A flight information service (FIS) is a form of air traffic service which is available to any aircraft within a flight information region (FIR), as agreed internationally by ICAO.
It is defined as information pertinent to the safe and efficient conduct of flight, and includes information on other potentially conflicting traffic, possibly derived from radar, but stopping short of providing positive separation from that traffic.
Flight Information also includes:
An FIS shall be provided to all aircraft which are provided with any ATC service or are otherwise known to Air Traffic Service units. All Air Traffic Service units will provide an FIS to any aircraft, in addition to their other tasks.
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Any particular FIR will often have one or more dedicated FIS frequencies where aircraft can make first contact for information. The quality of the information that such frequencies can give is tempered by the large geographical area that they cover, and in some more sparsely populated FIRs the frequencies are often not staffed. An FIS might suggest that aircraft contact a more suitable frequency, e.g., a local airport's radar unit, should that unit be in a position to provide a better service. These units often use the callsign suffix "Information".
In some countries, including the United States, an FIS is provided by units known as flight service stations (FSS).
In some countries, an Aerodrome Flight Information Service (AFIS)[1] is provided at airfields where, despite not being busy enough for full air traffic control, the traffic is such that some form of service is necessary. It can be seen as a half-way house between an uncontrolled and controlled airfield: As a part of the FIS, the AFIS provides pilots of aircraft with details of other known traffic taking off, landing and flying in the vicinity of the airfield.
In the UK this service is provided by a licensed Flight Information Service Officer (FISO), who has been validated at the particular Aerodrome, using the callsign suffix "Information". The authority of an FISO providing a service at an aerodrome resembles a fully qualified controller for aircraft taxiing, but only extends to the provision of an FIS to aircraft landing, taking-off or in flight, within the Area of Responsibility (i.e. the Aerodrome, and Air Traffic Zone (ATZ)).
In some countries, e.g., Norway, every AFIS-airport has a designated TIZ (Traffic Information Zone), resembling a Control Zone in design. AFIS-aerodromes with heavier traffic also has an additional TIA, (Traffic Information Area), resembling a Terminal Control Area.