GUIDE TO FLIGHT PLAN COMPLETION (FPL MESSAGES) IN

ICARO XXI FOR UAS OPERATIONS

Version 2.5

This guide explains how to complete a Flight Plan or FPL for UAS operations which, pursuant to
applicable legislation, shall be submitted mandatorily for any flight in controlled airspace and,
optionally, in uncontrolled airspace. The provisions of ENR 1.10 AIP SPAIN regarding the submission
and acceptance of flight plans shall also be taken into account. The use of the ICARO XXI system,
accessible via the Internet, is considered for this guide.

In order to enter a Flight Plan or FPL message, the UAS Operator must have a username and password
to access ICARO XXI, to which end the "PV Internet"1 functionality necessary for its completion must
have been previously requested from the AIS (ENAIRE Aeronautical Information Service).

1
We recommend the use of Chrome as the Internet browser for ICARO XXI or the use of the mobile application.

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It is very important to enter the information exactly as indicated throughout the guide in order
for the Flight Plan to be accepted by the system.

NOTE: In the event that the operation of the drone involves several flights or involves ground refuelling
or battery recharging or exchange operations, the same Flight Plan may be used for said operations
provided that the duration of such grounding does not exceed 20 minutes. If the day of flight (DOF) is
the same, it is important to remember that the ARCID field of Item 7 must be different. It should also
be noted that, according to the AIP Spain publication in force, the flight plan may be submitted up to
120 hours (5 days) before the EOBT (liftoff or takeoff time in the case of a UAS flight).

ITEM 7 (Indicative):
The flight call sign2 (not to be confused with the telephony call sign or designator, which may or may
not coincide with the flight call sign) may be the aircraft registration number in the case of UAS
registered in the Civil Aircraft Registration Register, or the flight call sign chosen by the UAS Operator
in the Aeronautical Safety Study (EAS/EARO) coordinated with the ENAIRE Safety Division.
NOTE: Whenever several flight plans are submitted, different ARCIDs shall be indicated. For
example: Flight plan 1 with call sign ARGOS01, Flight plan 2 with call sign ARGOS02, etc.

ITEM 8 (Flight Rules and Type of Flight):

 We will enter the corresponding flight rules which, as a general rule, shall be visual flight rules
(VFR), due to which said item shall contain the letter V.
 As regards type of flight, said item shall generally contain the letter G, corresponding to a
general aviation operation.

2
The UAS Flight Call Sign shall contain a maximum of 7 characters, of which the first 3 to 6 characters must be letters of the
English alphabet designating the UAS Operator and the last 1 to 2 characters must be a numerical figure between 1 and 99
designating the flight number.

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ITEM 9 (Aircraft):
 No.: In this field we will enter the UAS number, which will generally be 1.
 Type: Indicate One of the following ICAO designators3 for UAS, FFLO4 (fixed wing) o VFHC5
(rotary wing and VTOL), which requires providing additional information in ITEM 18, as
explained below.
 Wake: In all cases of UAS with MTOM <150 kg6 it will be a light wake, due to which we will enter
L in this field.

ITEM 10 (Equipment and Capacities):

 COM Equipment: We will enter V, which corresponds to the availability of VHF (V) aeronautical
band communications equipment, as required for operations in controlled airspace.
 SSR Equipment: Indicate the SSR equipment with which the aircraft is equipped. If none is
available, we will enter N.
 ADS Equipment: It can be left empty or, if ADS equipment is available, we will indicate what
type it is.

ITEM 13 (Departure):
 ADEP: Considering the special characteristics of UASs, when departing from a location that
does not correspond to an aerodrome with an ICAO code listed in Doc 7910, we will enter ZZZZ
in this item.

3
ICAO Document 8643, Aircraft Type Designators, Special Designators.
4
Forward flight lift only
5
Vertical flight and hover capability
6
For drones with MTOM >150 kg, we will enter the wake type pursuant to ICAO document 4444, Procedures for Air Navigation
Services. L: 7,000 kg or less. M: less than 136,000 kg and more than 7,000 kg. H: 136,000 kg or less.

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 EOBT: UAS liftoff/takeoff time (ATTENTION: indicate UTC time, not local time).
 ARO Office: By entering ZZZZ in the previous ADEP field, we must also enter a simple Postal
Address or geographical reference nearest to the location where UAS liftoff/takeoff will take
place in the DEP field of ITEM 18.

Upon completing the DEP field, a pop-up window like the one below allows the UAS Operator to
designate the ARO Office to which the FPL message will be sent for acceptance, modification or
rejection.

