Plain English Meaning
An air traffic control unit that handles aircraft as they arrive at, leave, or fly through the airspace around one or more airports. It guides them safely between the airport tower and the wider en route system.
Full Definition
An air traffic control facility that provides approach control service to aircraft arriving at, departing from, or transiting the airspace controlled by the facility. Approach control facilities use radar and non-radar procedures to sequence and separate aircraft operating under instrument flight rules (IFR) within their assigned airspace, and they may also provide services to participating visual flight rules (VFR) aircraft.
Context Anchor
You will encounter this term in , , and , especially when a hands you to “.”