Automatic translation from German. View original text

Displaying traffic patterns in the app: what the line shows

Updated on September 8, 2026 · Tim Krauss

In short: An app can draw the traffic pattern as a line on the aeronautical chart, and this helps with orientation when approaching an unfamiliar airfield. This line is not binding. In Germany, the regulation made in accordance with § 22 LuftVO, as published in the Notices to Airmen, is binding. The line in the app is a drawing of this regulation, not the regulation itself.

Those who search for "traffic pattern app" usually want something very practical: to see the course at an unfamiliar airfield beforehand, instead of piecing it together from a PDF chart. What hardly anyone mentions is the question behind it. Where does this line actually come from, and am I allowed to fly according to it?

This article answers both. It shows how the traffic pattern display works in EuroPilot Connect, and it reveals where our data comes from and where it ends. I built the app myself, so I am not neutral. That's precisely why the honest half is higher up here than the promotional one.

EuroPilot Connect originated from the Sport- und Segelfliegerclub Bad Waldsee-Reute , based at EDMZ, 660 meters of grass, runway 14/32, not on the drawing board of a software company. Many in the team hold a pilot's license, and flights and tests are conducted on Bristell LSA, Comco Ikarus C42 C, and Robin DR400, i.e., across ultralight and Echo class.

Original view from EuroPilot Connect on iPad. Discover all 14 app views →

How does EuroPilot Connect display the traffic pattern?

In the map's layer overview, you activate "Traffic Patterns". From zoom level 9, the traffic pattern lines and approach segments appear as solid lines, departure segments as dashed lines, and from zoom level 10, holding patterns are added, also dashed.

As you zoom in, the altitude is added. For 462 of the 470 airfields , we draw the original chart lettering as georeferenced letters, i.e., the typeface of the approach chart at the exact location where it appears: at 363 German and 99 of the 100 French airfields. If this chart lettering is missing but we still have an altitude, we re-render it as our own, upright text; this currently applies to exactly one airfield. At the remaining seven airfields, no altitude is shown on the line at all.

The traffic patterns are part of the offline country package. If you download a country, they are available without reception, along with the base map, terrain, airfields, airspaces, navaids, runways, and reporting points. How this offline operation works in general is explained in detail in our article on Offline Flight Navigation without Reception.

Where does the line on the screen come from?

Our traffic patterns are a vector extraction of the AIP-VFR chart, supplied by KEYVAN Aviation as a separate chart delivery. They are expressly not not the official publication itself, but an extract from it via a commercial intermediary.

This distinction is important enough to us that it is included in the dataset itself. Every traffic pattern line from the KEYVAN delivery carries this note:

"Traffic patterns serve for visual orientation and do not replace an official publication."

However, the layer is not yet perfectly described, as it shows two inventories superimposed. In addition to the KEYVAN extract, the same layer displays an older, self-maintained inventory: around 500 additional pattern lines, plus approach and departure routes and holding areas. Where a KEYVAN pattern exists, the old inventory for that airfield is hidden; otherwise, it remains visible. This old inventory does not carry the origin note mentioned above and is less dense.

We adopt the KEYVAN geometry raw. We do not rotate it, we do not shift it, and we do not redraw it. We have manually adjusted the assignment in two places: at EDKA, where the outer and inner patterns were swapped on asphalt and grass, and at LFMS, whose pattern in the delivery was listed under the identifier of an airfield 288 kilometers away. Otherwise, each line is exactly where the delivery has it.

We remove one thing from the raw chart, namely the altitude indications, which are drawn there as letter outlines. We then overlay them as a separate layer. And one thing is added that you should know: The altitude number in the dataset does not come from the KEYVAN chart, but from our older inventory, manually read from the VFR chart at 62 German airfields. So "raw adoption" applies to the geometry, not to the altitude.

This has a downside you should be aware of: We do not correct any positional errors in the delivery. Where a pattern is offset relative to the runway, it is equally offset in the app. We had built an automatic alignment to the runway thresholds and discarded it after comparing 200 airfield images, because the raw position fit better in the majority of cases than the subsequently rotated one. This is a conscious decision for the unadulterated source and against cosmetic improvements, but it also means that the line is a representation of the delivery and not a verified truth.

