# IFR Flight Planning

> Route planning, altitude selection, and chart usage for Instrument Flight Rules (IFR).

- **Subject:** 033 — Flight Planning Monitoring
- **Section:** 033-02 — Flight Planning for IFR Flights
- **Topic code:** 033-02-01
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-04-01
- **Author:** Pablo Asensio Martínez
- **HTML version:** https://pilotsyllabus.com/en/flight-planning-monitoring/flight-planning-for-ifr-flights/ifr-navigation-plan/

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## Route Selection (Airways)

IFR flights typically follow a network of ATS routes (Airways):
*   **Upper Airways**: High altitude routes (e.g., above FL195 or FL245).
*   **Lower Airways**: Low altitude routes.
*   **RNAV/RNP Routes**: Require specific navigational performance (e.g., RNP 1, RNP 5).

## Minimum Flight Altitudes
Charts publish safety altitudes to ensure terrain clearance and navigation signal reception:
*   **MEA (Minimum En-route Altitude)**: Ensures obstacle clearance and NAVAID reception.
*   **MOCA (Minimum Obstacle Clearance Altitude)**: Ensures obstacle clearance only (NAVAID range may be limited to 22 NM).
*   **Mora (Minimum Off-Route Altitude)**: Grid MORA provides clearance within a lat/long grid square.

## Cruising Levels (RVSM)

Altitudes are allocated based on current RVSM (Reduced Vertical Separation Minima) rules for tracks 000-179 (East) and 180-359 (West).
*   **East**: FL 290, 310, 330, 350, 370, 390, 410.
*   **West**: FL 300, 320, 340, 360, 380, 400, 430.
*   Use of Flight Levels (Standard Pressure 1013.25 hPa) typically applies above the Transition Altitude.

## Charts

![IFR Enroute Chart](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4d/Airway_on_the_enroute_chart.jpg)

*   **En-route Charts**: Show airways, waypoints, distances, reporting points, and restricted areas.
*   **SID/STAR Charts**: Standard Instrument Departures and Standard Terminal Arrival Routes connecting the airport to the en-route phase.
*   **Instrument Approach Charts**: Detailed procedures for landing (ILS, VOR, RNP).

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Free study notes from pilotsyllabus.com. Not a substitute for training at an approved ATO.