Aviation Events

Summary: Browsing air displays, flypasts, exercises and other aviation events on the map, where they come from, and focusing on one.

The Aviation Events layer shows events worth travelling for — air displays, flypasts, royal flights — and routine military activity such as exercises, fast-jet training and refuelling, separate from the NOTAM feed. Use the filter pills to narrow the list down to All, Today, Tomorrow, or the next 7 Days, and browse matching events in the list panel alongside the map. The list refreshes every 15 minutes.

Where Events Come From

• NOTAMs — each notice in the NATS bulletin is classified by the code the issuing office gave it (air display, aerobatics, formation flight, exercise, mass movement, air refuelling, parachuting, temporary restricted area) and by its words, so “AIR DISPLAYS”, “EXER.” and a display restriction are caught while housekeeping notices that merely mention a show, laser and firework warnings and the like are not. Titles carry the place the NOTAM names (“EXER COBRA WARRIOR 26-2 — BERWICK UPON TWEED”), and every area of a multi-area exercise is drawn as its own polygon.
• The RAF’s display calendar — a show is on the RAF’s website weeks before its NOTAM exists, so the Red Arrows’, Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s and Typhoon Display Team’s published dates appear as scheduled shows with a calendar icon, a note that they are “scheduled, from the RAF’s published dates”, and the event’s website. When the display NOTAM arrives for the same day and place it confirms the entry and the team is tagged on it (“Red Arrows scheduled here”). Only dates from today on are shown.

Focusing on One Event

Clicking an event, on the map or in the list, takes every other event off the map so its route, waypoints and areas stand alone; the list dims the rest and a note under the date pills says Showing one event with a show all link. Closing the popup, choosing another event or hiding the layer brings the others back.

This is a good starting point if you’re looking for “what’s on” generally, rather than searching NOTAMs directly. To be told about new events near you, see Event Push Alerts.