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Foreflight is an air navigation application made for Apple and Android handheld devices. The US company that produces it became part of the Boeing Group in 2022, of which Jeppesen is also a member.

In 2019, Avioportolano srl entered into a contract to provide Italian aeronautical data on all registered airfields and unregistered airfields for ULMs. In addition to the data, Avioportolano provides Foreflight with maps for VFR air navigation of the Italian territory in digital format at a scale of 1:500,000 and approach maps (VAC) of the entire network of Italian runways open to general aviation traffic.

The maps provided by Avioportolano are also produced for all airports including small ones that are not included in AIP Italy.

The peculiarity of the runway network in Italy, characterised by a high number of registered airfields and ULM airfields, has generated a demand for information from Italian and European pilots that what is contained in the official AIP does not satisfy: in fact, the AIP Italia lacks the rules for the use of ULM airfields and airfields, which are instead reported in the specific national laws and in the Italian language only.

Avioportolano, in 2020, has filled this information limitation by producing a specific AIP-AAI (Avioportolano Aeronautical Information) that reports, in addition to the rules already present in AIP Italy, also those relating to registered airfields and ULM airfields by translating the original legislative texts into English.

Given the importance of AIP-AAI for flight safety, especially for European pilots, the product has been officially implemented in the Foreflight application. Avioportolano is the only private company, not accredited by an EU Member State, to have its information tool published in an operational condition automatically selected by the programme. Pilots using Foreflight will find the AIP-AAI together with the official AIP Italy text.

Josh Tahmasebi, the group's production manager, explains in the interview the new Avioportolano products implemented in Foreflight and the forthcoming openness to the information expected with the AVP Avioportolano Vertiflight Project.

Avioportolano’s cartographic data provides Garmin with the ability to offer aviators additional navigation data, including information for over 350 takeoff and landing points consisting of "Registered Airfields" (open to AG traffic) and " Unregistered Airfields" (limited to ULMs), along with monthly updates on an AIRAC cycle.

Avioportolano® srl operates as a "certified company for the production, management and provision of Aeronautical Information Services and related AIS (Aeronautical Information Service) publications for VFR Visual Flight Rules”. In this role it has been producing and distributing since 1992 information, approach and landing charts, related to hundreds of runways and private facilities open to General Aviation traffic that are not monitored by the Italian Civil Aviation Authority and, therefore, are not present in AIP Italy.

Also accessible in Garmin Pilot for Apple mobile devices will be the AIP - AAI (Avioportolano Aeronautical Information) produced by Avioportolano® srl that integrates the information present in the official AIP Italy with the regulations governing the use of Registered and Un-Registered Airfields.

The results of this work will be officially presented for the first time at AERO 2023 (Germany - Friedrichshafen 19. -22. April 2023).

Garmin International Inc. - 1200 East 151st Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062 USA
Scott Haskins, Vice President Aviation Product Engineering

Avioportolano srl – Via Don Giovanni Minzoni 72 – 30034 Mira Venice – Italy
Guido Medici – Sole Administrator

The AIP Avioportolano for the professional VFR
We were the first to take a census of the different Registered airfields and unregistered landing strips by publishing  information  in  Avioportolano  and to  produce  an  accurate  low-altitude  aeronautical charts complementary to and in conformity with official ICAO aeronautical cartography intended not only to foster the development of a new form of popular air tourism, but to constitute a valuable working tool particularly appreciated by all operators of VFR flight from zero to 6,000 feet, especially private helicopter pilots and government agencies. This information has been collected in the AIP - AAI (Avioportolano Aeronautical Information Service), which is today a reference point for Italian and European VFR pilots, accredited and published (the only one produced by an AIS-certified private company in Europe) on the most important air navigation platforms, alongside the official AIP.

Avioportolano for Urban Air Mobility
Today, three decades after that tumultuous renaissance in aviation, we are witnessing a revolutionary new chapter in the history of flight: Urban Air Mobility, with an innovative generation of flying machines, born of the toy-drones that appeared a decade ago. To grasp its extraordinary potential, imagining a future that is already here, we are back, still at the forefront, with an unprecedented initiative called Avioportolano Vertiflight Project (AVP).