Regarding the scope, counted manually and not taken from a brochure: The KEYVAN extract includes 5,572 line segments at 470 airfields, of which 370 in Germany and 100 in France. The same inventory is also permanently in the app, so that the layer shows something even before the first country download. The older inventory supplements around 160 additional German airfields, plus around 50 in Austria and around 39 in Switzerland as well as individual airfields in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Hungary.

What this says about the data origin in general

The EuroPilot Connect data primarily comes from KEYVAN Aviation via a commercial ARINC-424 license, supplemented by openAIP and open flightmaps. KEYVAN is one of eight operators with a Data Services (DAT) certificate in the EASA list of approved ATM/ANS organizations, as of September 4, 2026, certificate EASA.AOA.DAT.033, Type 1, issued on February 10, 2022.

Three classifications on this, so that no wrong impression arises. First, this certificate belongs to the data supplier and its process, not to us: EuroPilot Connect is not an approved avionics system and does not replace certified on-board equipment. Second, Type 1 means that the database meets data quality requirements without the compatibility with a specific approved on-board application being determined. Third, the traffic patterns are precisely not not part of the ARINC-424 delivery, because ARINC 424 does not include VFR traffic patterns. They come as a separate chart vector delivery, and therefore the limitations in this article apply to them, not the quality of the ARINC inventory.

Is the traffic pattern in the app binding?

No. The binding information is the publication for your airfield, not the display in an app. The legal situation is clearer than the internet might suggest.

The basic European rule is in SERA.3225, "Aerodrome traffic circuits", of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 923/2012. EASA publishes the consolidated text as Easy Access Rules for SERA , which is a reading version; the regulation text itself is binding. Anyone operating an aircraft at or in the vicinity of an aerodrome is obliged to observe aerodrome traffic to avoid collisions, to integrate into the traffic flow or to clearly keep out of it, except in the case of balloons, to make left turns when approaching to land and after take-off, unless otherwise prescribed or instructed by air traffic control, and, also except in the case of balloons, to land and take off into the wind, unless another direction is preferable for safety reasons, due to runway alignment or for operational reasons.

The clause about air traffic control is important and often omitted: At an airfield with an air traffic control unit, the control unit can instruct right-hand traffic in individual cases, even if nothing of the kind is published.

In Germany, the Air Traffic Regulations (Luftverkehrs-Ordnung) apply, in three steps:

The chain is therefore: The authority determines, the determination is published in the Notices to Airmen, and compliance is mandatory. An app is not part of this chain at any point.

A note on a common misinformation. If you search online, you will find several pages stating that traffic patterns are not binding, usually with reference to § 21a LuftVO. This reference is empty: In the version of the LuftVO valid since 2015, § 21a regulates procedures and responsibilities for unmanned aircraft in the "open" operating category. Aerodrome traffic is covered in Section 6, i.e., in §§ 22 to 26. In case of doubt, check such statements against the regulation text itself, linked above.

This is not legal advice, and this article does not replace reading the official publication for any single airfield. It is only intended to show you where you need to look, namely in the AIP VFR of the DFS and in the Notices to Airmen, and not on a map screen.

What the traffic pattern layer cannot do

This list is the actual reason why this article exists. If you know what is missing, you can correctly interpret the display.

I'd rather write this here myself than have you notice it on approach.

How do you correctly check a traffic pattern?

The display in the app is a preview, you do the preparation elsewhere. Five proven steps:

1. Read the visual approach chart for the airfield. The path, altitude, and direction of circulation are bindingly stated there. For Germany, this is the AIP VFR, plus the announcements in the Notices to Airmen.
2. Explicitly clarify the direction of circulation. If no other regulation is made, left-hand turns apply according to SERA.3225. Right-hand traffic applies where it is published, and also when air traffic control instructs it in individual cases. Neither of these is shown in the map display.
3. Check the traffic pattern altitude against the chart, paying attention to the reference. The common rule of thumb of 1,000 feet above ground is a rule of thumb, not a rule. The values in our dataset, however, are altitudes above MSL, as on the visual approach chart. The most common ones there are 1,000, 1,200, 2,000, 900, and 2,500 feet, counted per airfield. Never compare the two numbers directly: At an airfield at 1,500 feet field elevation, 2,500 feet above MSL means only 1,000 feet above ground. What applies is on the chart, along with the reference.
4. Check operating hours, frequency, and local peculiarities. Gliding operations, winch launches, or parachute jumping operations change the approach more than any line on the map.
5. If in doubt, call beforehand. At small airfields, calling flight control is faster than any research, and it answers precisely the questions no database knows.

