The official portals requiring a login are one level up on the Flight Planning page. Here are the sources alongside them: freely accessible, without registration and usually quicker to read than the official original. They do not replace the briefing, they make it shorter.
As of 11 September 2026. All links were checked on that day. The AIP, NOTAM and official aviation weather are binding – the pages here are tools for preparation, not a substitute source.
What applies today: airspace and NOTAM
DFS WebAUP – which reservations and restrictions are active in Germany today – ED-R, TRA and TSA in the daily plan.
DABS Switzerland – the daily Swiss airspace bulletin as a map. Requires JavaScript.
NOTAM map Germany – NOTAM on a map instead of a desert of text, with filters for altitude and time period.
NOTAM map Austria – the same display for Austria.
NOTAM map Switzerland – the same display for Switzerland.
NOTAM map Italy – the same display for Italy.
NOTAM map France – the same display for France.
Notamify – translates NOTAM abbreviations into readable sentences – helpful when a notice looks like more than it is.
Weather: the big picture
Wetterzentrale, top charts – GFS charts far into the future. Good for the question of whether anything will come of the weekend at all.
Wetter3 – surface pressure, 500 hPa and fronts as animations – the general weather situation in one minute.
WXCharts – ECMWF and GFS side by side. If both models say the same, the forecast is reliable.
meteoblue weather maps – satellite, radar, wind and METAR on one map, for all of central Europe.
sat24 – satellite image of Europe in time-lapse, optionally with radar on top.
Meteoradar Switzerland – fine-grained precipitation radar for the northern side of the Alps – also useful for the way into the Rhine valley.
MeteoSwiss – forecasts and model charts from the Swiss weather service.
Thermals, wind and foehn
Windy – wind, gusts and cloud base at every altitude, with a timeline. The map you have opened once before every Alpine flight.
Windfinder – pinpoint wind forecast for individual airfields, including peak gusts.
Thermalmap – RASP forecast for thermals and climb rates, from real flight data and model calculation.
Emagram Schänis – a tidy emagram for the Alpine region – cloud base, inversions and trigger temperature at a glance.
meteo.guru – formerly Vélivole: configurable cloud, wind and precipitation forecast for gliding and powered flying.
Foehn diagram Tyrol – pressure difference between the northern and southern Alps. From about 4 hPa it gets turbulent in the valleys.
Foehn diagram Vorarlberg – the same for Vorarlberg and the Rhine valley.
Foehn diagram South Tyrol – the Bolzano–Innsbruck difference, calculated by the South Tyrol weather service.
What foehn feels like in the valley and how to recognise it is on the page Foehn and Valley Winds.
Charts of neighbouring countries
open flightmaps – VFR charts for half of Europe, free of charge and new every 28 days. Also as tiles for navigation apps.
ICAO chart Austria – the official 1:500,000 aeronautical chart from Austro Control, paper and digital.
ICAO chart Switzerland – the Swiss ICAO chart in the federal map viewer, freely zoomable.
Carte OACI France – the French VFR chart in the Géoportail – useful before heading for the Rhône valley.
Airfield Directory – airfields throughout Europe with pilot reports, fuel prices and filters.
Airspace data for navigation devices and apps
OpenAIP – airspace and airfield data in the formats that navigation apps read. Maintained by general aviation itself.
Airspace files Germany (DSV) – the airspace file of the German Gliding Association, updated annually.
Airspace structure Austria – official airspace data as KML, OpenAir and CUP, in the 28-day cycle.
Airspace files Switzerland (SFVS) – the Swiss airspace file of the gliding association.
XContest Airspace – airspace data for all of Europe, selectable by country.
Small helpers
Sunrise and sunset – day length and civil twilight for Munich – the limit up to which you may fly.
Reading METAR, TAF and the GAFOR code is best practised once at leisure: The Weather Briefing.