Vertiflight Project Programme
With this programme, not only will the entire panorama of Italian helipads be surveyed, mapped and charted - as we did in the past for registered airfields and landing strips for ULM. We will also be entering the new world of infrastructures dedicated to Urban Air Mobility, the so-called VTOL-Ports, both by filling a current information gap and by addressing the new scenarios of urban air mobility resulting from the very rapid evolution of hybrid and electric aircraft with short and vertical take-off, remote controlled and even automatic piloting using artificial intelligence. Monitoring the development of this new reality, understanding the influence it  will  have  on  the  future  of  air  navigation  and  imagining  what  tools  to  put  in  place  to contribute to its safety is an activity that Avioportolano began three years ago and which today takes shape and solid operational form in the AVP programme.

Accurate information for air rescue
As mentioned, the information situation regarding helipads is in some respects similar to  the one we faced at the time for airfields and air strips. In Italy today there are more than 580 helipads, either certified or simply managed. A large part of the entire helicopter air rescue system is based on them, for which the accuracy and management of location, characteristics  and  flight  approach  information  is  important,  if  not  vital,  in  many HEMS missions.

Mapping and charts for helipads
Much of this information is missing in our country and we intend to produce it. It goes without saying that this aim will require uncommon skills and organisational effort.  Avioportolano possesses both, and it is thanks to this extraordinary wealth of knowledge  and reliability gained in the field - pardon the pun - that our cartographic databases are used today by the world’s most important operators in the sector. Once again, therefore, we will be called upon to give our best at what we already do well: a detailed and precise census of the constellation of helipads and pitches, gradually introducing the emerging infrastructure  for  urban  air  mobility.  We  will  audit  contacts  and  positions;  we  will  create a  continuously  updated  dedicated  database;  we  will  produce  aeronautical  approach charts at an appropriate scale, and we will publish all this to support pilots, operators and aviation authorities but, first and foremost, to promote flight safety itself.

Cartography for Civil Protection
And that is not all. Alongside this ambitious project, Avioportolano will produce a specific national map of airports, airfields and landing strips that are the operational headquarters of groups or associations involved in Civil Protection. We will therefore continue to support the national heritage of the more than 550 private runways hosting General Aviation and VDS, especially for their immeasurable strategic function in the event of emergencies, while at the same time offering our contribution to the efficiency of the national Civil Protection network that is increasingly called upon to intervene.

The first contacts between Avioportolano srl and Leonardo spa date back to November 2016 with the presentation and discussion - at the Sesto Calende headquarters - of the "European Cartographic Project for low-altitude flight" conceived and developed by Avioportolano srl specifically for flight by helicopter.

The "Cartographic Project for low-altitude flight" did not find - on that occasion - an outlet but was nevertheless shared by Avioportolano srl with the University Institute of Architecture of Venice - Degree Course in Urban Planning as a basis for study to be developed as part of a dedicated educational internship in which undergraduate students with specialization in Thematic Cartography participated for a year.

The path followed and the experience developed led Avioportolano srl to create the VFR cartography and airport approach maps extended to the entire universe of Italian airfields and airfields at a dedicated scale of 1: 25,000 in compliance with ICAO specifications and provisions contained in EU Regulation 73/2010.

The Avioportolano products - and the methods of realization - were finally subjected to the verification procedure ISO 9001-2015 up to obtaining the quality certification of Avioportolano srl for the "Production, management and provision of the aeronautical and related information service AIS (Aeronautical Information Service) publications for visual flight (VFR) ". Certification issued by Bureau Veritas on 11 November 2019 and still valid.

Guido Medici
Avioportolano Srl
Chief executive

- The spaces P, R and D that are not active 24 hours a day have been designed with lighter graphics to distinguish them from those active 24 hours a day, facilitating their identification. The abbreviation "Temp" has also been inserted on the label.

- The information relating to the days and times in which they are active has been included in the label of controlled airspaces that are not operational all week H24 (for example Aviano).

- All radio frequencies have been revised and updated, homologating them to the standard and to the new provisions relating to 8.33 kHz spacing..

- Positioned and identified DME Distance Measuring Equipment.

- TRedesigned the descriptive figures relating to the "Classification of Air Spaces in Italy" on the back of the card.

