Definition
Air traffic control service provided by an approach control facility for arriving and departing controlled flights. The [ICAO] tag indicates this is the International Civil Aviation Organization definition, which is the standard used internationally and may differ in small ways from the FAA's domestic equivalent.
Plain English
It is the controller service that handles aircraft as they leave the area around an airport after takeoff or as they get close to an airport before landing. The [ICAO] label means this is the international version of the definition.
Context Anchor
Seen in ICAO-based air traffic control terms, especially when discussing IFR arrivals, IFR departures, and which controller is responsible for an aircraft near an airport.
Derivation
Approach comes from the Latin 'appropiare,' meaning 'to come near.' That fits the role: this service is concerned with aircraft that are near the airport — either coming in to land or just leaving. ICAO stands for the International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations body that sets worldwide aviation standards.
Why Pilots Care
It keeps arriving and departing aircraft safely separated and sequenced, preventing conflicts in busy airspace.
Intuition Check
Approach does not mean only the final moments before landing. In this term, Approach Control Service covers ATC service for arriving aircraft and, in ICAO usage, departing controlled flights too.
Example Sentence 1
After departure, the tower handed us off to approach control, which sequenced us with arriving traffic before passing us to the center.
Example Sentence 2
Approach control service kept the two arriving aircraft safely separated during the busy morning rush.