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This glossary is written for virtual airline and flight simulation use within Virtual Air Canada Airline. It is not intended as a real-world aviation reference.
A Notice to Air Missions is an official notice issued to inform pilots of changes, hazards, or restrictions affecting the national airspace system or a specific airport. NOTAMs cover a broad range of subjects including runway or taxiway closures, navaid outages, temporary flight restrictions (TFRs), construction activity, parachute operations, laser activity, and changes to instrument approach procedures. They are issued by civil aviation authorities and distributed through official pre-flight briefing systems such as NOTAM Offices and national aeronautical information services. NOTAMs are categorized by type and urgency. A NOTAMN is a new notice, a NOTAMR replaces an existing one, and a NOTAMC cancels a previous notice. Pilots are required to review applicable NOTAMs as part of their pre-flight planning process. Each NOTAM follows a standardized ICAO format identifying the affected location (using ICAO identifiers), the item affected, the condition, and the effective dates and times in UTC.

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In Virtual Airline Operations

At Virtual Air Canada Airline, NOTAMs appear in the Operations section of the knowledge base and are used to communicate VA-specific operational updates - such as event routes, temporary procedure changes, or network-specific notices for VATSIM events. Checking for active VA NOTAMs before dispatch is part of standard pre-flight preparation.
  • OFP - Operational Flight Plan
  • PIREP - Pilot Report
  • NAT HLA - North Atlantic High Level Airspace