How to Read ICAO NOTAMs

Rickie C. March 31, 2026 3 min read

The FAA has announced that during the Spring of 2026, they are going to switch NOTAMs from the domestic format to ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization) .

ICAO NOTAMs are separated into "series", which each series or lines contain categorical information on the NOTAM. This can allow an user to easily filter categories depending on severity and types of NOTAMs.

Compared to a domestic NOTAM, where all information is displayed in a single line, an ICAO format will allow anybody to quickly grab key information from the NOTAM.

Below is a sample of a domestic and ICAO format NOTAM D:

ICAO

B0667/21 NOTAMN
Q) KZAU/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/4159N08754W005 <QUALIFER>
A) KORD <LOCATION>
B) 2106231700 <FROM>
C) 2106232300 <TO>
D) <SCHEDULE>
E) RWY 04L/22R CLSD <MAIN MESSAGE>
F) <LOWER ALTITUDE LIMIT>
G) <UPPER ALTITUDE LIMIT>

Domestic

!ORD 06/001 ORD RWY 04L/22R CLSD 2106231700-2106232300

As you can see, the ICAO format is more organised, however, contains a lot more information. However, when domestic NOTAMs gets long and complicated, the ICAO format will be easier to discern key information.

How To Read ICAO Format

The first line indicates the series of the NOTAM. The first letter of the NOTAM will identify the category of the NOTAM called series.

Series and Action tables provided below.

B0667/21 NOTAMN

B	Series Aerodrome Maneuvering Areas
0667	ID
21	Day of the month
NOTAMN	Action NOTAM contains NEW information

Q) KZAU/QMRLC/IV/NBO/A/000/999/4159N08754W005 <QUALIFER>

The Q line, also known as the qualifier line, will give a summary in category form in regard to the NOTAM.

Traffic, Purpose, and Scope label tables provided below.

KZAU	Flight Information Regions (ie. ARTCC)
QMRLC	NOTAM Code
IV	Traffic Codes: traffic that will be affected by this NOTAM I: Instrument Flight Rules V: Visual Flight Rules
NBO	Purpose: intention for this, who does it affect N: Immediate attention B: pre-flight briefing O: Concerns flight operations
A	Scope: location A: Aerodrome
000	Lower limit in Altitude (000 = Default value for limit if none given)
999	Upper limit in Altitude (999 = Default value for limit if none given)
4159N0875W005	Coordinates and Radius 4159 North 0875 West 5 NM of radius