Notice to Air Mission:
India recently issued a Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) and closed its airspace for Pakistan-registered, operated, or leased aircraft, airlines, and military flights.
- Notice to Air Mission, also known as Notice to Airmen, is a notice 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.
- NOTAMs update pilots about changes in airspace, airports, and equipment that affect aircraft operations.
- It is a bulletin issued by a country’s aviation authority.
- NOTAMs are issued by national authorities for a number of reasons, such as:
- Hazards such as air-shows, parachute jumps and glider or micro-light flying;
- Flights by important people such as heads of state;
- Closed runways, taxiways, etc;
- Unserviceable radio navigational aids;
- Military exercises with resulting airspace restrictions;
- Unserviceable lights on tall obstructions;
- Temporary erection of obstacles near airfields (e.g. cranes).
- For reasons of conciseness and precision, NOTAMs are encoded, although the code is usually sufficiently self-evident to allow the user to identify a hazard.
- NOTAMs are communicated by the issuing agency using the fastest available means to all addressees for whom the information is assessed as being of direct operational significance, and who would not otherwise have at least seven days’ prior notification.
- NOTAMs are typically accessible through online platforms, electronic flight planning tools, and aviation weather services, allowing pilots to conveniently access up-to-date information and make informed decisions regarding their flight activities.
- Pilots who do not review NOTAMS before flight put themselves (and others) in danger.
