the southern part of the airport, runway 07R/25L can be used for departure.

The default SID designator for each runway and waypoint can be seen in the table below.

For a quick overview the Quicksheet for EDDF includes all assignment rules.

The Quicksheet includes all useful SIDs outbound EDDF, with the ones for standard operation set in bold font. For deviation from these rules, coordination between Delivery and the Tower controllers is required, as he is responsible for the departure sequences. Be advised that non-standard SIDs can create dependencies to other arrivals and departures. Departures in brackets can be cleared without prior coordination when filed or requested by a pilot.

Especially during high workload for TWR and APP default SIDs have to be used. If necessary the pilot's filed route has to be amended by Delivery (often a complete new route is required).

Departure Routes

Runway 25C/25L

M/H-Departures: Runway 25C/25L is primarily used for northbound flights. All Light and Medium as well as Heavy aircraft with 3 or 4 engines are always assigned the M/H-Departures (so called "Südumfliegung") by default. After departure they lead with a left turn towards the south before turning to the north. If these aircraft types are not able to fly this departure route (e.g. they cannot comply with the climb restriction), they need to use the F and G-Departures.

F/G-Departures: Heavies with 2 engines (including B757) will get a departure route with Designator F/G and turn directly north after take-off (deviations due to weather possible). Departures towards the south that use runway 25C/25L will also use Designator F.

W/K and N/P-Departures: W and K departures are only available for aircraft with special equipment (RNP + fixed radius) and should be used by request only. Night Departures with Designator N are available for all 3- and 4-engined Heavy and Super aircraft between 2200-0700LT. Single- and Twin-Props may use Designator P to SOBRA instead of runway 18.

Runway 07C/07R

E/D-Departures: Runway 07C/07R is used for north- and eastbound flights. Light and Medium aircraft are assigned a departure with Designator E, if available. Heavy and Super aircraft are assigned a departure with Designator D.

Between 2200-0700LT all flights towards the north and east should get Designator D due to noise abatement.

SULUS-Departures: During 07 operations departures to the east (SULUS, KOMIB) are sent only via runway 07C/07R and not via runway 18.

X/Y-Departures: Designator X and Y are only available for departures to the south and west and for aircraft with special equipment (RNP + fixed radius). They should not be used.

Runway 18

In standard configuration runway 18 is used for outbound flights to the south, west and east. SIDs with Designator S and L should be used according to the table above. S is always the shorter routing, while L is the one used if someone cannot comply with the restrictions on the S route. SIDs with designator A, U, R and T should not be used. During 07 operations runway 18 is not used for flights to the east.

Datalink Clearance (PDC/DCL)

At Frankfurt Airport we offer Datalink Clearance to the pilots throughout the Hoppie System and the Topsky Plugin. The airport code EDDF should be used (already preselected).

An example of the DCL message the pilot will receive can be seen below. It's important that the current ATIS Designator will be entered via the remarks. By default startup always needs to be approved seperately.

CLD 2042 220117 EDDF PDC 026 SAS461L CLRD TO EKCH OFF 25C VIA MARUN7M CLIMB FL070 
SQUAWK 2037 ADT MDI NEXT FREQ 121.900 ATIS H REQUEST STARTUP ON 121.900

Additional Information

Old SIDs

Over time several SIDs have been replaced. New controllers might not know the old ones that a pilot with an older AIRAC cycle could have in his database. If someone only has an outdated AIRAC cycle, the old SIDs could be used instead of a vectored departure. You will find the current equivalents in the table below.

SID Restrictions

Due to a lot of different route planning tools, some non valid routes out of Frankfurt exist. To ensure an efficient operation within the upper and lower airspace several restrictions should be met if workload permits. To solve the issue, usually a completely new route has to be filed! Therefore grd.aero-nav.com can be used. All restrictions can be found in the table below.