Aeronautical Information Management
The Aeronautical Information Management domain tests Annex 15, PANS-AIM (Doc 10066) and Doc 8126: how aeronautical data becomes the AIP, NOTAM and pre-flight products that crews actually use.
Products and the AIRAC system
The integrated aeronautical information package contains the AIP and its amendments, AIP Supplements, aeronautical information circulars (AICs), NOTAM and pre-flight information bulletins. Significant changes affecting charts, procedures or navigation data follow the AIRAC cycle: 28 days, effective at 0901 UTC, with publication dates set so operators can load data in time.
Data quality
Aeronautical data must be accurate, resolvable, integral, traceable, timely and complete, and referenced to WGS-84. Each element carries an integrity classification: a runway threshold or procedure fix needs a higher classification than, for example, a taxiway designation.
Worked example
A runway threshold is displaced permanently for a new approach procedure effective 12 June. Reasoning: a permanent change to a published procedure is an AIRAC matter - an AIP amendment issued at least 28 days before the effective date, plus a trigger NOTAM drawing attention to the change. A NOTAM alone is wrong because NOTAM is for temporary or short-notice information.
Traps that cost marks
Using NOTAM to publish a permanent change; forgetting that AIRAC takes effect at 0901 UTC; confusing local dates with AIRAC effective dates; issuing an AIC for material that belongs in the AIP; omitting the trigger NOTAM that flags an AIP amendment.