Air corridor
Encyclopedia
An air corridor is a designated region of airspace
that an aircraft
must remain in during its transit through a given region. Air corridors are typically imposed by military or diplomatic requirements. During the Berlin Blockade
, for example, pilots flying across Soviet-controlled German airspace were required to maintain very specific positioning within air corridor
s defined by the commander in charge of the airlift. Subsequent flights, both military and civilian, between West Germany
and Berlin
during the Cold War
were required to remain within their designated corridor or risk being shot down.
Air corridors should not be confused with airway
s. Airways are navigational aids which a pilot generally may deviate from when circumstances warrant, while compliance with a designated air corridor is mandatory.
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
that an aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
must remain in during its transit through a given region. Air corridors are typically imposed by military or diplomatic requirements. During the Berlin Blockade
Berlin Blockade
The Berlin Blockade was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War and the first resulting in casualties. During the multinational occupation of post-World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway and road access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied...
, for example, pilots flying across Soviet-controlled German airspace were required to maintain very specific positioning within air corridor
West Berlin Air Corridor
During the Cold War era , the West Berlin Air Corridors comprised three regulated airways for civil and military air traffic of the Western Allies between West Berlin and West Germany passing over the former East Germany's territory. The corridors were under control of the all-Allied Berlin Air...
s defined by the commander in charge of the airlift. Subsequent flights, both military and civilian, between West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
were required to remain within their designated corridor or risk being shot down.
Air corridors should not be confused with airway
Airway (aviation)
In aviation, an airway is a designated route in the air. Airways are laid out between navigational aids such as VORs, NDBs and Intersections ....
s. Airways are navigational aids which a pilot generally may deviate from when circumstances warrant, while compliance with a designated air corridor is mandatory.