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I wonder if it is possible to download a database with waypoints, navaids, airports and airways between them. I've been working with AIP documents but it's difficult to get raw information from them and they only have information about waypoints.

I happened to find skyvector.com and I thought there would be an easier way to obtain that amount of information.

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  • $\begingroup$ navigation charts, which you would find on the site of the local aviation authority. You'll need a current set for IFR flight. $\endgroup$
    – ratchet freak
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 13:03
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    $\begingroup$ People around X-Plane maintain the data originally from NIMA and DAFIF that were discontinued because some of the authorities stopped providing the data publicly. Quality varies depending on where public data are available from official authority and where not. Not appropriate for actual aerial navigation, but it covers whole world and is easily machine-processable. $\endgroup$
    – Jan Hudec
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 13:16
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    $\begingroup$ Try navigraph.com or NavData from AeroSoft. They provide data for flightsimming, but the data is quite accurate. $\endgroup$
    – SentryRaven
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 13:44
  • $\begingroup$ @SentryRaven Very good data, and up to date (at least by a few weeks or so) but is a subscription service. $\endgroup$
    – Simon
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 17:28
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    $\begingroup$ @Simon Correct. The questions was where, free was not a requirement :) $\endgroup$
    – SentryRaven
    Commented Nov 14, 2014 at 17:37

7 Answers 7

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Nice question. There are several ways how to get these information.

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I use the National Flight Data Center at http://nfdc.faa.gov

I had to write them a letter explaining why I wanted the data (http://fplan.sf.net) and they provided me with a login.

Now, every 56 days, they send me an email telling me there's an update available.

Bad news: they recently switched from a flat file to some unbelievably convoluted xml format that I haven't yet written a parser for.

Also, it comes with a disclaimer that the data is not approved for navigation. Given that I've already found two minor errors in it, just in the SF Bay area, that's understandable.

Edit: I forgot to mention that I keep a subset of the data on-line at SourceForge. I try to keep it up to date. It's at the Fplan project. These files are in the old "nav" format; documentation is included in the zip file.

If someone needs these files, they're freely available and I'm happy to make small additions to the data if anybody wants, since I already have the tools to parse the FAA data files. I'm also happy to share the tools if anybody wants.

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    $\begingroup$ Good news: I checked back and the old "legacy" flat files are still available for most of the databases. I don't know how long that will last, but for now it's good. $\endgroup$
    – Edward Falk
    Commented Aug 25, 2015 at 7:03
  • $\begingroup$ Haven't registered yet but does this only contain US data? $\endgroup$
    – PapaMike99
    Commented Feb 25 at 20:06
  • $\begingroup$ Yes; I have no idea where you would get data for other countries. I expect that each country has its own database, and no idea if it's publicly available. $\endgroup$
    – Edward Falk
    Commented Feb 27 at 22:31
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Another good one for airports and navaids: http://opennav.com/ - has VORs, waypoints, etc.

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I have successfully used The GPX Aviation Waypoint Generator from the free Navaid database (http://navaid.com/GPX/) that outputs a GPX (XML type) file with all the waypoints, airports and every other elements you choose to include.

To make a request on this API, make sure you specify the min and max GPS coordinates of the area you want to cover. This is a world wide database, not only for the US.

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This is my first post so bare with me. I don't know if you are trying to get one region only or a global data set. The issue is that member states are responsible for their own airspace and thus airport/NAVAID/intersection/waypoint/so-on-and-so-forth location data.

You may want to see about getting a copy of ICAO document 7910 "Manual of ICAO identifiers" This book cost money though.

If you are interested in the North American region (U.S./Mexico/Canada/Caribbean/and-so-on) then you can get for free the FAA Location Identifier book with FAA Order JO 7350.9x. The lat/long of every waypoint/NAVAID/Airport and the like is in it. Unlike a previous answer post you don't have to ask for access permission either. To keep things simple here is a link. FAA Location Identifiers That's what I got for you

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Updating: The link is at https://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/aero_data/NASR_Subscription/ This provide the text file along with layout data for all the fixes, etc. The CIFP can be downloaded as well, but the layout is commercialized (~$400). I have not been able to programmatically download the zip file.

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  • $\begingroup$ Seems to only cover the USA. $\endgroup$
    – 60levelchange
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 7:07
  • $\begingroup$ It's unclear what you're trying to update here. If you want to update an existing answer, please do it by editing it, not by posting a new answer. $\endgroup$
    – David Richerby
    Commented Aug 17, 2019 at 11:05
  • $\begingroup$ Only because I had <10 reputation, and it's been a few years since an answer was posted, did I enter a new answer. I am updating the link to the FAA text database, which would fully answer the question because all the requested data is at that URL. $\endgroup$
    – Chuck
    Commented Aug 26, 2019 at 22:56
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After some time spent to compare multiple open source data providers, I came across OurAirports.com - which includes worldwide airports, navaids, & frequencies. This is my favourite source thus far (with new updates going into September 2021):

I was in search of an airports database with good (well populated) records of especially smaller strips/airports across southern Africa. I came across this open and shareable .csv datasource and found it well populated and accurate thus far (if it includes most small dirt strips in Mozambique - I'm sure the rest of the world s coverage must be OK ;) ). It includes other relational datasets and unique ID's for all airports - so useful for creating a database with future update functionality from the same source.

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  • $\begingroup$ Is this a product that you are affiliated with? $\endgroup$
    – KorvinStarmast
    Commented Sep 15, 2021 at 12:22
  • $\begingroup$ @KorvinStarmast - No I am not affiliated with this in any way 😊 $\endgroup$
    – Daniël J.M. Hoffman
    Commented Sep 16, 2021 at 15:31

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