LFV – Air Navigation Services of Sweden (Luftfartsverket), is a state enterprise under the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, guiding commercial and military aircrafts during take offs, landings and in the air. The work is conducted at 16 airports from the air traffic control towers, and four control centres. LFV also develops new services and operational concepts to meet the increased demands for capacity, availability and sustainability. We are also involved in developing the European airspace through collaboration in organisations and alliances. LFV has 1,100 employees and is headquartered in Norrköping. Learn more about our services here.

LFV's main task is to provide safe, efficient and environmentally friendly air navigation services for civil and military aviation and services for unmanned aviation in Sweden. Transportstyrelsen, The Swedish Transport Agency, is the supervisory authority.  LFV runs no airports. Learn more about our mission here.

In Sweden, the airports are either private owned, municipal or owned by the state. LFV does not own or run any airports. The state-owned airports are operated by Swedavia. Here you can find links to all the airports.

LFV - Read more about us and our mission above.

ACR - Aviation Capacity Resources - is a private owned company that conducts air traffic services at 14 airports in Sweden. Read more about ACR here.

Transportstyrelsen – The Swedish Transport Agencyis working with rail, air, sea and road transports. They set the rules and issue permits, such as pilot licenses. They also supervise the rules and regulations. Are you, for example, a journalist and wonder about safety, incidents, statistics, etc turn to the The Swedish Transport Agency. If you want to know more about certifications, pilot training, who owns a particular plane or helicopter The Swedish Transport Agency is the one to contact. Read more about The SwedishTransport Agency here. Telephone 0771-503 503.

Swedavia owns and operates the state airports, such as Stockholm-Arlanda, Stockholm-Bromma, Landvetter and Malmö Airport among others. Read more about Swedavia here. Telephone 08 797 60 00.

Swedish regional airports AB (SRF) owned by the Swedish Regional Airport Association (SRFF) is a collaboration between the Swedish nongovernment owned airports. Read more about SRF here.

EUROCONTROL is an organisation of 40 European state members. EUROCONTROL is not a part of the EU but a full-fledged international organization. EUROCONTROL, which does not have legislative power, is working in various ways to harmonize and develop air navigation services in the member countries. Eurocontrol Network Operation Centres (NMOC) are situated in Haren, Brussels and Bretigny-sur-Orge near Paris and collects, processes and distributes flight plans which is a prerequisite for the European air traffic to operate. The organization has also other operational duties, including collecting the fees airlines pay for air navigation services when utilizing the en route paths. Read more about Eurocontrol here.

EASA – European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is one of the European Union agencies and the Joint European Aviation Safety Agency. EASA is taking over the continuously increasing number of licensing and supervisory tasks previously carried out by the European countries' own safety authorities. EASA regulations are transferred to the swedish aviation and conditions by The Swedish Transport Agency. Read more about EASA here.

ICAO – International Civil Aviation Organisation is a UN agency whose main task is to create and harmonize the regulatory framework for the global aviation. ICAO members are the states of the world. Read more about ICAO here.

The air traffic controller works either in a control tower at an airport or in a control centre to separate aircrafts so that collisions do not occur and to create an efficient traffic flow. The air traffic controller control all air traffic in the controlled airspace and keeps contact with the aircrafts and vehicles on the ground by two-way radio communications. The air traffic controller uses radar screens to see the aircrafts.

The airspace is divided into different layers depending on the height and proximity to an airport. The airspace closest to an airport is known as controlled airspace at all heights  from the ground up to 46 000 feet. The main principle is that outside the airport area, only the higher levels, 10 000 feet to 46 000 feet, is controlled airspace – the rest is free airspace. In controlled airspace LFV´s air traffic controllers guides the aircrafts through radar and radio contact with the pilots. LFV´s controller ensures that the aircrafts are managed in an efficient and safe manner. In uncontrolled airspace, it is allowed to fly without contact with the air traffic controllers (although there are safety rules even there). This means that, for example, small aircrafts and helicopters often fly in uncontrolled airspace without contact with air traffic controllers. Passenger plane, however, is always flying in controlled airspace. Designing airspace and air routes is complex. In the development of routes, several factors must be considered from the financial, capacity, safety and environmental perspective.

ICAO (globally), EASA (Europe) and The Swedish Transport Agency designs and supervises the regulatory framework governing aviation, airports, airlines and air navigation service providers.

Distances may vary depending on the phase of the flight and the size of the plane, but the separation between two aircraft flying at cruising altitude, is around 10 km horizontally and 300 metres vertically. If one would transfer the horizontal safe distance from aviation to cars driving 110 km/h on a highway, the distance between each car would be about one kilometer.

Each airplane and helicopter has a registration. Aircraft Registry is managed by the Swedish Transport Agency. Here you find the register.

There is information on The Swedish Transport Agency's website. Airlines, airports and air navigation service providers, are according to the regulations required to report deviations from normal operation to the Agency within 72 hours. A deviation does not need to involve an accident or incident, it could for example be a violation of the minimum separation, that is, when two aircraft during any part of the flight has come closer to each other than the safety margins indicate. Further information of airplane accidents from around the world can be found here. All aviation accidents since the 1940s are reported on this website.

LFV will only provide information on the scheduled commercial aviation. Private flights, state flight and more are subject to the secrecy of the Official Secrets Act 2009:400, chapter 29. Privacy protection for the individual in activities related to transportation and other forms of communication.

Not normally. Hot air balloons and helicopters have no obligation to call the traffic control if they are flying in uncontrolled airspace. If the aircraft is flying in controlled airspace, they should contact the traffic control. However, this does not automatically register a flight.

Departure and arrival times can be found on the website of the respective airport. Here you can find all Swedish airports.

LFV is constantly trying to find new ways to reduce emissions from the aircrafts. We focus on approach and take off paths and the air distance. Free Route Airspace, or straight flight paths, is an effective way to reduce aircraft emissions. Straight flight paths are made possible through GPS navigation instead of navigation aids on the ground. The joint Danish-Swedish airspace offers straight routes and a growing number in European airspaces is gradually introduced. Free Route Airspace is a requirement from the EU to streamline air travel and reduce emissions. We also work with our internal emissions, for example by using interactive forms of meetings and minimize our internal resource consumption at all levels of daily life.

The white lines after an aircraft are contrails, short for condensation trails. They occur when warm moist air from the engines meets the cold surrounding air. Water vapor in the warm air freezes to ice so that ice crystals appear as white streaks. If the surrounding air is dry streaks usually resolves quickly. If the humidity is high streaks tend to remain longer.

LFV is working to reduce the number of people exposed to aircraft noise by, as far as possible, lead the planes in the flight paths located outside urban areas. Green approaches, implemented at the Stockholm Arlanda Airport, also reduce the noise as the aircraft hang-glides over a large part of the approach. If you are disturbed, turn to the airport to present your views. It is the airport that holds the environment permit. They often have a routine in managing these cases and can also guide you further if needed.

EUROCONTROL Network Operations Portal can provide a current update of the situation in Europe.

Supreme Administrative Court decided in a judgment of 21 October 2016 that the cameras on drones are regarded as surveillance cameras that require a license. LFV manages drones from an air traffic services and flight safety perspective, and can not give permission for photoshooting with drones, but it is a matter for the provincial government.

Minimum altitude flight over cities is 1000 feet otherwise the minimum is 500 feet.
Low flying helicopters may be performing flight inspections of power lines or mapping. There may also be medical transportation.

For more information about rules concerning drones, please visit our dronechart.