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966 12 684 8046
966 12 684 8959
 
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OEJDYKYX
 
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aim@sans.com.sa
 
       
 
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA
GENERAL AUTHORITY OF CIVIL AVIATION
SAUDI AIR NAVIGATION SERVICES
AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT
P. O. BOX 929, JEDDAH - 21421
     
  AIC
Series A
06/2025
15 DEC 2025
 
     
   

Provision of Digital Data sets

1 Purpose

 
1.1.  The purpose of this circular is to inform all stakeholders about the upcoming publication of data sets as part of Operational Use

2 Scope

 
2.1.  The digital data is presented in the form of AIP data set.

 
2.2.   Data sets will be published in compliance with GACAR Part 175 and ICAO Annex 15 requirements. They will be hosted on the SANS website at https://aimss.sans.com.sa

3 Publication of Data sets

 
3.1.  Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) data set will be published in the AIXM 5.1 XML format. The data set will include the following subjects, with the properties indicated in brackets being included as a minimum:
  1. Air Traffic Services (ATS) airspace (type, name, lateral limits, vertical limits, class of airspace).
  2. Special activity airspace (type, name, lateral limits, vertical limits, restriction, activation).
  3. ATS route and other routes (Identifier prefix, designator, flight rules).
  4. Route segment (navigation specification, from point, to point, track, length, upper limit, lower limit, Minimum En-Route Altitude (MEA), Minimum Obstacle Clearance Altitude (MOCA), direction of cruising level, required navigation performance).
  5. Waypoint – EN-Route (Reporting requirement, identification, location, formation).
  6. Aerodrome/heliport (ICAO location indicator, name, International Air Transport Association (IATA) designator, served city, certified ICAO, certification date, certification expiration date, control type, field elevation,
  7. Reference temperature, magnetic variation, airport reference point).
  8. Runway (designator, nominal length, nominal width, surface type, strength) Runway direction (designator, true bearing, threshold, Take Off Run Available (TORA), Take-Off Distance Available (TODA), Accelerate-Stop Distance Available (ASDA), Landing Distance Available (LDA), rejected TODA (for helicopters).
  9. Final Approach and Take-Off (FATO) (designation, length, width, threshold point).
  10. Touchdown and Lift-Off (TLOF) (designator, center point, length, width, surface type).
  11. Radio navigation aid (type, identification, name, aerodrome/heliport served, hours of operation, magnetic variation, frequency/channel, position, elevation, magnetic bearing, true bearing, zero bearing direction).

Note 1: The description of the data subjects, together with their properties, data type and applicable data quality requirements, is provided in Appendix 1 of GACAR Part 175.
Note 2: The AIP data set includes relevant AIP Amendments.
 
3.2. When a property is not defined for a particular occurrence of the subjects listed in 3.1, the AIP data subset will include an explicit “not applicable” indication.
3.3. Phase Two
3.3.1. In the second phase, additional data sets will be published alongside the AIP data sets in AIXM 5.1 XML format, including:
3.3.1.1. Obstacles data sets (currently, obstacle data sets are published in KSA AIP on (.xlsx) and (.pdf) formats).
3.3.1.2. Aerodrome Mapping data sets.
3.3.1.3. Instrument Flight Procedure data sets.

4 Content

 
4.1.  The data set content is coded in accordance with the guidelines from Eurocontrol AIXM Confluence (www.eurocontrol.int ), which introduces AIXM and ICAO data sets.
4.2. The AIXM data sets will include metadata compliant with GACAR Part 175 requirements and Eurocontrol guidelines that ensure traceability
4.3. The AIP Data set is encrypted with hash functions to ensure digital data detection error.

5 Availability

 
5.1. The AIP data set will be updated in line with the AIRAC cycle. These will be provided with a TimeSlice interpretation labeled 'BASELINE'. New AIP data sets will also be provided with 'BASELINE' Time Slice interpretation, accompanied by a data set labeled 'PERMDELTA' that contains only the changes from the previous ‘BASELINE’
5.2. The AIP Data Set file will have the following name structure: “OE_AIP_DS_Variant_YYYYMMDD.xml", where:
  • AIP_DS is a fixed text (meaning “AIP Data Set”).
  • Variant is a mandatory element, and it can take one of the following values:
  1. FULL - when the file contains a complete AIP data set or a subset thereof.
  2. DIFF_BL - when the file contains an AIP Data Set Differences variant coded with BASELINE Time Slices.
  3. DIFF_DELTA - when the file contains an AIP Data Set Differences variant coded with PERMDELTA Time Slices.
  4. SUP - when the file contains a Supplementary AIP Data set.
  • YYYYMMDD is the start of effective date in the format year, month, date.

6 Data set Product Specifications

 
6.1. The description of available digital data sets will be provided in the form of data product specifications (DPS) on which basis air navigation users will be able to evaluate the products and determine whether they fulfil the requirements for their intended use (application).

7 Data set Checklist

 
7.1. Comprehensive checklist of valid data sets and their effective dates will be available on the SANS website at https://aimss.sans.com.sa.

8 Contact

 
8.1.  For feedback and further information, please contact AIM via email at aim@sans.com.sa 

 

 

AIC 08/2024 hereby replaced