GA1378 UPDATE

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4th August 2025

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Gliding competition NOTAMs

Initial Report

In GAFB103, we featured a report (GA1378) from a glider pilot highlighting the challenges of submitting accurate details for NOTAM applications. For weekend operations, NOTAM requests must be submitted several days in advance to meet the 48-hour (weekday) guaranteed turnaround for publication.

Because gliding competitions are highly weather-dependent, organisers often submit NOTAMs covering large geographic areas to account for various possible task areas. While this ensures coverage, overly broad NOTAMs risk being disregarded by others during flight planning. The more accurately a NOTAM reflects where gliders are likely to operate, the more useful it is for route planning and effective deconfliction.

Following this report, CHIRP met with the CAA’s Airspace Regulation Utilisation Operations (AROps) team to better understand the process and offer additional advice for airspace users whose activities are influenced by weather on the day – such as gliders, paragliders, hang gliders, balloons, and model aircraft.

CHIRP Comment

NOTAM timescales
Due to weekday-only working and high workload – with over 10,000 NOTAMs processed annually – AROps guarantees a 48-hour / two-working-day turnaround for standard NOTAMs. For weekend flying, requests must be submitted by 16:00 on the preceding Wednesday. More complex or large-scale activity may require up to five working days for processing.

The CAA NOTAM Application Portal provides some flexibility in exceptional cases:

Airspace Regulation hours are 08:30 to 16:30 local time, Monday to Friday (excluding UK Public Holidays). Notifications or messages submitted after 16:00 will not be actioned before 08:30 on the next working day.

Whilst it is understood that some activities by their nature will be unable to provide much notice, for activities to be appropriately assessed and promulgated, timely submission of notifications is essential. If notification of this activity is less than 2 working days prior to the proposed start date, in addition to completing this form, please contact Airspace Regulation by e-mail at arops@caa.co.uk as soon as possible after submitting the notification, including the wording “less than 2 days’ notice” and your submission reference number in the email subject line.

NOTAM process
AROps scrutinises every NOTAM request, checking for potential conflicts with known activity. Where necessary, they will contact the applicant or facilitate discussions with other airspace users to enable safe coordination. Importantly, AROps is the only route for official scrutiny and deconfliction, so all events – including weather-dependent competitions – should be submitted via this process. If required, sponsors should submit a generic NOTAM that covers all likely areas of activity.

Updates via CANP
If the precise competition area becomes clearer closer to the event, such as during a weekend, the NOTAM can be supplemented via the Civil Aircraft Notification Procedure (CANP). Although designed to notify military aircrew of low-level (<2000’) civil aviation activity, CANP details are also published as NOTAMs and visible to both civil and military users. CANPs are managed by Low Flying Coordination at the Military Airspace Management Cell, and it may take up to four hours for the information to be processed and distributed. For best effect, submissions should be made the evening before flying. However, CANP is a notification-only process; it does not provide scrutiny or deconfliction. Therefore, it should only be used as a follow-up to a CAA NOTAM, not a replacement.

Submissions should be sent to: Swk-mamclfcoord@mod.gov.uk

Summary
To maximise airspace safety and situational awareness:

Submit NOTAMs early through the CAA – ideally 5 working days in advance.
Include the broadest reasonable area if weather may affect the location.
Use CANP as a tactical amendment once the area becomes clear, but never as a substitute for the formal NOTAM process.
Always coordinate directly with AROps if timelines are tight.

Key Issues relating to this report

Human Factors considerations

This report highlights a number of classic Human Factors themes: planning under uncertainty, communication across organisational boundaries and the need for realistic mental models when interpreting NOTAMs.

From the perspective of the event organiser, the challenge lies in trying to balance compliance with formal notification timelines against the inherently variable nature of weather-dependent activity. The temptation is often to ‘play it safe’ by submitting an overly large NOTAM; but, this can be counterproductive if it reduces the likelihood that other airspace users will treat it as meaningful. The risk is that NOTAMs become ‘background noise’ if perceived as too vague or covering implausibly large areas.

For other pilots, Human Factors come into play when reviewing and interpreting NOTAMs. If we assume a NOTAM is irrelevant or overly cautious without taking the time to read it properly, we increase the risk of an unintended airspace conflict. Maintaining a healthy respect for published NOTAMs and understanding why they may sometimes be broad in scope, helps support collective situational awareness.

At the systemic level, this issue also reflects a wider Human Factors challenge: the tension between bureaucratic process versus operational practicality. Everyone involved – regulators and pilots alike – must work together to create processes that are usable, timely and trusted.

For weather-sensitive operations, a two-stage approach (early submission plus timely tactical update) may offer the best compromise between accuracy and compliance.

Ultimately, good planning and mutual understanding are key to safe and efficient shared use of airspace.