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Aviation glossary

IFR and VFR

Instrument Flight Rules / Visual Flight Rules · Also: instrument flight rules, visual flight rules, instrument flying, visual flying

Operations and flight

Two sets of flight rules: visual flight rules (VFR), under which pilots navigate and avoid traffic by looking outside, and instrument flight rules (IFR), based on instruments and ATC.

What it is

Under VFR the pilot navigates by visual references and is responsible for seeing and avoiding other aircraft, so minimum weather conditions apply. In many classes of airspace, for example, that means 5 kilometres of visibility and staying 1,500 metres horizontally and 1,000 feet vertically clear of cloud. VFR is the norm for light and recreational flying.

Under IFR the aircraft can fly through cloud without sight of the ground, guided by its instruments and published procedures, on a flight plan and under clearances from air traffic control, which separates it from other IFR traffic. Commercial passenger flights almost always operate under IFR, whatever the weather.

The rules should not be confused with the conditions: VMC and IMC describe whether the weather allows visual flight. An airliner flies IFR even on a cloudless day, and in Class A airspace, such as that above 18,000 feet in the United States, only IFR flight is permitted.

Related terms

Flight planDetails of a flight filed with air traffic services before departure: aircraft, route, level, speed, estimated times, destination and alternate airports. Air traffic controlThe service that keeps aircraft safely apart and orders traffic on the ground and in the air through clearances and instructions passed by radio. ApproachThe phase of flight in which the aircraft lines up with the runway and descends along a defined path to the point where the crew decides to land or go around. ILSGround-based radio guidance system that leads an aircraft both laterally and vertically to the runway, allowing landings in very poor visibility.
Whole glossary

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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). IFR and VFR. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr

MLA

“IFR and VFR.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “IFR and VFR.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) IFR and VFR. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_ifr_vfr,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{IFR and VFR}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/ifr-vfr |title=IFR and VFR |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

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