- Updated the graphic summaries of the "Terminal and Control Areas" on the back of the paper.

- Fixed errors reported by users.

- Edited the covers.

The VFR FLIGHT MANUAL AAI ITALY provides information- technical, procedural (national and international) regulations necessary and sufficient to support pilots on planning VFR flights within Italian airspace. It integrates official information concerning aerodromes, with Italian regulation about Registered Airfields, Helipads and Unregistered Airfields.

This manual brings the full package of Italian legislation that regulates flying under VFR together in a single, bilingual source (Italian and English). It also groups the relevant information together into sections, chapters, paragraphs and indexes to guide the reader and to help them to familiarise with VFR in Italy, making it simpler to search for different subjects of their specific interest.

All AIP information required for pilots and regarding flying under VFR has been included, keeping the original language and translations.

Of the other specific Italian laws regulating flight under VFR, only information concerning pilots has been included, and is placed in subject order, maintaining – in this case, too – the original legislation, together with English translations.

A third part of this manual offers a thorough description – as well as of the Airports – of the whole network of registered airfields and – a specifically Italian characteristic - unregistered airfields (suitable areas not included in AIP Italia, where it is permitted to land, take off, hold flying lessons, and transport passengers with certified aircraft and ULM), for which information has been collected and provided by AAI - Avioportolano Air Information Service.

This manual also describes the content and the methods for consulting AIS products for VFR.

Click here to see the video that explains in detail the AAI Italy vfr Manual (English Version)

The international certification standard ISO 9001: 2015 defines the requirements of the systems that companies must adopt in managing the quality of their products. Accredited bodies - such as "Bureau Veritas" - inspect and verify the compliance of production processes with these regulations.

The certification was obtained by Avioportolano srl at the end of a long and demanding path started in 2018 during which the individual processes of acquisition, processing and return of aeronautical data that are followed by Avioportolano for the realization were analyzed in detail, verified and approved. of its AIS products with particular reference to aeronautical cartography and information relating to the geography of airspace, airports, airfields and ULM airfields.

Avioportolano srl - at the end of this process - therefore ranks among the first three European private AIS companies which - although not certified by a member state of the European Union - produce, manage and provide original and unpublished data, certifying the level of quality in terms of of accuracy, resolution, integrity and traceability.

The AIS products of Avioportolano srl - cartography, cards, volumes in paper and digital format - will henceforth be combined and identified with the initials "AAI Service" (Avioportolano Aeronautical Information Service). Furthermore, in compliance with the procedural obligations and development programs that Avioportolano srl has undertaken to respect, the "AAI Service" aeronautical information package will be integrated with the publication - by December 2019 - of a specific technical / regulatory manual for the management of the VFR flight in Italy in Italian and English.

These changes have been sent and are available for download on the following navigation programs: Sky Demon, Air Navigation Pro, Foreflight, Sky Map, Airmate, Rocket Route. The changes that have been made greatly improve both the readability and the display in flight on the navigation programs and are the following:

- The obstacles have been updated based on what is reported in AIP ENR 5.4, including also the linear ones; we inform you that secondary obstacles (such as low voltage power lines or telephone lines) are not detected in AIP and therefore are not represented;

- Increased in number and downsize the labels with the names of streets, waterways and urban centers;

- Increased the detail of the buildings in the inhabited centers;

- Redefined the viewing scales

- Approved to VFR 1,500,000 Avioportolano paper the colors relating to the borders of the CTA and TMA;

- Avioportolano codes have also been added on runways with ICAO name;

- The Avioportolano identification codes have been inserted in the VACs that contain several runways.

On this occasion we propose the Visual Approach Chart. We decided to graphically indicate the preferential track with the green finish. Therefore:

- Green final: preferential track

- Red final: landing ban

- Yellow finish: landing with caution.

It is an experimental initiative that will be extended to all the VACs of the slopes that include one or more of the warnings indicated. The modified Montagnana VAC will be included in the Airmate, Sky Demon, Air Navigation Pro, Foreflight and Sky Map software, the next AIRAC update in June.

