| ABBRIVIATION | PRONUNCIATION | TERM |
|---|---|---|
| aal | ay ay ell | above aerodrome level |
| a/c | aircraft | aircraft |
| ACAS | ay-kass | airborne collision-avoidance system |
| ACC | ay see see | Area Control Centre |
| ADF | ay dee eff | automatic direction-finding equipment |
| ADR | ay dee or | Advisory Route |
| ADT | ay dee tee | approved departure time |
| AFTN | ay eff tee enn | Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network |
| AIG | ay gee | Air/Ground radio |
| agl | ay gee ell | above ground level |
| AIC | ay eye see | Aeonautical Information Circular |
| AlP | ay eye pee | Aeronautical Information Publication |
| AIS | ay eye ess | Aeronautical Information Services |
| amsl | ay emm ess ell | above mean sea level |
| ANO | ay enn oh | Air Navigation Order |
| ATA | ay tee ay | actual time of arrival |
| ATC | ay tee see | Air Traffic Control |
| ATD | ay tee dee | actual time of departure |
| ATIS | ay-tiss | automatic terminal information service |
| ATS | ay tee ess | Air Traffic Service |
| ATSOCAS | at so kass | Air Traffic Services outside controlled airspace |
| ATSU | ay tee ess you | Air Traffic Services Unit |
| ATPL | ay tee pee ell | airline transport pilot licence |
| ATZ | ay tee zed | Aerodrome Traffic Zone |
| CAA | see ay ay | Civil Aviation Authority |
| CAVOK | kav-okay | Visibility, cloud and present weather better than prescribed values or conditions |
| CB | see bee | cumulonimbus cloud |
| or Charlie Bravo | ||
| CPL | see pee ell | commercial pilot licence |
| CLS | callsign | callsign |
| CTA | see tee ay | Control Area |
| CTR | see tee ar | Control Zone |
| CW | carrier wave | carrier wave |
| D&D | dee and dee | Distress and Diversion |
| DAAIS | day-ess | Danger Area Activity information Service |
| DACS | dacks | Danger Area Crossing Service |
| DF | dee eff | direction finding |
| DME | dee emm ee | distance measuring equipment |
| EAT | ee ay tee | expected approach time |
| ETA | ee tee ay | estimated time of arrival |
| ETD | ee tee dee | estimated time of departure |
| FIR | eff eye ar | Flight Information Region |
| FIS | eff èye ess | Flight information Service |
| FISO | fy-zoh | Flight Information Service Officer |
| FL | flight level | flight level |
| ft | feet | feet |
| GAT | gee ay tee | general air traffic |
| GMC | gee emm see | Ground Movement Control |
| GMT (now UTC) | gee emm tee | Greenwich Mean Time |
| GPS | gee pee ess | global positioning system |
| H24 | aitch too fow-er | continuous day and night service |
| HF | aitch eff | high frequency |
| HJ | aitch jay | sunrise to sunset |
| HN | aitch enn | sunset to sunrise |
| hPa | hecto-pascals | hectoPascais (equivalent to millibars) |
| I/C | intercom | intercom |
| ICAO | eye-kay-oh | International Civil Aviation Organization |
| IFR | eye eff ar | Instrument Flight Rules |
| ILS | eye ell ess | instrument landing sytern |
| IMC | eye emm see or India Mike Charlie | Instrument Meteorological Conditions |
| in | inches | inches of mercury (unit of pressure) |
| kHz | kilo-hertz | unit of frequency |
| km | kilo-metre | unit of distance |
| kt | nots | knots |
| LARS | lars | Lower Airspace Radar Service |
| LF | ell eff | low frequency |
| MATZ | matz | Military Air Traffic Zone |
| MET | met | meteorology or meteorological |
| METAR | met-ar | routine aviation aerodrome weather report |
| MF | emm elf | medium frequency |
| MHz | mega-hertz | unit of frequency |
| NATS | nats | National Air Traffic Services |
| NDB | enn dee bee | non-directional beacon |
| nm | nautical mile(s) | unit of distance |
| NOTAM | no-tam | notice(s) to airmen |
| OAC | Oceanic Area Control Unit | |
| OCA | oh see ay | Oceanic Control Area |
| PAPIS | pah-pee | precision approach path indicating system |
| PlC | pee eye see | pilot in-command |
| POB | pee oh bee | persons on board |
| PPL | pee pee ell | private pilot licence |
| QDM | kew dee emm | magnetic heading from aircraft to ground station (zero wind) (Sometimes used to indicate magnetic heading of a runway) |
| QDR | kew dee ar | magnetic bearing from a ground station to an aircraft |
| QFE | kew eff ee | observed pressure at a specified datum (usually aerodrome or runway threshold elevation) corrected for temperature |
| QGH | kew gee aitch | ground interpreted let-down procedure using direction-finding equipment |
| QNH | kew enn aitch | altimeter subscale setting to obtain elevation when on the ground and indications of altitude when airborne |
| QTE | kew tee ee | true bearing |
| RNAV | ar-nav | area navigation |
| R/T or RTF | ar tee or ar tee eff | radiotelephone/radiotelephony |
| RVR | ar vee ar | runway visual range |
| Rx | receive | receive |
| SAR | ess ay ar | search and rescue |
| SID | sid | standard instrument departure |
| SIGMET | sig-met | significant information concerning en route weather phenomena which may affect the safety of aircraft operations |
| SRA | ess ar ay | surveillance radar approach |
| SSR | ess ess ar | secondary surveillance radar |
| STAR | star | standard instrument arrival route |
| TACAN | tak-an | tactical air navigation - UHF navaid giving bearing/distance of aircraft from ground station |
| TAF | taff | terminal area forecast |
| TCAS | tee-kass | traffic alert and collision avoidance system |
| TMA | tee emm ay | Terminal Control Area (terminal manoeuvring area) |
| Tx | transmit | Transmit |
| UHF | you aitch eff | ultra high frequency (military only) |
| UIR | you eye ar | Upper Flight Information Region |
| UTC | you tee see | coordinated universal time |
| VAS(S) | vah-zi | visual approach slope indicator system |
| VDF | vee dee eff | very high frequency direction-finding station |
| VFR | vee eff ar | Visual Flight Rules |
| VHF | vee aitch eff | very high frequency |
| VHF-COM | vee aitch eff com | VHF communications radio |
| VHF-NAV | vee aitch eff nav | VHF navigation radio for VOR and ILS |
| VIP | vee eye pee | very important person |
| VLF | vee ell eff | very low frequency, e.g. Omega |
| VMC | vee emm see | Visual Meteorological Conditions |
| or Victor Mike Charlie | ||
| VOLMET | voll-met | meteorological information for aircraft in flight |
| VOR | vee oh ar | very high frequency omni-directional radio range |
| VORTAC | vor-tack | VOR and TACAN combination |
| WAC | wack | World Aeronautical Chart (a series) |
| Z | zoo-loo | same as UTC |