Definition
On an IFR En Route High Altitude Chart, a selected airport is one that has been chosen by the chart publisher for depiction based on specific criteria — typically that it has an approved instrument approach procedure, is open to the public, or serves as a useful navigation reference. Not every airport in a region is shown on the high altitude chart; only those meeting the selection criteria appear.
Plain English
An airport that the chart makers chose to print on the high altitude chart because it meets certain rules — usually that pilots can fly an instrument approach into it. Smaller or private airports may be left off.
Context Anchor
Seen on IFR en route high altitude charts, where only some airports are shown because the chart covers a large area at a small scale.
Derivation
Selected comes from a Latin idea meaning “chosen out from others.” That helps here because the airport has been chosen from a larger group of airports for display on the chart.
Why Pilots Care
Allows quick identification of suitable airports for diversion, fuel stops, or reference during high-altitude IFR flight.
Analogy
It is like a road map that labels only major towns. The unlabeled towns are not gone; they just were not chosen for that map.
Intuition Check
Do not read “selected airport” as “the airport selected by the pilot.” Here, it means “an airport selected by the chart makers to appear on this chart.”
Example Sentence 1
The high altitude chart only displays selected airports, so the small private strip near our route is not shown.
Example Sentence 2
High altitude en route charts depict only selected airports that support IFR operations.