INSTRUMENT FLIGHT RULESRULES APPLICABLE TO ALL IFR FLIGHTSThe Republic of Lithuania follows the instrument flight rules established in the European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU, SERA) No 923/2012.Aircraft equipmentAircraft shall be equipped with suitable instruments and with navigation equipment appropriate to the route to be flown and in accordance with applicable air operations legislation. Assignment by ATC of s/s will be performed on the basis of individual aircraft RNAV equipment information, as indicated in the .Minimum levelsExcept when necessary for take-off or landing, or when specifically authorised by an flight shall be flown at a level which is not below the minimum flight altitude:over high terrain or in mountainous areas, at a level which is at least 2 000 FT above the highest obstacle located within 8 KM of the estimated position of the aircraft;elsewhere than specified in 1) at a level which is at least 1 000 FT above the highest obstacle located within 8 KM of the estimated position of the aircraft.Change from IFR flight to VFR flightAn aircraft electing to change the conduct of its flight from compliance with the IFR to compliance with the shall notify the appropriate ATS unit specifically that the IFR flight is canceled and communicate hereto the changes to be made to its current flight plan.When an aircraft operating under the IFR is flown in or encounters visual meteorological conditions it shall not cancel its IFR flight unless it is anticipated, and intended, that the flight will be continued for a reasonable period of time in uninterrupted visual meteorological conditions.EUR RVSMAs specified in the EUR Regional Supplementary Procedures (Doc 7030/4 - EUR), flights shall be conducted in accordance with IFR when operated within or above the airspace.Therefore, flights operating as General Air Traffic (GAT) within the Vilnius UIR at or above FL290, as described in ENR 2.1, shall be conducted in accordance with the IFR.RULES APPLICABLE TO IFR FLIGHTS WITHIN CONTROLLED AIRSPACEIFR flights shall comply with the provisions of the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012, Section 8, when operated in controlled airspace.An IFR flight operate in cruising flight in controlled airspace shall be flown at a cruising level, or, if authorized by ATC unit to employ cruise climb techniques, between two levels or above a level, selected from the table of cruising levels in ENR 1.7, section 5 except that correlation of levels to track prescribed therein shall not apply whenever otherwise indicated in ATC clearances or specified in AIP.RULES APPLICABLE TO IFR FLIGHTS OUTSIDE CONTROLLED AIRSPACECruising levelsAn IFR flight operating in level cruising flight outside of controlled airspace shall be flown at a cruising level appropriate to its track as specified in the table of cruising levels in ENR 1.7, section 5.Cruising flight levels outside of controlled airspace shall not be applied to IFR flights, as specified in the table of cruising levels in ENR 1.7, section 5, below 3 000 FT (900 M) above MSL, except for cases where such flights are operated on established ATS routes. IFR flights shall be conducted not below the prescribed AMA. For State aircraft carrying out special operations, specified in Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 923/2012, Article 4, Part 1, the requirement for flights not below AMA shall not be applied, if the State aircraft operator has assessed the risks and established procedures for such flights to ensure the safety of flights and third parties.CommunicationsAn IFR flight operating outside controlled airspace but within or into prohibited, restricted zones or border area shall maintain an air-ground voice communication watch on the appropriate communication channel and establish two-way communication, as necessary, with the air traffic services unit providing flight information service.Position ReportsAn IFR flight operating outside controlled airspace and required by the Resolution No 285 of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania to maintain an air-ground voice communication watch on the appropriate communication channel and establish two-way communication, as necessary, with the air traffic services unit providing flight information service, shall report position as specified for controlled flights in SERA.8025.An IFR flight operating in the border area in uncontrolled airspace shall report aircraft’s position to the flight information service unit every 10 minutes. This requirement shall not apply to State aircraft in the border area in uncontrolled airspace.FREE ROUTE AIRSPACE (FRA) GENERAL PROCEDURESArea of applicationFRA is available in VILNIUS FIR/UIR from FL 095 to FL 660 on H24 basis as part of BALTIC FRA (BALTIC FAB Free Route Airspace).The BALTIC FRA includes the FRAs within WARSZAWA FIR and VILNIUS FIR/UIR. For BALTIC FRA cross-border applications see paragraph 3.4.Glossary of termsFree Route Airspace (FRA) - a specified airspace within which users may freely plan a route between a defined entry point and a defined exit point, with the possibility to route via intermediate (published and unpublished) significant points. Within this airspace remain subject to air traffic control.FRA Arrival Connecting Point (A) - a published Significant point to which FRA operations are allowed for arriving traffic to specific aerodromes.FRA Departure Connecting Point (D) - a published Significant point from which FRA operations are allowed for departing traffic from specific aerodromes.FRA Horizontal Entry Point (E) - a published Significant point on the horizontal boundary of the FRA area from which operation is allowed.FRA Horizontal Exit Point (X) - a published Significant point on the horizontal boundary of the FRA area to which operation is allowed.FRA Intermediate Point (I) - a published Significant point or unpublished point, defined by geographical coordinates or by bearing and distance via which FRA operations are allowed.Route Availability Document (RAD) - a common reference document containing the policies, procedures and description for route and traffic orientation. It also includes route network and free