Area Navigation (RNAV)


A method of navigation which permits aircraft operation on any desired flight path within the coverage of ground or space-based navigation aids or within the limits of the capability of self-contained aids, or a combination of these.

Note: Area navigation includes performance-based navigation as well as other operations that do not meet the definition of performance-based navigation.

(PCG definition)
Allows a pilot to fly a selected course to a predetermined point without the need to overfly ground-based navigation facilities, by using waypoints. (PHAK definition)

Source: FAA Pilot/Controller Glossary (definition from the 2023 edition; current: Change 1 of 7 August 2025); Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge (definition from the FAA-H-8083-25B, 2016; current: FAA-H-8083-25C, 2023, with the October 2025 addendum).

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Glossary last updated 2026-10-28.