The ICAO / EASA framework provides 7 airspaces definition common throughout ICAO / EASA countries.
You may find here a definition of all airspaces and the services provided in each one of them
IMPORTANT TO KNOW for Switzerland
- G Airspace is a layer of 2000ft AGL
- C Airspace starts at FL100 in the mainland and FL 130 in the alpine region
- Military ON, then the C Airspace starts at FL130
- Military OFF, then the C Airspace starts at FL150
(1) : General speed limit is 250kts IAS enforced below FL100 (10’000ft)
(2) : Separation as far as practical
(3) : Service to participating IFR traffic only (non participating IFR to file FP and maintain 2-way comms)
(4) : Radar information / advice may be provided to augment FIS in CAS
(5) : Not used in Switzerland
Schematic Overview of the different airspaces
Source: DFS
Class | Rules | Service | Clearance | Separation | FIS | Speed Limit (1) | Radio Watch | CTR SVFR |
A | IFR only | ATC | YES | ALL | NO | YES | YES | |
B | IFR | ATC | YES | ALL | NO | YES | YES | |
VFR | ||||||||
C | IFR | ATC | YES | IFR – IFR | NO | YES | YES | |
IFR – VFR | ||||||||
VFR | ATC | VFR – IFR | YES | |||||
FIS | VFR – VFR | |||||||
D | IFR | ATC | YES | IFR – IFR | YES | YES | YES | |
FIS (4) | IFR – VFR | |||||||
VFR | VFR – IFR | |||||||
VFR – VFR | ||||||||
E | IFR | ATC | YES | IFR – IFR | YES | YES | NO (2) | |
FIS | IFR – VFR | |||||||
VFR | NO | VFR – IFR | NO | |||||
VFR – VFR | ||||||||
F | IFR | ADV ATC | NO | IFR – IFR (3) | ALL | YES | YES | NO |
IFR | FIS | YES | ||||||
VFR | NO | |||||||
G | IFR | FIS | NO | NONE | ALL | YES | YES | NO |