Flying near airports and heliports

Plan a flight near an airport, heliport or military aerodrome without breaching the separation rules or interfering with the traffic pattern.

Airports and heliports are the single most common reason a legal flight becomes an illegal one. The rules are numeric and they are enforced.

• You know the nautical mile figures, not only the metric conversions. The regulation states these distances in nautical miles, and the kilometre figures in study material are conversions. CAR 901.47
• You know which certificate you hold.
• You know which kind of aerodrome is near you — an airport, a heliport, a registered aerodrome, or a military aerodrome — because the separation distance and the route to authorization differ. CAR 901.47

Note Hover any dotted term for its definition, or open the glossary. The definitions there are quoted from the regulation where the regulation defines the term, and marked as not defined where it does not — so you can see which is which.

Section 901.47 sets airport and heliport separation. It does not state the distances in kilometres; it states them in nautical miles, which is why you should learn the nautical figures first and treat the metric equivalents as conversions.

For a VLOS operation, stay at least three nautical miles (5.6 km) from the centre of an airport and at least one nautical mile (1.9 km) from the centre of a heliport. CAR 901.47

Warning Learn 3 NM (5.6 km) and 1 NM (1.9 km), not the metric figures on their own. If an exam question or an inspector phrases the distance in nautical miles and you only know the metric conversion, you are guessing. CAR 901.47

These distances apply to a VLOS operation generally — they are not a "Basic certificate" rule. What changes with your certificate is whether you may operate inside those distances at all, which is the Advanced rule in 901.73.

For a BVLOS operation the separation from a listed aerodrome is five nautical miles (9.3 km), not three. CAR 901.47

There is an exception, and it is the one people miss: a BVLOS operation closer than five nautical miles is permitted if it is conducted under a special flight operations certificate — RPAS. The SFOC does not merely grant permission to fly beyond standard limits; for this specific distance it is the mechanism that makes the closer operation lawful. CAR 901.47

Even outside the numeric rings, you must not operate at or near a listed aerodrome in a way that could interfere with an aircraft in the established traffic pattern. CAR 901.47

This is a separate obligation from the distance limits, and it is the one that surprises pilots who did the arithmetic correctly. You can be outside every ring and still be unlawful — for example by sitting in a final approach path that the rings do not enclose.

The circuit itself has rules of its own, and they are worth reading even though they are not imposed on you. Section 602.96 requires the pilot-in-command to observe aerodrome traffic to avoid a collision, to conform to or avoid the pattern of traffic formed by other aircraft, and to make all turns to the left within the aerodrome traffic circuit — except where right turns are specified in the Canada Flight Supplement, or where the appropriate air traffic control unit authorizes otherwise — and at an airport or heliport the operating restrictions the Minister specifies in the Canada Flight Supplement or in a NOTAM must be complied with as well. CAR 602.96

Where it sits is what decides whether it reaches you: 602.96 is in Part VI, Subpart 2 — Operating and Flight Rules, and section 602.01 says that subpart does not apply in respect of remotely piloted aircraft. What binds a remotely piloted aircraft at a listed aerodrome is the Part IX rule — the prohibition on operating there in a manner that could interfere with an aircraft in the established traffic pattern, in section 901.47 — and, inside the ring on an Advanced certificate, the aerodrome's established procedure under 901.73. CAR 602.01 CAR 901.47

Read the circuit rules as the picture of what the other traffic is doing in the airspace you are sharing. That is why they are here rather than in a list of your own obligations. CAR 602.96

Aerodromes operated under the authority of the Minister of National Defence carry their own three nautical mile separation, and the authorization that lifts it comes from the Department of National Defence rather than from Transport Canada or NAV CANADA. CAR 901.47 AIM 3.2.35

Every category this lesson has named comes from one sentence. Section 301.01 opens Subpart 1 of Part III — the aerodrome subpart — in respect of all aerodromes except airports, heliports and military aerodromes. CAR 301.01

The three categories the sentence leaves out are the same three the operation rule singles out, and that is why they behave differently here: an ordinary aerodrome — a water aerodrome, a flying club's field, a municipal strip — is inside that subpart, while an airport, a heliport and a military aerodrome are not, and each of the three has its own treatment in the operation rule (901.47) and, for the military one, its own authorizing authority. CAR 301.01 CAR 901.47

Section 901.73 lets an Advanced holder operate closer than the 3 NM (5.6 km) / 1 NM (1.9 km) distances, but only when doing so in accordance with the established procedure that applies to that specific airport or heliport. CAR 901.73 CAR 901.47

Note how section 901.47 is drafted: its VLOS distance limits are expressly "subject to section 901.73". The Basic distances and the Advanced procedure are therefore two layers of one scheme, not two competing rules.