To select the ARO office to which we want the Flight Plan to be sent for validation, select the ARO office
corresponding to the area over which most of the operation will take place from the drop-down menu
according to the following distribution:
 GCFV Office: Island of Fuenteventura and its vicinity
 GCGM Office: Island of La Gomera and its vicinity
 GCHI Office: Island of El Hierro and its vicinity
 GCLA Office: Island of La Palma and its vicinity
 GCLP Office: Island of Gran Canaria and its vicinity
 GCRR Office: Island of Lanzarote and its vicinity
 GCTS Office: Island of Tenerife and its vicinity
 GECE Office: Ceuta and its vicinity
 GEML Office: Melilla and its vicinity

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 LEAB Office: Provinces of Albacete and Cuenca

 LEAL Office: Province of Alicante
 LEAM Office: Province of Almeria
 LEAS Office: Autonomous Community of Asturias
 LEBA Office: Province of Cordoba
 LEBB Office: Province of Vizcaya
 LEBG Office: Provinces of Burgos and Palencia
 LEBZ Office: Provinces of Badajoz and Caceres
 LECH Office: Province of Castellon
 LECU Office: Provinces of Avila, Guadalajara, Madrid, Segovia and Toledo
 LEDA Office: Province of Lerida
 LEGE Office: Province of Gerona
 LEGR Office: Provinces of Granada and Jaen
 LEHC Office: Province of Huesca
 LEIB Office: Island of Ibiza and its vicinity
 LEJR Office: Province of Cadiz
 LELL Office: Province of Barcelona
 LELN Office: Province of Leon
 LEMG Office: Province of Malaga
 LEMH Office: Island of Menorca and its vicinity
 LEPA Office: Island of Mallorca and its vicinity
 LEPP Office: Province of Navarre
 LEMI Office: Province of Murcia
 LERJ Office: Autonomous Community of La Rioja and province of Soria
 LERL Office: Province of Ciudad Real
 LERS Office: Province of Tarragona
 LESA Office: Provinces of Salamanca and Zamora
 LESO Office: Province of Guipuzcoa
 LEST Office: Provinces of La Coruña and Lugo
 LEVC Office: Provinces of Teruel and Valencia

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 LEVD Office: Province of Valladolid

 LEVT Office: Province of Alava
 LEVX Office: Provinces of Orense and Pontevedra
 LEXJ Office: Autonomous Community of Cantabria
 LEZG Office: Province of Zaragoza
 LEZL Office: Provinces of Huelva and Seville

Once the ARO Office to which the FPL message will be sent has been selected,

ITEM13 of the FPL will be completed.

Likewise, the UAS Operator must notify the corresponding ARO office of the end of the flight by
telephone, similarly to VFR operations, to prevent the Alert Service's actions from being triggered.
NOTE: The ARO offices at each aerodrome have defined opening hours and these are not always 24h7.
This must be taken into account when planning the flight and when completing and sending the FPL
message sufficiently in advance, as it will be the staff of these ARO offices, working during the opening
hours of their specific ARO office, who will review and accept the Flight Plan, validating the FPL
message sent by the UAS Operator. Therefore, regardless of the minimum advance time with respect
to the EOBT with which it is officially possible to send a Flight Plan or FPL message for validation, the
particular opening hours of the recipient ARO office must be considered, since the ARO office will not
process or validate flight plans outside its opening hours. Therefore, in the event that a Flight Plan
needs to be finalised and the office is closed, the nearest operational office should be contacted. For
example: The Madrid-Cuatro Vientos (LECU) ARO office has the same opening hours as said aerodrome:

7
The opening hours of the ARO offices are available in the AIP, under the AD (aerodrome) section.

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ITEM 16 (Alternative Destination and Aerodromes):

 ADES: Similarly to ITEM 13, if no arrival is made at an aerodrome with its own ICAO code listed
in ICAO Doc 7910, we will enter ZZZZ in this item.
By entering ZZZZ in this ADES field, you must also complete the DEST field of ITEM 18 by
entering a simple Postal Address or geographical reference nearest to the location where the
descent/landing of the UAS will take place. This will normally be the same reference as the one
entered in the DEP field.

 EET Total: Total duration of the flight/operation in hh:mm format

 ALTN: In general, an alternate destination aerodrome for the operation of a VFR flight should
not be entered, due to which this field may be left empty.

