What are NOTAMs and why you should read them

If you have been around in aviation for a while or have looked at the briefing packages created by external flight planning tools you have come across the term NOTAM. But what is a NOTAM and how are they affecting you when flying on IVAO.

What is a NOTAM?

NOTAMs, or NOtice To AirMen, are an important communication "tool" in aviation that provide information about the status of the airspace, airports, and navigational aids. They are issued by aviation authorities and contain information that pilots and other aviation personnel need to make sure they can safely operate in these airspaces and airport. These NOTAMs range from information about temporary high objects around an airfield to restrictions like taxiway or runway closures.

The ICAO doc 9713 has defined NOTAM as following

A notice distributed by means of telecommunication containing information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard, the timely knowledge of which is essential to personnel concerned with flight operations.

How are NOTAMs structured?

Initially NOTAMs may appear like a lot of random letters and numbers but there is actually a structure in the NOTAM. There are many possible codes available and there are some amazing resources available online. For the sake of simplicity we only dive deep into the explanation of the following NOTAM

A1416/25 NOTAMR A0908/25
Q) EHAA/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A /000/999/5218N00446E005
A) EHAM B) 2506121340 C) 2507011200
E) RWY 09/27 CLSD.
CREATED: 12 Jun 2025 13:40:00 

The Breakdown

The first line of a NOTAM is it's identification information.
A1416/25 NOTAMR A0908/25

• A states the type of NOTAM. A means it's affecting an Aerodrome.
• 1416 is the sequential number of this year followed by /25 the year (2025)
• NOTAMR tells us that this is a replacement NOTAM, followed by the NOTAM that it replaces A0908/25, this means NOTAM A0908/25 is no longer valid and has been replaced by the current NOTAM.

The next line is the Qualifier line, we know this because the line starts with a Q). The Qualifier Line tells us the scope, subject and purpose
Q) EHAA/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A /000/999/5218N00446E005

• EHAA is the FIR it's issued in. In this case the Amsterdam FIR
• QMRLC is the standardized code for the NOTAM (these codes always start with a Q). In this example MR stands for runway and LC means Closed.
• IV Tells us which types of traffic are affected. I meaning IFR and V meaning VFR, so combined this means it's affecting all traffic.
• NBO indicates the purpose of the NOTAM N tells us it's intended for aircraft operators B to be used in pre-flight briefing and it's affecting flight operations O The combination of those letters NBO tells us it's a pretty major NOTAM that will affect aircraft operators.
• A tells us what is affected by this NOTAM, in this case it's an Aerodrome
• The next parts indicate the location that where it's affected 000/999 are the lower and upper limits with 000 being ground level and 999 meaning unlimited, in practicality since this is a runway closure it just applies at surface level.
• 5218N00446E005 These are the coordinates and radius it applies to, 5218N00446E being the coordinates followed by a 5nm radius 005

The following codes tell us where and when this NOTAM is active
A) EHAM B) 2506121340 C) 2507011200

• A) EHAM Is the ICAO identifier of which Aerodrome this NOTAM applies to.
• This NOTAM is effective from 12/06/25 13:40z indicated by B) 2506121340
• And it is valid until 01/07/25 12:00z stated by C) 2507011200

This leaves us with one more important line and frankly the easiest one to understand.
E) RWY 09/27 CLSD.

• This is the Free Text part, this explains in plain language (while adhering to ICAO abbrevitions) what is happening. RWY 09/27 CLSD. In this example it tells us that Runway RWY 09/27 09/27 is closed CLSD

The last part, when was the NOTAM created,CREATED: 12 Jun 2025 13:40:00 this part is less important because the creation time and date does not necessarily equates to the validity of the NOTAM. Some NOTAMs are created well in advance so always check the validity date B) 2506121340 C) 2507011200

This is how Real-Life NOTAMs are structured and made, however these are very complex messages and requires skill to quickly read and understand these NOTAMs, so on IVAO many divisions have opted to use simplified versions of the NOTAM messages to provide you with information you need to know

So how do NOTAMs actually work on IVAO?

While a lot of NOTAMs are not applicable for simulator usage, e.g. cranes or fireworks around an airport, others do apply and are very important to read. In order to inform you about this important information, divisional ATC Operations departments are able to create NOTAMs specificially for IVAO. At the time of writing, our development teams are hard at work creating systems who will make it a lot easier for you to retrieve and read NOTAMs when you are preparing your flight on IVAO. For now the only source for NOTAMs are the WebEye where you need to enable them in the settings to see them.

Once you've enabled the NOTAMs in your settings you will see white-ish polygons appear on the map. If you are unable to see the polygons consider changing your map to a darker map. If you click on the polygon the NOTAM will become visible on the side-bar of Webeye.

As you can see when it comes to the naming structure, IVAO tries to follow the same identification scheme as real-life NOTAMs. In the example above, the NOTAM was issued by the Dutch division (NL), with it's unique sequential number followed by the year of issue (NL0908/25). To make sure that everyone can understand this NOTAM this division has decided to keep the contents of the NOTAM simplified by using plain text language.

Why it's important to read IVAO NOTAMs

The NOTAMs published on IVAO are there to help you navigate local procedures, inform you about restrictions, while also trying to enhance the realistic simulation experience. Not only are the NOTAMs there to help you, they are also considered part of local procedures and you should familiarize yourself with the local procedures before you log on to the network, to make sure everyone has an enjoyable experience on IVAO.

Another good example of how IVAO NOTAMs can help you, is the NOTAM shown above from the Spanish division (ES). While it is mentioned on the Barcelona SID charts that the standard procedure is to automatically switch to the Barcelona Approach, it can be hard to find these procedures on the charts.

By following the NOTAM you not only create a more realistic and authentic Barcelona experience, you are also reducing the amount of (unnecessary) frequency time, which especially during events would allow for a higher possible throughput of landing and/or departing aircrafts.

Only by working together can we push the network forward to close the gap between real-life and virtual aviation.