Current NOTAMs vs historical NOTAMs

Comparison

Why the distinction matters legally

Opening FAA NOTAM Search today cannot prove what was published on an occurrence date months ago. Expired notices are removed from operational feeds by design. Historical reconstruction requires archive query with ICAO and validity date — the core function of NOTAM History.

Courts and boards expect contemporaneous official publications. Archive retrieval provides that layer when live systems no longer display the notice.

Operational briefing remains mandatory before flight

NOTAM History explicitly does not replace approved pre-flight briefing. Pilots and dispatchers must use current NOTAM products from operators, EFBs, and national systems including FAA NOTAM Search for US departures.

Historical search supports post-event documentation. See NOTAMs for pilots and dispatchers for post-flight scenarios.

Getting historical NOTAMs

Enter ICAO code and date up to ~two years back on notamhistory.com. €9.99 one-off, €29.99/year (ten searches), €29.99 top-up. Email delivery in ICAO format.

Related: expired NOTAMs, historical NOTAMs, how long NOTAMs are kept.

Training implications for flight departments

Training programmes should teach dispatch and flight crew that current briefing tools answer pre-flight questions only. Post-event review should include archive retrieval procedures.

Safety bulletins referencing "check NOTAMs" after an incident should specify current vs historical — conflating the two creates evidence loss.

NOTAM History pricing supports archive retrieval in recurrent dispatcher training using historical dates at familiar ICAO stations.

Professional use summary

NOTAM History delivers archived NOTAMs by ICAO aerodrome or FIR and historical validity date, with approximately two years of archive depth via professional aviation data APIs. Pricing: €9.99 one-off, €29.99/year (ten searches), €29.99 top-up. Email output uses ICAO plain-text format for investigators, lawyers, insurers, safety officers, and operators. Not for pre-flight briefing — use FAA NOTAM Search or approved operator systems for current US and international operations before flight.

NOTAM History queries professional archive APIs by 4-letter ICAO aerodrome or FIR code and historical validity date, returning ICAO plain-text NOTAM output by email within seconds. Archive depth is approximately two years where supported. Pricing is €9.99 per one-off search, €29.99 per year including ten searches, or €29.99 top-up packs. The service is designed for investigators, aviation lawyers, insurers, safety officers, and operators who need expired NOTAMs no longer shown on FAA NOTAM Search or briefing apps — and is not for pre-flight operational briefing.

Flight departments should document which tool answers which question in their operations manual addendum: current briefing paths for dispatch release, NOTAM History or equivalent archive paths for post-event reconstruction. That single policy sentence prevents teams from searching the wrong system under time pressure after an incident.

Archive retrieval on notamhistory.com remains the practical path for current notams vs historical notams workflows when expired notices are unavailable on FAA NOTAM Search or standard briefing feeds.

Regulatory examiners occasionally ask operators to demonstrate retrospective aeronautical information capability during certificate holder reviews. Showing a documented archive workflow—ICAO, UTC date, emailed ICAO-format output—signals maturity beyond live briefing alone.