Note Checking the distance on a map is step one. Confirming that a published established procedure exists for that aerodrome — and following it — is step two, and it is where an Advanced operation is actually won or lost. AIM 3.4.1 AIM 3.4.1

The established-procedure questions sometimes quote a reporting duty from Division V of Part VI, Subpart 2 — every report made under it, to whom, and when. Those sections sit in Part VI, Subpart 2, and that subpart does not apply in respect of remotely piloted aircraft: the duty belongs to the crewed-aircraft rules, and seeing it quoted in a question is not the same as being bound by it. CAR 602.01 CAR 602.98

What does bind the operation at an airport or heliport is the pair this lesson has been describing: the established procedure for that aerodrome under section 901.73, and the CARs requirements the operation must still meet — including, for an advanced operation, the three nautical mile and one nautical mile provisions. The distinction is the same one that runs through the whole Part IX corpus: which PART is speaking decides whether the rule reaches you. CAR 901.73 CAR 602.01

Your flight plan is compliant only when all of the following hold:

• You used nautical miles: 3 NM (5.6 km) airport, 1 NM (1.9 km) heliport for VLOS CAR 901.47
• For BVLOS, the separation is 5 NM (9.3 km), or you hold an SFOC-RPAS CAR 901.47
• Your route does not interfere with the established traffic pattern
• If within the rings on an Advanced certificate, you are following the aerodrome's established procedure
• If a military aerodrome, authorization comes from DND

Situation	What you need
VLOS, more than 3 NM (5.6 km) from an airport	Ordinary VLOS rules apply CAR 901.47
VLOS, within 3 NM (5.6 km) of an airport, Basic certificate	Not permitted CAR 901.47
VLOS, within 3 NM (5.6 km) of an airport, Advanced certificate	The aerodrome's established procedure, per 901.73 CAR 901.73
BVLOS, within 5 NM (9.3 km) of a listed aerodrome	An SFOC-RPAS, or stay outside the ring CAR 901.47
Within the traffic pattern, any certificate	Not permitted — 901.47(1) applies independently CAR 901.47
An ordinary aerodrome — water aerodrome, club field, municipal strip	Inside Part III Subpart 1, so the aerodrome subpart applies to it CAR 301.01
An airport, a heliport or a military aerodrome	Outside that subpart — the same three categories the operation rules name separately CAR 301.01

Symptom	Likely cause	What to do
You checked the distance and were still stopped	The traffic-pattern rule applies independently of the rings	Check your route against the approach paths, not just the radius CAR 901.47
You know only "5.6 km" and the question says nautical miles	You learned the conversion instead of the regulation's unit	Learn 3 NM / 1 NM first CAR 901.47
You hold Advanced and assumed you may fly inside the ring	The exception requires an established procedure	Confirm one exists for that aerodrome and follow it CAR 901.73
You are near a military aerodrome	The lifting authority is not TC or NAV CANADA	Seek authorization from the Department of National Defence CAR 901.47
A question asks which places the aerodrome subpart leaves out	The exception names exactly three categories	Airports, heliports and military aerodromes — not water aerodromes or club fields CAR 301.01

Practise: Aerodrome and heliport separation distances

Practise: Military aerodrome separation

Practise: Established procedure at an airport or heliport

Practise: Interference with the established traffic pattern

Practise: Aerodromes certificate level restriction

Practise: Aerodromes subpart scope

• CAR 901.47 — Operations at or in the Vicinity of an Aerodrome, Airport or Heliport
• CAR 901.73 — Operations at or in the Vicinity of an Airport or Heliport — Established Procedure
• CAR 301.01 — Application (Part III, Subpart 1 — Aerodromes)
• Consolidation: CARs current to 2026-09-21