Definition
An air traffic control facility (tower, approach control, center, or flight service station) to which control of an aircraft is being transferred from another ATC facility.
Plain English
The next ATC facility that will be talking to and controlling the aircraft after a handoff.
Context Anchor
Seen in ATC coordination and transfer-of-control discussions, especially when one controller or facility passes an aircraft to another.
Derivation
“Receiving” comes from the idea of taking or accepting something. “Facility” in aviation can mean an official air traffic control place or unit, not just a building. Together, the term means the ATC facility that is accepting the aircraft or its information from another facility.
Why Pilots Care
Your flight plan must reach the correct receiving facility so that air traffic control and search-and-rescue services know your intended route and timing.
Intuition Check
Do not read “receiving facility” as a building that receives radio signals. In this FAA use, it means the ATC facility receiving responsibility or information from another ATC facility.
Example Sentence 1
Departure handed us off to Center, which was the receiving facility for the next leg of our climb.
Example Sentence 2
Position reports were relayed through the receiving facility to update the aircraft's progress along the route.