Avioportolano updated the approach and landing maps as well as information on the runway for the occasion. These updates will be visible on the navigation programs with the next AIRAC cycle on June 24th. In the meantime, the updated maps can be downloaded in the download area of our site www.avioportolano.it clicking here . More details on the event are available clicking here:

APPROACH PROCEDURE IN RADIO SILENCE
The approach procedure without radio transmission is frequently followed in the United States even in situations of intense traffic. One of the most important examples is that of the Sun'n'Fun event, where thousands of planes take off and land without the pilots talking via radio with the operator on the ground. Therefore maintaining radio silence (only listening) on the 130.000 (Castiglione Biga (traffic information)) without ever using transmission except in cases where it is strictly necessary. Castiglione Biga (traffic information) provides the QNH on which to set the on-board altimeter. It also provides information on your relative position (for example: "red high wing plane you are third on final") or launches alert messages (for example:"red high wing plane on final pull up immediately!").The pilot must never respond to this information. Many people know that, traditionally, in Castiglione, it is possible to receive less "professional" communications or even dangerous threats via radio.These too, must never be answered.

CIRCUIT PROCEDURE
What is important is that everyone follows the precise rules that we have summarized in the Visual Approach Chart. Set the altimeter on the QNH transmitted by the Biga (traffic information) and keep 1500 FT downwind at a distance of 1000/1200 m from the runway (which is about 800 m). An approximate ground reference is shown on the map. Keep a good distance from the aircraft before you and follow it. Do not anticipate the base turn. Start the base turn when the aircraft before you is at three o'clock. If it is slower than you extend the downwind and start the base turn when you see it at four o'clock. There is a No Fly Zone to respect that affects the shores of Lake Trasimeno. The maps published here can be downloaded in PDF format from the Avioportolano website: CLICK HERE

Sky Map is a very popular air navigation software among German pilots. It is produced by the IFOS Privates Institut für Organisationsberatung und Softwareentwicklung GmbH, which since 2015 has been implementing the cards for the VFR Avioportolano flight. From this year all the plates of the Italian runways are also available on SKY MAP: airports, airfields and ULM airfields.

This plan - as specified by ENAV in response to a parliamentary question - is aimed at "managing air traffic with an innovative organisational and technological model in a context of strong growth in air traffic and sudden changes in demand by carriers". The principle followed by ENAV would seem to reduce ATC's commitment to VFR flight control for the benefit of IFR traffic.This would lead to an increase in the controlled areas in favour of an increase in the uncontrolled GOLF spaces but in which the FIC (Flight Information Centre) Information service is provided

The basis of everything is the map of the airports and the private runways and at each point, you can combine comments, photographs, initiatives etc. to share with others. To support this application we responded positively to the request for authorisation to use free of charge the Data Base of the runways for the Italian territory Produced by Avioportolano. From 1 May 2019, you can find the same runways and identification codes on Runway Map that you find in the aeronautical maps and in the navigation software Sky Demon, Sky Map, Foreflight, Aimate, Air Navigation Pro, Rocket Route, AVmap, Flight Utilities. All ahead for the growth of this app that has all the credentials to be successful. For more information: https://www.runwaymap.com/avioportolano

So now there are five air navigation software (with SKY DEMON and AIR NAVIGATION PRO) that have the license to use Avioportolano data.From these software you can purchase and download digital aeronautical charts for VFR 500K flight and the plates of all the Italian runways:Visual Approach Chart, Aerodrome Landing Charts, Aerodrome Data Sheet and Visual Approach Image. We should point out in particular that this year whoever purchases an Avioportolano aeronautical map in the paper format can download the same map in the digital format on the AIRMATE software free of charge using the unique bonus code that can be found inside the chart itself. On the website www.avioportolano.it in the "Software" section of the main menu you can find detailed descriptions of the contents and ways to download the products from each individual Software.

On-board chart, program and digital chart
The new Avioportolano aeronautical charts 2019 were updated in February 2019 and include, in addition to Italy, also Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each chart contains the code and instructions to download it for free in the AIRMATE software

You can use the default chart
It is not necessary to install the Avioportolano map in order to use AIRMATE. You can still navigate across the whole of Europe with the default chart and aviation information present in the program.

