Standard terminal arrival route

In aviation, a standard terminal arrival (STAR) is a published flight procedure followed by aircraft on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan just before reaching a destination airport.

A STAR is an air traffic control (ATC)-coded IFR arrival route established for application to arriving IFR aircraft destined for certain airports. Area navigation (RNAV) STAR/FMSP procedures for arrivals serve the same purpose but are used only by aircraft equipped with flight management systems (FMS) or GPS. The purpose of both is to simplify clearance delivery procedures and facilitate transition between en route and instrument approach procedures.