If you need official aeronautical charts digitally on your tablet, there are specialized providers for that. The app Platzrunde.DE for example, claims to provide VFR-AIP charts for Germany and France, with the charts subject to DFS copyright. This is a different product than a drawn chart layer, and depending on what you are looking for, it is the more suitable one. We have extensively broken down the difference between licensed chart sheets and a chart drawn from data in the article on digital ICAO chart broken down in detail.

Why a traffic pattern in the app at all?

Because it does one thing well: it gives you a spatial picture before entering the traffic pattern. You see whether the downwind leg is over the city or over the field, whether the pattern sticks close to the airfield or extends far out, and where you should sensibly merge into traffic. At EDMZ with 660 meters of grass, this is a different geometry than at a commercial airfield with a long paved runway, and this difference is captured on a map in one second.

This complements chart reading; it does not replace it. This is exactly how the function is built, and this is exactly how it is marked in the dataset. How this data layer fits into the overall aviation data situation is described in our overview of the Navigation App for Pilots.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the traffic pattern altitude? The traffic pattern altitude is shown on the visual approach chart for the respective airfield and varies from airfield to airfield. The often-mentioned 1,000 feet above ground is a common value, but not a general requirement. In our own aeronautical chart data, the recorded values range from 600 to 3,900 feet, and these are altitudes above MSL, not above ground. This is precisely why the altitude should be checked on the chart and not on the screen.

In which direction is the traffic pattern flown? According to SERA.3225, changes in direction during the approach and after takeoff must be made in left turns, unless otherwise stipulated or instructed by air traffic control. Right-hand traffic therefore applies where it is published and where it is instructed in individual cases. This information is taken from the aeronautical chart and radio, not the app.

Is the traffic pattern mandatory? The regulation made in accordance with § 22 LuftVO and published in the Notices to Airmen must be observed in accordance with § 23 para. 1 no. 1 LuftVO, and a violation thereof is an administrative offense in accordance with § 44 para. 1 no. 19 LuftVO. The text of the announcement for the specific airfield is decisive.

What applies if no traffic pattern is published for an airfield? Then the basic rule from SERA.3225 applies: observe traffic, join or clearly keep out, fly left turns, unless air traffic control instructs otherwise. Minimum safety altitudes and noise protection must still be observed. At unfamiliar airfields, a briefing by local experts is the safest way.

Do the traffic patterns work without internet? Yes. They are part of the offline country package. After downloading a country, they remain available without reception, along with the aeronautical chart, airspaces, and airfield data.

For which countries are traffic patterns available? The KEYVAN vector extraction covers Germany and France, a total of 470 airfields. In addition, the same layer shows an older, self-maintained inventory: around 160 additional German airfields, Austria (around 50), Switzerland (around 39) and individual airfields in the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Hungary, but less densely and without the source reference. For all other European countries, there are currently no traffic patterns. The other aviation data such as airspaces, airfields and reporting points cover significantly more countries; the traffic patterns are the narrowest data layer.

Conclusion

The traffic pattern display is an orientation aid, and as such, it is good: real chart geometry, rawly adopted, with the original chart font and available offline. It is not a clearance, not an official publication, and not a statement about the direction of circulation. Those who distinguish between these two things will approach better prepared. Those who confuse them have used a tool for something it was not built for.

That is why the sentence with which our own dataset delivers every line is also at the end of this article: Traffic patterns serve for visual orientation and do not replace any official publication.

If you want to see it for yourself in the cockpit, you can Try EuroPilot Connect for 30 days free.