Flight tracking

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Flight tracking is a service that involves the tracking of flights, aircraft and airport activity, often using software.

Contents

Overview

Flight tracking enables travellers as well as those picking up travellers after a flight to know whether a flight has landed or is on schedule, for example to determine whether it is time to go to the airport.

Aircraft carry ADS-B transponders, which transmit information such as the aircraft ID, GPS position, and altitude as radio signals. These radio transmission are collected by civilian ADS-B receivers located in the vicinity of the aircraft. These ADS-B receivers are only able to collect information on flights within radio-range of their position, so the data they collect is usually sent to a central server which aggregates feeds from numerous individual receivers throughout the world.

Flight tracking can be integrated with travel management and travel tracking services, allowing increased automation of travel software. This application of flight tracking is currently in its infancy, but is set to grow significantly as systems get more connected.

Despite the progress, many abrupt events like sudden weather changes are not captured by existing flight trackers because they take their information not from the airplane itself but from dispatcher centers which often do not know the actual status of plane's whereabouts. [1]

Flight tracking software is available for commercial operators to track their aircraft and monitor if they deviate from an agreed flight path. If they do, a warning alarm is generated to alert to a potential problem. The type of software available also imports and reviews global weather and NOTAM information to monitor any emerging issues that could affect the flight.

List of flight tracking services

See also

Notes


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<span class="mw-page-title-main">FlightAware</span> Software company based in Houston, Texas, US

FlightAware is an American multi-national technology company that provides real-time, historical, and predictive flight tracking data and products. As of 2019, it is the world's largest flight tracking platform, with a network of over 32,000 ADS-B ground stations in 200 countries. FlightAware also provides aviation data and predicted ETAs to airlines, airport operators, and software developers. FlightAware is a subsidiary of Collins Aerospace, with headquarters in Eleven Greenway Plaza in Houston and sales offices in New York City, Austin, Singapore, and London.

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AirNav Systems is a Tampa-based global flight tracking and data services company founded in 2001. The company operates a flight tracking website and mobile app called Radarbox which offers worldwide tracking of commercial and general aviation flights. AirNav Systems also owns and operates a ground-based ADS-B tracking network that is supported by over 20,000 active volunteer ADS-B data feeders from over 180 countries. The company's real-time tracking and data services are also used by 25,000 aviation related businesses, government agencies, airlines, media channels and airports in over 60 countries.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flightradar24</span> Flight tracking online service

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Plane Finder is a United Kingdom-based real-time flight tracking service launched in 2009, that is able to show flight data globally. The data available includes flight numbers, how fast an aircraft is moving, its elevation and destination of travel. Several variants of the service are available as mobile apps including free, premium 3D and augmented reality versions. The flight tracking map and database can be accessed by web browsers.