Standard Terminal Arrival Route
What is standard terminal arrival route?
A Standard Terminal Arrival Route (STAR) is a preplanned Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) air traffic control arrival procedure, published in graphic and/or textual form, that guides you from the en route structure into the terminal area near your destination. It simplifies clearances by packaging routing and altitude/speed instructions into a single named procedure. If you can't maintain the required descent rate (often at least 500 feet per minute), advise ATC. Think of it as the "off-ramp" that funnels arriving traffic toward an airport—the arrival counterpart to a Departure Procedure (DP).
Also known as: STAR, arrival procedure, arrival
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