When two aircraft find themselves heading for the same piece of sky, the right-of-way rules decide who should give way. They are some of the oldest rules in aviation, they are nearly identical the world over, and they are worth knowing cold, because there is rarely time to look them up.
This is general educational information, not operational, legal, or regulatory advice. Rules differ by authority and change over time. Always verify against current official sources and follow your operator's approved procedures.
See and avoid comes first
Before any of the detailed rules, there is one overriding duty: see and avoid. The right-of-way rules tell you who should give way in a given geometry, but neither system lets the aircraft with priority fly blindly into another. ICAO Annex 2 puts it plainly, that the aircraft with the right of way maintains its heading and speed, but an aircraft obliged to give way avoids passing over, under or in front of the other unless it passes well clear. The FAA adds, in 14 CFR 91.113(b), that regardless of who has priority, no pilot may operate so close to another aircraft as to create a collision hazard. Right of way is a tie-breaker for who moves, never a reason to stop looking out.
The international framework lives in ICAO Annex 2. Europe adopts it almost word for word as the Standardised European Rules of the Air (SERA), where the right-of-way rules sit at SERA.3210. The United States writes the same ideas into 14 CFR 91.113. The wording differs a little, but the logic is shared, so the differences below are in the detail, not the principle.
Converging traffic and the category hierarchy
The first case is two aircraft converging at roughly the same level on tracks that cross. Two questions decide it: are they the same category, and if so, who is on whose right?
For aircraft of the same category, both systems agree: the aircraft that has the other on its right gives way. Put the other way round, traffic on your right has the right of way, so you keep clear of it. SERA.3210 and 14 CFR 91.113(d) state this identically.
For aircraft of different categories, a hierarchy takes over, and it ranks types by how easily they can manoeuvre out of the way. The less manoeuvrable type has priority. Under SERA.3210 (mirroring ICAO Annex 2, 3.2.2.3), the order is:
- power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft give way to airships, gliders and balloons;
- airships give way to gliders and balloons;
- gliders give way to balloons;
- and any power-driven aircraft gives way to one seen to be towing another aircraft or an object.
Under the FAA, 14 CFR 91.113(d) sets out the same pecking order in its own words: a balloon has the right of way over any other category; a glider has the right of way over an airship, powered parachute, weight-shift-control aircraft, aeroplane or rotorcraft; and an airship has the right of way over a powered parachute, weight-shift-control aircraft, aeroplane or rotorcraft. The FAA also gives an aircraft towing or refuelling another the right of way over all other engine-driven aircraft. Read the two lists side by side and they describe the same ladder: balloon at the top, then glider, then airship, then the powered, manoeuvrable types at the bottom. The category rule overrides the on-the-right rule, so an aeroplane gives way to a glider even if the glider is on its left.
Head-on, overtaking and landing
Three more geometries cover almost everything else, and here the two systems match closely.
Head-on. When two aircraft approach head-on, or nearly so, and there is a risk of collision, each alters its heading to the right. Both turn the same way so they pass left side to left side, the way two ships or two walkers pass. This is in SERA.3210 and 14 CFR 91.113(e).
Overtaking. An overtaking aircraft is one that approaches another from behind, within a defined angle of its tail. The aircraft being overtaken has the right of way; the overtaking aircraft keeps clear by altering its heading to the right, and stays responsible for the separation until it is entirely past and clear, no matter how the geometry then changes. ICAO defines the overtaking position by the angle from the tail, the same angle from which, at night, you would see neither of the other aircraft's wingtip navigation lights, only its rear-facing light.
Landing and the approach. An aircraft in flight, or operating on the ground or water, gives way to aircraft that are landing or in the final stages of an approach to land. When two are approaching to land, the one at the higher level gives way to the one at the lower level, but the lower aircraft must not use that priority to cut in front of, or overtake, an aircraft already on final. Power-driven heavier-than-air aircraft also give way to gliders on approach. The FAA captures the same rules in 14 CFR 91.113(g).
Distress overrides everything
One rule sits above all the others. An aircraft in distress has the right of way over all other traffic, and an aircraft that knows another is being forced to land gives way to it. This is the humane exception that the rest of the framework bends around: priority normally follows manoeuvrability, but an emergency trumps the lot.
On the ground and at the aerodrome
The right-of-way rules do not stop at the runway threshold. ICAO Annex 2 extends them to surface movement, and they matter most at a busy uncontrolled field where nobody is sequencing the traffic for you.
Taking off has priority over taxiing: an aircraft taxiing on the manoeuvring area gives way to aircraft taking off or about to take off. Where two aircraft are taxiing and there is a danger of collision, the same logic as in the air applies in a simplified form. Two approaching head-on each stop or, where practicable, turn to the right to keep clear. When two are converging, the one that has the other on its right gives way. An overtaking aircraft keeps out of the way of the one being overtaken. And every taxiing aircraft stops and holds at all runway-holding positions unless air traffic control has cleared it to cross, which is the single most important ground rule of the lot, because a runway incursion turns a taxiing conflict into a far more serious one.
In the air around an aerodrome, the landing rules in 3.2.2.5 do the heavy lifting. An aircraft on final approach or landing has priority over one manoeuvring to join, the lower of two aircraft approaching to land has priority but must not cut in front of one already on final, and a powered aeroplane gives way to a glider on approach. The practical message for circuit flying is to fit in behind established traffic rather than force your way to the front.
A worked example
You are flying a light single straight and level, in a cruise, when you spot two conflicts in quick succession.
First, another light aeroplane is converging from your right, at about your level, tracks crossing. You are the same category, and it is on your right, so under both SERA.3210 and 14 CFR 91.113(d) you give way. You ease right and pass behind it, avoiding passing over, under or in front, and you do not turn back across its track until you are well clear.
A few minutes later a glider appears, converging from your left. Your instinct from the first encounter might be that traffic on your left should give way to you. But the glider is a different, less manoeuvrable category, and the category rule overrides the on-the-right rule. You give way to the glider, regardless of the side it is on, exactly as the hierarchy requires. You alter course to keep well clear and let it carry on.
The same flight under the FAA would read identically: give way to the converging traffic on your right, and give way to the glider as the less manoeuvrable category. The numbers and the lettering of the rule differ between 91.113 and SERA.3210, but the actions you take are the same.
Common pitfalls
- Thinking right of way means you can hold course into another aircraft. It never does. See and avoid overrides priority in both systems.
- Applying the on-the-right rule across categories. It only settles same-category conflicts. When categories differ, the manoeuvrability hierarchy decides, and it can reverse the answer.
- Turning the wrong way head-on. Both aircraft turn right, so you pass left to left. Turning left invites the other to do the same the wrong way.
- Cutting in on final. Being lower on approach gives you priority, but not the right to cut in front of an aircraft already established on final.
- Forgetting the distress exception. An aircraft in difficulty has priority over everyone, including you with an otherwise valid right of way.
In Pilot EFB
Pilot EFB is a study and planning companion for the rules of the air, sitting alongside your airspace notes, your weather minima and the rest of your briefing in one offline-first place. It does not see traffic for you, judge a conflict, or decide who gives way, and it is no substitute for a thorough lookout and the see-and-avoid duty that sits above every right-of-way rule. Pilot EFB is not a certified Electronic Flight Bag, so treat it as a study and planning aid and fly the rules from your official source of record.