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ITEM 15 (Route):
 Speed: Average speed of the UAS in kilometres/hour format (e.g.: K0040 is 40 km/h) or in knots
(e.g.: N0175 is 175 knots TAS)
 Level: One of the following options may be considered:
o Flight level with the letter F (e.g.: F095 stands for flight level 95)
o Standardised metric level in tens of metres with the letter S8 (e.g.: S0012 stands for 120
metres AGL)
o Altitude in hundreds of feet with the letter A (e.g.: A065 stands for altitude of 6,500 ft)
o Altitude in tens of metres with the letter M (e.g.: M0045 stands for altitude of 450 m)
 Route: In the Route field, if no points, routes, aerodromes and/or radio aids declared in AIP are
to be overflown, we will enter a succession of at least 4 points of a closed polygon (the first and
last point must be the same) of the minimum possible extension or area covering the entire
UAS operation zone.
The points will be entered in geographical coordinates separated by blank spaces and using the
following format:
o 4 digits indicating latitude in degrees and minutes (it is not possible to enter seconds)
o The letter "N" or "S", whichever corresponds to latitude
o 5 digits indicating longitude in degrees and minutes (it is not possible to enter seconds),
filling in zeros where necessary
o The letter "W" or "E", whichever corresponds to longitude
o The first of the points designated in the Route field shall be followed by "/Hhhmm,
where hhmm is the EOBT itself (see ITEM 13)
For example: "Cerro del Telégrafo", in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, can be covered by a rectangle defined
by:
4022N00332W/H1300 4022N00331W 4021N00331W 4021N00332W 4022N00332W

8
This will be the preferred system for entering the maximum AGL of the UAS operation and shall never exceed the value
contained in the Operator's coordinated and authorised Aeronautical Safety Study.

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The area of the polygon defined by these Route points (in the example, a rectangle given by 5 points,
where the first and last coincide) will appear drawn on the ATC controller screen, hence the importance
of defining it correctly. Since the accuracy of the Route field is not accurate to arc seconds, but only to
minutes, the area depicted cannot exceed an accuracy of 1.8 km (1 nautical mile) on a map of the Earth's
surface. This, however, is sufficient for the ATC controller to know the location where the UAS operation
is taking place and to be able to measure distances from it to other traffic that is equipped with a
transponder and visible on its radar screen.

Other standard ICAO nomenclatures, such as distance and course to a VOR station or to a given point,
are also permitted for the Route. Passing altitudes and times may also be recorded at each point along
the route, as for any flight other than a UAS flight. In the event that alerts are generated by the ICARO
XXI interface indicating that the route is incorrect, these alerts can be ignored and proceed with the
creation of the Flight Plan. Alternatively, the times of passage at points along the route can be
dispensed with, which will avoid the occurrence of such alerts.

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ITEM 18 (Other Data): The items that must be completed for UAS operations are listed below:
 DEP: Already mentioned in ITEM 13.
 DEST: Already mentioned in ITEM 13.
 OPR: Full name of the UAS Operator responsible for the operation. It must coincide with the
name appearing in the list of UAS Operators authorised by AESA.
 TYP: We must enter the type of aircraft in question and its MTOM, in clear text, selecting one of
the following three options:
o UAS MULTICOPTER DRONE MTOM
o UAS FIXED-WING DRONE MTOM
o UAS VTOL DRONE MTOM
 RMK: This field shall contain everything related to the operational Flight Plan that helps to
identify its working area, as well as the development of the operation as such. This field is
limited to 400 characters in ICARO XXI and additionally applies an AFTN restriction of 69
characters per line. The type of mission, drone weight, ATS provider reference assigned to
the operation and, where applicable and available, the associated NOTAM shall be indicated.
Example of RMK: UAS FILMING MTOM 2.5 KG REF 0001/2021PLANEA D1500/21

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ITEM 19 (Supplementary Information): The fields of this item that must be completed are indicated
below:
 Persons on board: Since it is an unmanned aircraft, in this box we will enter the number 0. In
doing so, ICARO XXI will automatically replace this numerical value with the text TBN (to be
notified).
 Autonomy: The total autonomy of the UAS shall be provided in9 hh:mm format
 Pilot in command: Name of the pilot in command of the UAS
 Aircraft colour and markings: Other markings (colours or similar) of the UAS to aid
identification, in clear text.
 Observations: Other data associated with the operation, such as the contact telephone
number of the UAS Operator or the UAS operation pilot, which shall preferably be included in
this item, especially in those cases where the aeronautical safety study, coordinated with the
ATS service provider and/or, where appropriate, the airport operator; this telephone number
shall be provided as a contact mechanism for the application of mitigation measures.

OTHER TYPES OF MESSAGES (CHG, CNL, DLA)

9
The range entered here shall always be greater than the total flight duration entered in the EET field of ITEM 16.

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In addition to the FPL messages for notifying a Flight Plan, there are also Change-type messages (CHG),
which allow us to change some parameters of the FPL already entered and even accepted by the ARO
Office; Delay-type messages (DLA), which allow us to delay its start time (EOBT); or that which is most
useful to the UAS Operator to cancel a Flight Plan or replace it with another one with different
parameters, the Cancel message (CNL) which, by entering the ARCID of the original FPL, allows us to
issue a request for its cancellation. Once cancelled, the system will allow us to introduce a new FPL
with the same Call Sign as the one just cancelled.

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