The air traffic rules and procedures applicable to air traffic in the territory of the Republic of Latvia conform with Annexes 2 and 11 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation and to those portions, applicable to aircraft, of the Procedures for Air Navigation Services - Air Traffic Management (Doc 4444), and the Regional Supplementary Procedures applicable to the European Region, except the differences listed in GEN 1.7.

1. FORMATION FLIGHTS (SERA.3135)

Aircraft shall not be flown in formation except and by pre-arrangement among the pilots-in-command of the aircraft taking part in the flight and, for formation flight in controlled airspace, in accordance with the conditions below:

a) one of the pilots-in-command shall be designated as the flight leader;

b) the formation operates as a single aircraft with regard to navigation and position reporting;

c) separation between aircraft in all phases of the flight shall be the responsibility of the flight leader and the pilots-in-command of the other aircraft in the flight and shall include periods of transition when aircraft are maneuvering to attain their own separation within the formation and during join-up and breakaway;

Note: Phases of the flight include take-off and landing, join-up, break-up and all parts of the Enroute flight.

d) each aircraft in the group shall maintain its distance from the flight leader: for State aircraft not exceeding 3 NM laterally and longitudinally, and 1000 FT vertically (non-standard formation); for other than State aircraft not exceeding 0.5 NM laterally and longitudinally, and 100 FT vertically;

e) in making initial contact with ATC, formation leaders should clearly state the number of aircraft in the formation;

f) the discrete code is assigned to the flight leader and all other aircraft to squawk “STAND BY”. In case of non-standard formation each individual aircraft of the formation shall squawk as directed by ATC;

g) a formation flight will be handled by ATC as a single aircraft;

h) formation Break-Up (Split): when individual control of aircraft in formation is requested, advisory information will be issued to assist pilots in attaining standard ATC separation. The start of formation break-up shall be coordinated between ATC and the flight leader. ATC will only assume responsibility for separation between the aircraft that are conducting the formation break-up after prescribed separation minima have been established. Until then, the flight leader and the pilots-in-command of the other aircraft in the flight are responsible for maintaining sufficient safety distance. After break-up individual aircraft shall receive separate clearances and transponder codes from ATC;

i) formation join-up shall only be conducted when authorization has been obtained from ATC.The flight leader, once he is safely able to do so, shall confirm his assumption of responsibility for maintaining sufficient safety distance between his aircraft, the aircraft comprising the formation and the joining aircraft.