NOTAM system
6 Types of NOTAMs
The main types of NOTAMs are NOTAM (D) for airport and facility information such as closed runways and taxiways, FDC NOTAMs for regulatory and charted-procedure changes, pointer NOTAMs that direct attention to another notice, and SAA NOTAMs for special activity airspace, plus military and international ICAO-format series. Runway and taxiway closures are normally NOTAM (D) notices — the type TaxiwayClosed AI reads and marks on the airport map. This page explains what each type covers and how they behave in a briefing.
Awareness and training aid only. Always verify with official NOTAM briefings, current charts, approved EFBs, ATC, dispatch, and company procedures before any real operation.
What are the types of NOTAMs?
United States NOTAMs are grouped by who issues them and what they cover. These are the categories a pilot meets in a normal briefing:
| Type | Name | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| NOTAM (D) | Distant, or Domestic | Airport and facility information distributed beyond the local area: closed runways and taxiways, lighting, obstacles, navigation aids, apron works. This is where most surface closures live. |
| FDC NOTAM | Flight Data Center | Regulatory notices issued by the FAA's Flight Data Center: temporary flight restrictions, amendments to instrument approach procedures, and changes to charted data. |
| Pointer NOTAM | Pointer | A NOTAM D issued to point to additional aeronautical information, used to draw attention to a notice a pilot might otherwise not associate with their airport or route. |
| SAA NOTAM | Special Activity Airspace | Issued when special activity airspace is active outside its published schedule. |
| Military NOTAM | Military | Notices affecting military airfields, navigation aids and special-use airspace. |
| International NOTAM | ICAO format | Notices written to the ICAO standard series format for cross-border operations. |
You may still see references to Local (L) NOTAMs in older material. That separate category was folded into NOTAM (D) as part of the modernisation of the US NOTAM system, so a current briefing will not present them separately.
1. NOTAM (D) — Distant, or Domestic
A NOTAM (D) is the classification that carries airport and facility conditions: closed runways and taxiways, unserviceable lighting, obstacles, navigation aid outages, apron works and changes to airport services. It is the workhorse of the system and the type that carries almost every surface closure. The letter is usually read as Distant: the FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary defines a NOTAM (D) as one given, in addition to local dissemination, distant dissemination beyond the area of responsibility of the Flight Service Station. Neither the AIM nor FAA Order JO 7930.2U expands the letter, and the current AIM, paragraph 5-1-3, calls the same classification Domestic NOTAMs (NOTAM D), so you will meet both words for the same notices. Runway and taxiway surface condition reports, the FICON NOTAMs, are written under the movement-area criteria in paragraph 5-1-4 of the same order, but a FICON describes a surface you can still use and must not be issued for a closed runway. If you are looking for a closed taxiway, this is where it is. Full guide to NOTAM (D).
2. FDC NOTAM — Flight Data Center
An FDC NOTAM is the regulatory classification, issued by the FAA’s Flight Data Center, and it changes something in the published record rather than describing a physical condition. That covers a temporary flight restriction, an amendment to an instrument approach procedure, or charted data that cannot wait for the next chart cycle. These notices are longer and closer to plain sentences than the compressed surface ones. Full guide to FDC NOTAMs.
3. Pointer NOTAM
A pointer NOTAM is a short NOTAM D whose only job is to point to additional aeronautical information. FAA Order JO 7930.2U limits its use to traffic management program alerts, temporary flight restrictions and temporary special use airspace, and requires the keyword in the pointer to match the keyword in the notice it points to; the AIM gives a broader, open-ended list for the same purpose. It exists to catch the notices a pilot would not otherwise connect to their airport or route, by filing a cross-reference where you will actually look.
4. SAA NOTAM — Special Activity Airspace
An SAA NOTAM is an airspace notice issued when special activity airspace is active outside its published or charted times. It is a category of airspace NOTAM rather than an FAA NOTAM classification in its own right. FAA Order JO 7930.2U, paragraph 6-1-2, takes special activity airspace to include special use airspace (restricted area, military operations area, warning area and alert area airspace), instrument and visual military training routes, and aerial refueling tracks and anchors. If one of those volumes is active at a time the charts do not predict, this is the notice that says so.