route airspace utilisation rules and availability.Significant Point - a specified geographical location used in defining an route or the flight path of an aircraft and for other navigational and ATS purposes.Note. There are three categories of significant points: ground-based navigation aid, intersection and way point. In the context of this definition, intersection is a significant point expressed as radials, bearings and/or distances from ground based navigation aids.Special Use Airspace (SUA) - a generic term used for airspace volumes designated for specific operations, such as military training, exercises and operations, of a nature such that required limitations on airspace access may be imposed on other aircraft not participating in those activities. These may include, but are not limited to, restricted, danger and prohibited areas or temporary reserved areas ().Flight ProceduresGeneralWithin FRA, aircraft other than State aircraft, shall comply with the aircraft equipment requirements published in GEN 1.5.Within FRA airspace users will be able to plan user-preferred trajectories using significant points published in ENR 4.4 and/or ENR 4.1 Radio navigation aids - en-route, respectively. For avoiding active AOs are allowed to plan their trajectories using intermediate points. Segments between the significant points shall be defined by means of DCT (Direct) instructions.Within FRA, significant points are considered as FRA horizontal entry, FRA horizontal exit, FRA intermediate, FRA arrival connecting and FRA departure connecting points, as described in ENR 4.4. All Radio navigation aids - en-route published in ENR 4.1 are considered as FRA intermediate or FRA arrival / departure connecting points.Within FRA, there will be no limitations on the length / number of DCT.Eligible flights are those operating within VILINUS FIR/UIR whose planned trajectory a partially or entirely above FL 095.Overflying TrafficOverflight traffic shall be planned directly between FRA horizontal entry, FRA horizontal exit and FRA intermediate points.Access to/from Terminal AirspaceFlights arriving at or departing from airports located within VILNIUS FIR/UIR are eligible for free route operations and shall be planned in accordance with the paragraphs below.In case of departing flight from an airport where standard instrument departures procedures (SIDs) are published, departing flights shall be planned directly from the SID final way point to the FRA horizontal exit point.In case of arriving flight to an airport where standard instrument arrival procedures (STARs) or transition procedures are published, arriving flights shall be planned directly from the FRA horizontal entry point to the STAR initial way point or aerodrome’s radio navigation aid.The SID/STAR or transition procedures might not be indicated in the field route of FPLs.Where STARs are not published, the flights shall be planned DCT from the FRA horizontal entry point to the aerodrome’s radio navigation aid.Where SIDs are not published, the flights shall be planned DCT from the aerodrome’s radio navigation aid to the FRA horizontal exit point to.Cross-Border ApplicationsEntry and exit from the FRA shall be planned using the published FRA horizontal entry and FRA horizontal exit points only.FRA airspace users will be able to cross VILNIUS FIR/UIR boundary on DCT routing on pre-coordinated by the air traffic service provider route. The planning of DCT segments across VILNIUS FIR/UIR borders (cross-border DCT) is allowed H24 only within BALTIC FRA. The planned cross-border DCTs shall be between FRA significant points of affected countries.The planning of DCT segments that are partially outside the lateral limits of FRA (multiple re-entry segments) is not allowed.The planning of DCT segments closer than 5 NM to the FRA border is not allowed.Special Use Airspace - SUA Re-routing SUAAOs are allowed to plan their trajectories inside FRA avoiding active SUA using intermediate points.Promulgation of route extensionIn the case there is availability to cross the active SUA tactical radar vectoring will be applied for shortcut of the planned route. Occasionally tactical radar vectoring can be applied in order to ensure additional safety margin between published SUA boundaries and aircraft trajectories. The expected route extension in these cases is 5 NM or less.Restrictions on the maximum DCT distance inserted in the flight plan will not be enforced.Flight Level Orientation SystemThe direction of cruising levels (EVEN or ODD) must be chosen depending on the direction of flight level required over the FRA horizontal entry and FRA horizontal exit points as described in the following table:Directions of Cruising levels within FRAFLs over FRA entry pointFLs over FRA exit pointFLs inside FRAEVENEVENEVEN FLs for all DCT segmentsODDODDODD FLs for all DCT segmentsEVENODDA change from EVEN to ODD FLs must be planned inside FRAODDEVENA change from ODD to EVEN FLs must be planned inside FRANote. ODD is the direction of IFR cruising levels with a magnetic track between 000° and 179° while EVEN is the direction of IFR cruising levels with a magnetic track between 180° and 359°, as described in the table of cruising levels in ENR 1.7.For speed and level changes within FRA in FPL Item 15, operators may use FRA Intermediate Points (I).Arriving traffic to aerodromes within VILNIUS FIR/UIR may plan from:a Horizontal Entry Point (E) or a FRA Intermediate Point (I)toa FRA Arrival Connecting Point (A)a waypoint within a required distance from the aerodrome according to the Annex 3A - General AD Conditions if no suitable STAR is available or there is no requirement for a connecting point.Departing traffic from aerodromes within VILNIUS FIR/UIR may plan from:a FRA Departure Connecting Point (D) ora waypoint within a required distance from the aerodrome according to the RAD Annex 3A - General AD Conditions if no suitable SID is available or there is no requirement for a connecting pointtoa FRA Intermediate Point (I) ora FRA Horizontal Exit Point (X).Route Availability Document (RAD)All FRA constrains, exceptions and restrictions, if any will be published via the RAD and promulgated in accordance with ENR 1.10.