Holding patterns explained: how they work – and where to see them in Germany

A sentence comes over the approach radio, and on the flight tracker the jet’s straight line suddenly turns into an oval: the aircraft is in the hold. For passengers it means “we’ll be circling a few more times”, for air traffic control it is a precisely defined procedure with fixed turns, timings and speed limits. This guide explains how holding patterns work: from the layout through the three entry procedures and the radio traffic to the question of why Europe tries to avoid holds today. In the end, you learn where you are most likely to observe holding patterns over Germany.

Holding: the short answer

A hold is a standardized waiting oval over a fixed point. The aircraft overflies the holding fix, turns 180 degrees, flies a straight leg away from the fix, turns again and flies the leg back to the fix. It repeats this circuit until air traffic control sends it on. Air traffic control uses holds when more aircraft arrive than the runways can handle, when weather or a closure slows the approach – or as the end point of a missed approach until it is clear how to proceed.

Holds are not improvisation in the sky. Position, direction, minimum altitude and direction of turn are in the approach charts. The basic rules – speed, turn rate, timings and the protected airspace – are set by ICAO in its procedures for air navigation services (PANS-OPS, Doc 8168). Anyone who knows the rules can place every hold on the chart and on the radio.

The layout of a holding pattern

Every hold has the same building blocks. Once you know them, you read an approach chart or a flight track much more easily.

• Holding fix: the anchor of the oval. In the past, this was almost always a radio beacon such as a VOR or NDB; today it is often a pure waypoint with a five-letter name that the navigation system calculates by satellite or radio navigation.
• Inbound course: the defined direction in which the aircraft flies toward the holding fix. It determines how the oval lies in space.
• Outbound leg: the straight line away from the fix. In wind, the crew corrects its duration so that the inbound leg reaches the prescribed time.
• Turns: two semicircles of around one minute each. They are flown at about 25 degrees of bank or at 3 degrees per second, whichever requires less bank.
• Minimum altitude: Every hold has a lowest level below which no holding takes place – obstacles and neighboring procedures set it.

Instead of minutes, a leg can also be defined in nautical miles, measured by distance measuring equipment or satellite-based navigation. For long waits, air traffic control can also order longer legs. On the chart, the oval then looks stretched.

Speed limits and protected airspace

For an aircraft to stay in the oval, it cannot be arbitrarily fast. Around every hold, a protected airspace is constructed in which other traffic must not interfere. This protected area only applies if the crew keeps to speed, turn rate and timings. The ICAO maximum speeds at a glance:

Altitude band	Maximum speed (ICAO)	Typical leg	Circuit time in calm wind
up to 14,000 ft	230 kt	1 minute	approx. 4 minutes
above 14,000 to 20,000 ft	240 kt	1.5 minutes	approx. 5 minutes
above 20,000 to 34,000 ft	265 kt	1.5 minutes	approx. 5 minutes
above 34,000 ft	Mach 0.83	1.5 minutes	approx. 5 minutes

For slower aircraft of approach categories A and B, typically small propeller aircraft, a limit of 170 knots applies. In turbulence, faster flying is allowed; the protected area is designed with a margin for that. The crew must, however, inform air traffic control if it exceeds the standard speed. In the USA, by the way, separate, slightly different tables apply – anyone analyzing American flight tracks will otherwise wonder about deviating ovals.

The three entry procedures

Things get interesting when joining. An aircraft rarely reaches the holding fix exactly on the inbound course. How it gets into the oval depends on its direction of approach. Conceptually, you lay a line through the holding fix that stands at 70 degrees to the inbound course on the side of the hold. Together with the inbound course, it divides the circle around the fix into three sectors:

Sector	Procedure	What the crew flies	What it looks like on the chart
1	Parallel	over the fix, then outbound parallel to the inbound course, turn back and on the inbound course to the fix	extra loop on the “wrong” side of the oval
2	Offset (teardrop)	over the fix, obliquely into the protected area (at most 30 degrees to the reciprocal course), after the prescribed time back onto the inbound course	teardrop shape in the first circuit
3	Direct	over the fix and straight into the first turn of the oval	clean oval from the first circuit

At the sector boundaries, there is a tolerance of 5 degrees on each side in which the crew may choose between the neighboring procedures. Modern flight management systems calculate the entry themselves. Even so, the procedure is part of the basic training of every instrument pilot, because for a hold without a published pattern, the crew has to derive the entry from the clearance.

