Learn › What is a NOTAM?
What is a NOTAM?
The aviation world's notice board — and how to read one.
A NOTAM is a short official notice about something that has changed and that anyone planning a flight needs to know: a closed runway, an instrument landing system out of service, a new crane near the approach path, a block of airspace closed for military exercises, an outage of GPS signals. The name originally stood for "Notice to Airmen"; in the United States the FAA renamed it "Notice to Air Missions" in 2021, and you will see both expansions. Whatever the name, checking the NOTAMs for the departure, destination, alternates and route is part of every flight's preparation.
Why NOTAMs exist
The permanent information about an airport or airspace — runways, frequencies, procedures — lives in each country's Aeronautical Information Publication and on the charts, which are updated on a fixed 28-day cycle. NOTAMs cover everything that cannot wait for the next cycle, or that is only temporary: work in progress, equipment failures, special events. A NOTAM can last a few hours or, until the charts catch up, several months.
The ICAO format
NOTAMs follow a fixed layout so that both people and computers can read them. Here is an illustrative example:
A1234/26 NOTAMN
Q) OMAE/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/2515N05522E005
A) OMDB B) 2610150000 C) 2610200400
D) DAILY 0000-0400
E) RWY 12L/30R CLSD DUE TO MAINT.| Part | Meaning |
|---|---|
| A1234/26 | Series A, number 1234 of 2026 |
| NOTAMN | A new NOTAM (NOTAMR replaces an earlier one, NOTAMC cancels one) |
| Q) OMAE | The flight information region it belongs to |
| QMRLC | The NOTAM code: subject MR runway, condition LC closed |
| IV | Relevant to IFR and VFR traffic |
| NBO | Purpose: for immediate attention (N), for pre-flight briefing (B), operationally significant (O) |
| A | Scope: aerodrome (E would be en route, W a navigation warning) |
| 000/999 | Lower and upper limits, in flight levels |
| 2515N05522E005 | Centre position and radius (5 NM) |
| A) OMDB | The location: Dubai International |
| B) 2610150000 | In force from 15 October 2026, 00:00 UTC |
| C) 2610200400 | …until 20 October 2026, 04:00 UTC (PERM for permanent, EST for an estimated end) |
| D) DAILY 0000-0400 | Only active during these hours each day |
| E) | The plain-language text: runway 12L/30R closed for maintenance |
Two more items, F) and G), give lower and upper limits in plain terms when the notice concerns airspace — for example a danger area active from the surface to 10,000 ft.
Common abbreviations
NOTAM text is written in a terse standard shorthand. A few you will see in almost every briefing: AD aerodrome, RWY runway, TWY taxiway, CLSD closed, U/S unserviceable, AVBL available, OBST obstacle, WIP work in progress, ACFT aircraft, LGT lighting, FREQ frequency, ILS, VOR and DME for the navaids. The NOTAM code in the Q-line uses the same subjects: QICAS, for instance, is an ILS (IC) unserviceable (AS).
Why they matter to controllers
NOTAMs shape the controller's day as much as the pilot's. A closed runway changes the arrival flow; an unserviceable ILS means aircraft fly a different approach with different minima; a crane near the final approach can raise a minimum altitude. Controllers read the NOTAMs for their sector before every shift, because a clearance that ignores one can put an aircraft somewhere it must not go.
Read live NOTAMs
The site's NOTAM search shows the NOTAMs in force at any airport, with the raw text and a plain-English reading of each one. Look up a busy hub and see how many notices a real day carries — then try running that airport in the ATC Radar Simulator.
▶ Search live NOTAMs