Definition
Performance Based Navigation (PBN) is the ICAO term for area navigation conducted to defined performance requirements rather than to specific equipment or sensor types. A PBN operation specifies the accuracy, integrity, continuity, availability, and functionality the navigation system must deliver along a given route, procedure, or in a given airspace, expressed through a navigation specification.
Plain English
Instead of telling pilots which navigation equipment to use, ICAO tells them how accurately and reliably they need to navigate. Any equipment that can meet that standard is acceptable. The aircraft is judged by how well it navigates, not by what is fitted in the panel.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument procedures, route planning, and airspace descriptions where a flight must meet a stated navigation capability before using a route or approach.
Derivation
Performance based means judged by results — how well something performs against a measurable standard. Navigation comes from the Latin navigare, meaning to sail or steer a ship. Combined, the phrase means steering judged by measured performance rather than by the tools used to do it.
Why Pilots Care
It enables more direct and efficient routes, especially over oceans or remote areas, while maintaining safety through measurable performance standards.
Intuition Check
Do not read “performance based” as meaning pilot skill or engine performance. Here it means the navigation system must meet a stated standard for the route, procedure, or airspace being used.
Example Sentence 1
The chart legend noted that the approach was a Performance Based Navigation procedure, so the crew confirmed their navigation system met the required specification before commencing.
Example Sentence 2
The dispatcher checked that the aircraft met the performance based navigation requirements before filing the oceanic flight plan.