The stack: in at the top, out at the bottom

When several aircraft wait at the same fix, a stack forms. The levels are separated by at least 1,000 feet. New aircraft join at the top, and the aircraft on the lowest level is the first to be cleared for approach. After that, everyone above descends one level. Often a dedicated controller looks after a stack, and large airports have several holds in operation at the same time.

The best-known example in Europe is in London. For London Heathrow Airport, there are four stacks, named after Bovingdon, Biggin, Lambourne and Ockham. The Bovingdon stack northwest of London is named after the village of the same name with its radio beacon.

For you as a spectator, the logic is useful: an aircraft’s altitude in the stack reveals its place in the queue. You can roughly estimate how long it will take.

What happens on the radio

You do not just get to see holds, you get to hear them too. A holding clearance follows a fixed pattern. Roughly, it sounds like this: “Lufthansa 4AB, hold at ROKIL as published, maintain flight level 100, expect further clearance at 35.” Three elements are in there:

• Where: the holding fix and the note “as published” if the published pattern applies. Otherwise, the controller states the inbound course, direction of turn and, if applicable, leg length.
• How high: the level at which the aircraft waits.
• How long: the time at which the crew can expect the next clearance (“expect further clearance”) or at which the approach can begin (“expect approach clearance”).

The time is doubly important for the crew. It uses it to plan fuel, and it is the schedule in case of radio failure: the aircraft then leaves the hold at the stated time. If it is foreseeable that a flight has to enter a hold, air traffic control gives the instruction a few minutes before the fix is reached if possible, so that the crew can slow down in time. More on radio language is in the guide Radio phraseology explained, and how the frequencies are organized is in Understanding aviation radio frequencies.

Fuel: the real limit

There is no legal maximum duration for holds. The limit is set by the tank. Besides fuel for the flight, approach and alternate airport, airlines plan a final reserve, which for jets is designed for around 30 minutes of holding at 1,500 feet above the airport. If a crew expects holds – say on a thunderstorm day or at a known busy hub – it tankers extra.

In the hold, the crew recalculates continuously: how many circuits are left before continuing to the alternate is no longer safe? If it gets tight, it reports minimum fuel to air traffic control. That is not yet an emergency, but it says: no further delay is possible. If a landing below the final reserve is looming, Mayday fuel is declared, and the aircraft gets priority. More common is the third way: the crew breaks off in good time and flies to the alternate airport. How such decisions are made is described in the article Diversion to an alternate airport.

So holds cost money and fuel and cause additional emissions and noise in the area below the holding fix. That is exactly why European air traffic control tries to avoid them.

Waiting without circling: AMAN, XMAN and Point Merge

An aircraft flying ovals at 7,000 feet uses more fuel than one that absorbs the same delay at cruising altitude by flying slower. Three tools build on this and make holds rarer at large airports today:

• Arrival manager (AMAN): A planning system calculates an optimal sequence and target time for each arrival. It shows the controller how many minutes an aircraft has to lose or gain. The controller implements this through speed, radar vectoring, detours – or a hold.
• Extended AMAN (XMAN): The sequence is planned as early as 180 to 200 nautical miles before the destination. Controllers in upstream sectors, often in a different control center or country, then give speed instructions in cruise. The first trial took place in April 2014 for Heathrow. EU requirements, first set out in 2014 in the so-called Pilot Common Project, have required this function since 2024 at a number of large airports, including Frankfurt and Munich.
• Point Merge: A procedure developed by Eurocontrol in 2006. Instead of in an oval, aircraft fly on arc-shaped waiting routes at an equal distance from a merge point. The controller sends them “direct” to the point at the right moment. It was introduced in Oslo (2011) and Dublin (2012), among others; according to Eurocontrol, 61 airports in 23 countries now use it.

Holds will not disappear entirely, though. When a thunderstorm hangs over the airport or a runway is suddenly closed, no planning from 200 miles out helps. Then air traffic control needs a place where it can safely park aircraft. In Germany, the DFS German Air Navigation Services is responsible for this, and Eurocontrol coordinates the European traffic flow.

