Barcelona ACC (LECB) and Bordeaux ACC (LFBB)
1. Purpose
The purpose of this Letter of Agreement (LoA) is to define the coordination procedures to be applied between Barcelona ACC and Bordeaux ACC when providing Air Traffic Services (ATS) under IFR or VFR flight rules.
The content of the agreement is approved by the concerned ATC Operations Department and FIR Chiefs and its application is mandatory for all IVAO members providing ATS within an active position concerned by this LoA.
2. General Procedures
Traffic in sequence at the same flight level shall be handed over with minimum spacing of 10 NM.
This separation must be constant (aircrafts restrained to the same speed) or increasing (succeeding aircraft is not faster).
Coordination of speed control should be granted via entries in radar labels and does not need neither approval nor acknowledgement by receiving sector.
Traffic shall be handed over as soon as practical and, whenever possible, at latest 3000 ft before reaching the cleared flight level and in case the transfer point is not defined within this LoA, at latest ten (10) miles before the airspace limits.
Traffic in sequence shall be handed over properly separated and clear of any conflict. The receiving ATC unit cannot issue a clearance modifying the traffic’s route, altitude, or speed (unless by direct coordination between ATC units) until it enters his sector and therefore leaves the area of responsibility from the transferring ATC unit, which remains responsible for separation.
Regarding flight levels for transfers between ATC positions:
| From | To | Flight Level |
| Barcelona | Bordeaux | EVEN |
| Bourdeaux | Barcelona | ODD |
Free Route Airspace Operations within Spanish airspace (HispaFRA) is defined from FL245 to FL660. However, the use of the traditional ATS route network is available too. Free Route Airspace Operations within some French airspace including Bordeaux UIR (LFFRAASW) are defined from FL195 to FL660.
Free Route Airspace (FRA) is a specified airspace within which users may freely plan a route between a defined entry point and a defined exit point, with the possibility of routing via published intermediate significant points, without reference to the ATS route network.
3. ATS Unit Description
The ATC unit in charge of FIR and UIR airspaces under the responsibility of Barcelona ACC is Barcelona Control and includes two primary sectors (LECB_W_CTR and LECB_E_CTR). Three additional secondary sectors (opened only via NOTAM) lie directly underneath their primary sectors. LECB_DDI_CTR underneath LECB_W_CTR, responsible up to FL305; LECB_XAR_CTR underneath LECB_E_CTR responsible up to FL305. Those subsectors are not shown on the following chart as they are considered as inactive positions. Moreover, LECB_W_CTR is responsible for the Barcelona TMAs when LEBL_T1_APP is offline.
LECB_DDI_CTR, LECB_XAR_CTR can be consolidated in one main sector (LECM_DDX_CTR).
The ATC unit in charge of FIR and UIR airspaces under the responsibility of Bordeaux ACC is Bordeaux Control and consists in only one primary sector (LFBB_CTR). This ATC unit may be split into two different subsectors (LFBB_CTR and LFBB_U_CTR). The lateral and vertical boundaries of the airspace under the responsibility of the ACC are indicated in the figure and table below.
The lateral and vertical boundaries of the airspace under the responsibility of the ACC are indicated in the images and tables below.
3.1. Barcelona ACC
| ATC Position | Callsign | Frequency | Remarks |
| Primary Sectors | |||
| Barcelona Control | LECB_W_CTR | 134.680 | SFC-FL660 ; FL305-FL660 if LECB_DDI_CTR is active |
| LECB_E_CTR | 135.355 | SFC-FL660 ; FL305-FL660 if LECB_XAR_CTR is active | |
| Secondary Sectors | |||
| Barcelona Radar | LECB_DDI_CTR | 135.805 | SFC/FL195-FL305 |
| LECB_XAR_CTR | 133.030 | ||
| LECB_DDI_CTR | 132.580 | ||
3.2. Bordeaux ACC
| ATC Position | Callsign | Frequency | Remarks |
| Primary Sectors | |||
| Bordeaux Control | LFBB_CTR | 125.105 | SFC-UNL; SFC-FL295 if LFBB_U_CTR is active |
| Secondary Sectors | |||
| Bordeaux Control (Upper) | LFBB_U_CTR | 127.675 | FL295-UNL |
4. Coordination Procedures
Coordination procedures between the ATC under the responsibility of the Barcelona FIR/UIR and those under the responsibility of the Bordeaux FIR/UIR are defined as follows. They represent a general framework that does not replace the coordination between ATC. Any coordination procedure not mentioned in this LoA must be established on a caseby-case basis.
FRA Horizontal Entry Point (E) is a published Significant Point on the horizontal boundary of the Free Route Airspace from which FRA operations are permitted while an Exit Point (X) is a Point to which FRA operations are permitted.
4.1. From Barcelona to Bordeaux (LECB → LFBB)
A Direct further than the FIR Boundary must be coordinated.
Upper Airspace Airways start at FL195 in Bordeaux Control’s airspace. Barcelona has to pay attention to clear all outgoing traffic above FL200 before transferring to Bordeaux
| Transfer Point | Route | Receiving Sector | Restrictions | ||
| Airways LECB | HispaFRA | LFFRASW | |||
| ANETO | UN860 |
X (eXit) FL > 245 |
E (Entry) FL > 195 |
LFBB_CTR |
EVEN FL |
| GIROM | A29 UN608 | ||||
| RUTIP | UT113 | ||||
| OLOXO | UN861 | ||||
| NATPI | - | ||||
4.2. From Bordeaux to Barcelona (LFBB → LECB)
| Transfer Point | Route | Receiving Sector | Restrictions |
||
| Airways LFBB | LFFRASW | HispaFRA | |||
| PERDU | - |
X (eXit) FL > 195 |
E (Entry) FL > 245 |
LECB_W_CTR |
ODD FL |
| ANETO | |||||
| IBRAP | LECB_E_CTR | ||||
| GEANT | |||||
| PUMAL | B31 | ||||
5. Departures and Arrivals
Coordination procedures for the departure/arrival traffic management are defined as follows. It is recalled that whenever TWR or APP units indicated below are inactive, they should be replaced by the higher ATC active unit (for example, if LEBL_T1_APP is inactive, the coordination procedure applies to LECB_W_CTR).
5.1. Departures from Girona AD (LEGE)
| ATC | SID | Procedure | Remarks |
| LEBL_T1_APP | GEANT | LEBL_T1_APP → LFBB_CTR |
DCT GEANT FL190 If only LECB_W_CTR is active: DCT |
5.2. Arrivals to Toulouse-Blagnac AD (LFBO)
| ATC | STAR | Procedure | Remarks |
| LEBL_T1_APP | ASPET | LECB_W_CTR → LFBO_APP |
DCT ASPET descending FL150 |
5.3. Departures from Toulouse-Blagnac AD (LFBO)
| ATC | SID | Procedure | Remarks |
| LFBB_CTR | PUMAL | LFBB_CTR → LECB_W_CTR |
DCT PUMAL climbing FL260 |
5.4. Arrivals to Barcelona and Reus ADs (LEBL, LERS)
| ATC | STAR | Procedure | Remarks |
| LFBB_CTR | PUMAL | LFBB_CTR → LEBL_T1_CTR |
DCT PUMAL descending FL230 Cross PUMAL FL250 or below |
6. Contributions
This document has been drafted in coordination between the ATC Operations Department of Spain and France and Bordeaux FIR staff and Barcelona FIR staff.
7. Changelog
| Version | Date | Changes |
| 5.0 | 21/04/2022 |
New Format Implementation of Free Route Airspace in Spain (HISPAFRA) |