5. Military NOTAM
A military NOTAM is the classification issued by the US Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard against navigational aids and airports, and military units issue them for their bases and airspace. The AIM says they are published in the International NOTAM format and should be reviewed by users of a military or joint-use facility. Civil pilots meet them mainly when operating into such a field or near active special-use airspace.
6. International NOTAM — ICAO format
An international NOTAM is a notice written to the ICAO standard series format used for cross-border operations, identified by a series letter and a structured set of Q, A, B, C, D, E, F and G fields. The information is the same in kind; the layout is stricter and the abbreviations are the ICAO set. See NOTAM abbreviations for the shorthand.
How many types of NOTAMs are there?
Six, as this page counts them: the six above are the ones a pilot meets by name in a briefing. Published counts run from four to ten, and the sources are not contradicting each other. They are counting different things.
- Four, if you count FAA classifications. FAA Order JO 7930.2U, in its terms of reference at paragraph 1-4-6, defines exactly four entries as classifications of NOTAMs: NOTAM D, Flight Data Center (FDC) NOTAM, International NOTAM and Military NOTAM. The current AIM, paragraph 5-1-3, says the same in different words: NOTAM information is classified as Domestic NOTAMs (NOTAM D), Flight Data Center (FDC) NOTAMs, International NOTAMs, or Military NOTAMs.
- Six, if you count what a briefing puts in front of you. Those four classifications plus the two categories a pilot meets under their own names: pointer NOTAMs, which the order defines as NOTAM Ds issued to point to additional aeronautical information, and SAA NOTAMs, which are airspace notices. Both are real and both are named in briefings, but neither is a classification in its own right.
- Ten, if you count distribution as well. An FAA Flight Service NOTAM overview lists ten: Class I, Class II, International, Domestic, Civil, Military, Published, FDC and Center Area NOTAMs, plus NOTAM (D)s including (U) and (O) NOTAMs. On that page Class I and Class II are the ICAO distribution terms, a Class I NOTAM being one distributed by telecommunication and a Class II or published NOTAM one distributed by other means. A Civil NOTAM is any notice in the civil rather than the military system. A Center Area NOTAM is an FDC NOTAM filed under an air route traffic control center because the condition is not limited to one airport. A (U) NOTAM carries unverified information that airport management has not confirmed, and an (O) NOTAM carries other aeronautical information that does not meet NOTAM criteria but may be useful to operations. That list uses Domestic in the format sense, meaning notices coded in the US domestic format rather than ICAO, while the AIM uses Domestic as the label for the NOTAM D class itself.
So the different types of NOTAMs you will see named depend on whether the source is counting classifications, sub-types or distribution. Whichever list you learn, the notice that carries a closed runway or a closed taxiway is normally a NOTAM (D).
What is an FDC NOTAM?
An FDC NOTAM is issued by the FAA’s Flight Data Center and is regulatory in nature. That is the distinction that matters: where a NOTAM (D) usually describes a physical condition at an airport, an FDC NOTAM changes something in the published, charted or procedural record — a temporary flight restriction, an amended instrument approach procedure, or charted data that cannot wait for the next chart cycle.
They tend to be longer and written in fuller sentences than the compressed surface notices, and they are the type most likely to affect a flight without affecting the airport surface at all.
For what FDC stands for, the full range of what these notices cover, and a real one decoded line by line, see our dedicated guide to FDC NOTAMs.
Which type of NOTAM would be issued for a closed taxiway?
Surface closures — a closed taxiway, a runway out of service, apron works, unserviceable lighting — are normally NOTAM (D) notices. This is the category TaxiwayClosed AI is built around.
They are also the category that produces volume. A large airport under construction can generate dozens of surface notices, most of which do not affect your particular routing, and the difficulty is not decoding any single one but not missing the one that matters inside the package. That is the specific problem the app addresses: it reads the whole package and marks each closed taxiway and runway with a cross on the diagram, so the closures are a picture before they are a reading exercise.
FDC NOTAMs, by contrast, are not surface conditions and are not marked on the map. They still need reading — the app does not replace a briefing, and our data sources and limitations page is explicit about what is and is not covered.