Where to see holds in Germany

Holds usually lie at the edge of the approach area, where the standard arrival routes (STARs) lead in from the airways. How these routes are built is explained in SID and STAR explained. Important in advance: holding fixes and procedures change with every revision of the approach charts. Only the current aeronautical information publication is authoritative.

Munich: four holding fixes around the airport

At Munich Airport, the arrival routes lead to four holding fixes distributed around the airport: ROKIL, LANDU, BETOS and NAPSA. If capacity is insufficient, aircraft wait there. During morning arrival waves, summer thunderstorms and snow clearing in winter, you often see several ovals at once on the live map. You can experience the landings afterward, for example, at the visitors’ hill (Besucherhügel); more locations are in the Munich plane spotting guide.

Frankfurt: dense approach, targeted planning

At Frankfurt Airport, air traffic control also works with holding fixes at the edge of the approach area, where the standard arrivals begin. Because of the many arrivals, it relies heavily on arrival planning here to avoid holds – Frankfurt is one of the airports for which extended arrival management is mandatory. You therefore see holds mainly during disruptions: thunderstorm situations, winter operations or a change of runway direction in use. How that works is described in Understanding the runway direction in use at airports, and spots for landings are in the Frankfurt plane spotting guide.

Southern Baden: a Swiss hold over Germany

A special case lies in the southwest. For Zurich Airport, there are several published holds, including AMIKI in the east and RILAX in the north – over southern German territory. Because holds bring noise, the approaches over southern Germany have been part of the German-Swiss aircraft noise dispute for years. A state treaty on this signed in 2012 was not ratified by Germany. Anyone living in the region therefore sometimes sees Zurich arrivals circling over their own house. You can photograph the landings in Zurich, for example, at Butzenbüel.

Smaller airports

Smaller commercial airports also have published holds – often at the end of the missed approach procedure. After a go-around, an aircraft can wait there until weather or runway allow a new attempt. In addition, training flights use such procedures for practice. An oval over a regional airport is therefore often training and not a delay.

Place	Holding fixes / location	When you are most likely to see them	How to observe them
Munich	ROKIL, LANDU, BETOS, NAPSA around the airport	Arrival waves, summer thunderstorms, snow clearing	Flight tracker, then landings at the visitors’ hill
Frankfurt	Holding fixes at the edge of the approach area	Disruptions: thunderstorms, winter, runway direction changes	Flight tracker, flight track portal
Southern Baden	RILAX (hold for Zurich)	Peak times in Zurich	Flight tracker, from the ground in clear skies
Regional airports	mostly at the missed approach fix	Bad weather, go-arounds, training	Flight tracker, aviation radio where permitted

The best way to observe holds

From the ground, waiting jets are usually high and small. You rarely recognize the oval shape with the naked eye – you only see the same aircraft pass several times in a similar direction. It works better with technology:

What to keep in mind

• A hold does not mean an emergency. Aircraft in real distress are treated with priority. A transponder code tells you more than an oval – see Squawk codes 7500, 7600, 7700.
• Not every oval is a hold. Survey flights, police helicopters and training flights also circle. Type, altitude and callsign give clues.
• Names become outdated. Waypoints are renamed or relocated. Always check the current status before comparing.
• Arrival times are estimates. Forecasts on flight tracker services do not always reflect holds cleanly. The background on delays is explained in Why flights are delayed.
• Noise is a real issue. Anyone living under a holding fix sees holds differently from a spotter. Respect that when you write about it in forums or on social networks.

Conclusion

A holding pattern is a strictly regulated oval: holding fix, inbound course, right turns, legs of one or one and a half minutes and fixed speed limits keep every aircraft within its protected airspace. How it gets in is decided by the direction of approach. How long it stays is told by the controller with the “expect further clearance” time, and how long it can stay is told by the tank. Europe is increasingly shifting the waiting into cruise, but in thunderstorms, snow or runway closures, the hold remains indispensable. Over Germany, you are most likely to see it around Munich and Frankfurt – and over southern Baden, where Zurich arrivals circle at RILAX.