¶ Introduction
Runway is the most sensitive area of an airfield. Besides allowing aircraft to take off and land, they are also where 71% of aviation accidents occur.
For information on how to determine the active runway, you can find all relevant details in this document.
¶ Runway status
¶ Active (open) runways[1]:
Active runways are under the exclusive responsibility of the tower controller. The tower controller must ensure the safety of aircraft moving in the vicinity of the runways. For example, they must make sure the runway is clear during a takeoff or landing, or that a runway crossing can be carried out smoothly and safely.
However, when explicit coordination is established between the tower and ground controllers, the ground controller may also instruct traffic to perform a runway-related maneuver. For instance, in some cases, they may authorize a runway crossing if prior coordination has taken place.
¶ Closed runways:
When a runway is declared closed by NOTAM and this is clearly stated in the ATIS, coordination may be carried out between Ground and Tower. In this case, the closed runway may be used as a taxiway, and therefore falls under Ground responsability.
Example:
Runway 04L is closed for construction work through a published and active NOTAM.
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¶ Manage aircraft approaching runway
For the management of departures or the allocation of aircraft to holding points, you can find all relevant information in the following document. Gestion desturbulences de sillage
¶ Line-up:
To improve traffic flow, it is possible to line up several aircraft on the same runway. When multiple aircraft are lined up on a runway, it is obvious that only the aircraft positioned furthest down the runway may take off.
A line‑up may be instructed with a standard clearance when the aircraft is the only one maneuvering, or with conditional clearance to line up an aircraft after the departure or arrival of another Phraseology manual
¶ Arrivals:
Aircraft on final approach are handed over by the approach controller to the tower controller. The tower controller then has two options:
- Clear the aircraft to land
- Provide the aircraft’s position in the sequence and instruct it to continue its approach. .
In the second case, runway crossings, line‑ups, and takeoffs on that runway remain possible.
The tower controller is responsible for maintaining separation between aircraft on final approach. They must therefore continuously ensure that this separation is preserved, and in the event of a loss of separation, take appropriate action (go‑around, reduction to minimum approach speed in coordination with the approach controller, etc.).
¶ Runway crossings:
Runway crossings (whether the runway is active or inactive) may be required at certain airports, both on arrival and departure. They are carried out with an explicit clearance obtained from the tower controller. Unlike line‑up clearances, this clearance cannot be conditional for safety reasons, in order to avoid any confusion. Furthermore, such a clearance cannot be issued if another aircraft has already been cleared for takeoff or landing on the same runway.
This applies to all runways that are not explicitly reported as ‘closed’ in the ATIS. ↩︎