Improvements to the VFR charts used by pilots have been announced by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). The changes, which will increase the clarity of the information depicted on the VFR charts, follows a consultation with the aviation industry, and will appear in the new editions of the 1:500k and 1:250k series charts published in March 2014. All VFR charts are produced and published by the air traffic control provider, NATS.

The main changes include:

Addition of boundary tint to all airspace boundaries regardless of classification. i.e. all internal boundaries as well as external extremities of controlled airspace.

Reversal of the colour formatting of airspace classifications boxes i.e. white classification lettering within appropriate classification (blue or magenta) coloured box.

Re-alignment of all airspace annotations along the leading edges of airspace boundaries, i.e. where adjacent to airspace with higher base level.

Application of a white halo effect to all aeronautical information annotations that are located over land, and all airspace annotations embedded in airspace boundary tints.

Removal of duplicate airspace controlling authority names from all airspace annotations, except in the outer extremity of the relative controlling authority’s CAS.

Further information regarding the changes can be found in a NATS newsletter hosted on the NATS AIS website VFR Chart Changes