You can also download the "Avioportolano Airfield Manual"
In the Airmate store you can purchase the "AVIOPORTOLANO AIRFIELD MANUAL": over 1500 documents produced in the ICAO standard format relating to 110 airports 220 Airfields and 150 Italian ULM airstripsi

Free, powerful and complete
AIRMATE offers all the solutions for air navigation in both VFR and IFR. You can set the configuration of your aircraft, maintain your flight plans, decide on various display modes, contact other pilots with the Airmate social network and much more. You will also have constant updates every month by email and important deadlines such as international meetings, rallies and aeronautical fairs

How to use airmate and download charts and data sheets
To use AIRMATE CLICK HERE

This is one of the various news items that revolve around the ENAV Business Plan that Minister Toninelli with a press release dated 7 February 2019 asked to be suspended. The new operating model of ENAV 2018/2022 provides for the full consolidation of the 4 control centers on the two offices in Rome and Milan. By 2022, the control centers of Rome and Milan, which already manage the approach to the major national airports, will also absorb the activities of almost all the approach centers located on the control towers.

In Italy, there are not many controlled areas activated for only a limited period of time. In other countries, they are planned and widely adopted. Especially in Croatia, Austria and Bosnia.In the new Avioportolano graphics these areas are drawn with the same type of contour but are clearly distinguished because the colour is much lighter than the permanent ones. The word "Temp" (Temporary) has also been added to the label. These areas are enabled through Notam.

The recommended approach circuit from the nearest VFR point indicating the VFR routes at the discretion of ATC have been added; the urbanized areas have been simplified; the central line on the rivers has been eliminated, the representation of the rail road has been changed, the dimensions of the labels indicating Roads and Villages have been enlarged, aerial information up to FL015 (from GND to 1500 FT AGL) have been introduced.

The urbanized areas have been simplified: The most intensely urbanized areas have been merged and arranged in "spots" in order to reduce the weight of the charts and facilitate a quicker upload.

Graphic improvements: The centre line that indicates the axis of the riverbeds has been eliminated; the representation of the rail road with a continuous line as in the VFR 500K; charts has been changed; the size of the labels indicating Roads and Villages have been enlarged to improve readability; the arrangement of the information labels has been improved; the transparency of boundary lines of air spaces has been increased to improve readability.

Increased information on airspace: In the Avioportolano VAC (Visual Approach Chart) at the scale of 1: 75,000 - since these are approach maps flown at low altitude in the final landing - only the information relating to the GND airspaces was reported. Since the last February 2019 edition, the Avioportolano VACs have been reporting airspace information from GNG to 1500 FT AGL.

New graphics for complex circuits for approaching and leaving the airport: In the Avioportolano VAC (Visual Approach Chart) updated in February 2019, the new graphics used for the graphical representation of the approach and departure indications from the airport have been introduced which present mandatory itineraries in some cases more complex than the standards. This is the case, for example, of the Rome Urbe and Turin Aeritalia airports which, due to their delicate position, require the pilot to follow a particular and precise approach and departure path. Avioportolano has created its own graphic criteria of lines and information extended to all airports that require particularly detailed graphic information.

Draw recommended approach procedures from VFR entry points: The new VAC (Viasual Approach Chart) Avioportolano (from February 2019) show the VFR routes which - although not classified as mandatory - are usually indicated by the ATC for approaching the airport. The 75K scale chosen by Avioportolano to create the VAC (Visual Approach Chart) for airports, airfields and ULM airfields has made it possible to insert complex approach and departure circuits in a clear way and to translate into visual language what is generally indicated in the AIP as a mandatory route (or at ATC's discretion) from specific entry gates or nearby reporting points. The choice of a larger or smaller scale than that adopted by Avioportolano for its VAC (Visual Approach Chart) would not have allowed an equally clear and exhaustive representation.

Planes, gliders and helicopters: icons added in the circuits: For airports and airfields that have mixed activities of planes, gliders and helicopters and that provide separate circuits according to the type of aircraft, specific representative icons have been introduced in relation to the reserved traffic circuit.

The agreement stipulates that anyone who purchases a chart for VFR 1:500.000 produced by Avioportolano will have free navigation software available with the digital version of the same chart installed and which may be used for air navigation in addition to the default one in the software