A NOTAM (D) and an FDC NOTAM side by side
A surface closure at Atlanta (KATL), as a NOTAM (D):
!ATL 08/031 ATL TWY D BTN TWY B AND TWY F CLSD 2608050600-2608071800
Short, coded, physical: Taxiway D is closed between B and F for two days. This is the kind of notice that becomes a cross on the map. The word TWY is not shorthand the writer chose: FAA Order JO 7930.2U, paragraph 1-2-1 d, sets a fixed list of keywords for US domestic NOTAMs, among them RWY, TWY, APRON, AD, OBST, NAV, COM and SVC, and the AIM requires every NOTAM D to carry one of them as the first part of the text after the location identifier. So the keyword tells you what a notice is about before you read the rest of it. Keywords belong to the domestic format: an international NOTAM in ICAO format carries the same information in its Q, A, B, C, D, E, F and G fields.
An FDC NOTAM affecting a procedure at the same field would instead read in fuller prose, naming the instrument approach procedure, the amendment number and the changed item — a raised minimum, an out-of-service component, or a revised missed approach. It changes what you may do, not what the pavement looks like, so there is nothing to draw on an airport diagram.
Both arrive in the same package. Both need reading. Only one of them is a shape on the ground.
How to work through the types in a briefing
A practical order of attack when a package is long:
- Start with the surface notices for departure, destination and alternate — the runways and taxiways you actually expect to use.
- Check the effective times against your planned departure and arrival, not just the dates. Daily windows are easy to misread.
- Read the FDC notices for the approaches you might fly, including at the alternate.
- Look for pointer NOTAMs, which exist precisely to catch notices you would not otherwise connect to your flight.
- Confirm anything ambiguous with dispatch, ATC or your CFI rather than assuming the least inconvenient reading.
For the format of an individual notice see what is a NOTAM, for the shorthand see NOTAM abbreviations, and for a step-by-step tutorial see how to read NOTAMs.
Frequently asked questions about NOTAM types
What are the main types of NOTAMs?
The main United States types are NOTAM (D) for airport and facility conditions, FDC NOTAMs for regulatory and procedural changes, pointer NOTAMs that draw attention to another notice, and SAA NOTAMs for special activity airspace. Military and international ICAO-format NOTAMs are also in use.
What is an FDC NOTAM?
An FDC NOTAM is issued by the FAA's Flight Data Center and is regulatory. It covers temporary flight restrictions, amendments to instrument approach procedures, and changes to charted data that cannot wait for the next chart cycle.
What does NOTAM (D) stand for?
The D is read as Distant, from the Pilot/Controller Glossary definition of a NOTAM given, in addition to local dissemination, distant dissemination beyond the area of responsibility of the Flight Service Station. The current Aeronautical Information Manual classifies the same notices as Domestic NOTAMs (NOTAM D). Either way, they carry airport and facility information distributed beyond the local area, including closed runways and taxiways, lighting, obstacles and navigation aids.
What is the difference between a NOTAM (D) and an FDC NOTAM?
A NOTAM (D) generally describes a physical condition at an airport, such as a closed taxiway. An FDC NOTAM changes something in the published or charted record, such as an instrument approach procedure or a temporary flight restriction, and is regulatory in nature.
What is a pointer NOTAM?
A pointer NOTAM is a NOTAM D issued to point to additional aeronautical information. It draws attention to a notice a pilot might not otherwise associate with their airport or route.
Are Local (L) NOTAMs still used?
Local NOTAMs were folded into NOTAM (D) as part of the modernisation of the United States NOTAM system, so a current briefing will not present them as a separate category. You may still see the term in older training material.
Always verify with official sources
TaxiwayClosed AI is an awareness and training aid — it is not an official briefing and is never a substitute for one. Before any real flight, pull the current package from official sources such as FAA NOTAM Search, review the procedures in the FAA JO 7930.2 NOTAM order and in SKYbrary, use your approved EFB briefing, and confirm anything unclear with ATC, dispatch, or your CFI.
How this page is written and reviewed
Last reviewed . Written and maintained by the ETWINTECH LTD team that builds TaxiwayClosed AI. Definitions and procedures on this page are checked against FAA publications and SKYbrary; where they differ from anything here, the official source governs. ETWINTECH LTD is not an aviation authority and this page is not official guidance — see our data sources and limitations and safety advice. Spotted an error? Email contact@etwintech.com.
Find the closures inside the package
Download TaxiwayClosed AI, load a real NOTAM package, and let the AI pull the surface closures out and mark each one with a cross on the airport diagram.
Awareness and training aid only. Always verify with official NOTAM briefings, current charts, approved EFBs, ATC, dispatch, and company procedures before any real operation.