Program for tracking aircraft in the sky. Aircraft flights in real time - a unique service

We have already talked about interesting and useful service Flightradar24 in . The turn has come mobile application, which is available for iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone. There is both a free version with basic functions (in particular, displaying aircraft on a map), and a full Pro version, which is estimated at a very modest and adequate amount of utility.

So what can the app do? Firstly, this is, in fact, the display on the map of flying in this moment aircraft equipped with an ADS-B transmitter. Based on the data from it, the current coordinates (including the height) are available, and, as a result, vertical speed and speed over ground, flight number (and, accordingly, route), as well as the aircraft number and transponder code (Squawk). The latter is needed in order to be able to track, first of all, the emergency codes of transponders, which the crew sets when emergency situation on board (for example, when the aircraft is hijacked). Accordingly, there is a notification function for such situations.

You can also view the "cockpit view" of the aircraft - it's actually just a projection satellite imagery, the angle of which is selected taking into account the height and direction of flight. Since the determination of coordinates and the transmission of data from transponders can occur (and does!) with a delay and error, the picture sometimes starts to “jump”.

However, much more interesting (and this feature is only available in the application, not on the web version of the service) is the “augmented reality” mode, when you turn it on, you can point the camera of your smartphone or tablet at the sky, where, as you see, the plane is flying ... and on the screen next to this aircraft will appear all the data about the flight and about the aircraft itself. It seems like a miracle, but it's actually quite simple: Your location is known from GPS data. According to information from the built-in mobile device compass and tilt sensors, it is clear where the camera lens is pointing at the moment. Further, a simple calculation - and an elementary comparison of the available data.


Secondly, the application has convenient search flights, airlines and airports. Of course, most of all it is focused on spotters (as well as, in fact, the entire service and application), however ordinary passenger thanks to him, he can keep track of when his plane actually arrives (relevant when flying from anywhere to the home airport); and those who do not fly anywhere at all can keep track of when to meet their long-awaited relatives, and at the same time be aware that they have successfully flown to some distant Dominican Republic (after all, a disguised aerophobe is alive in almost every one of us!).


For a surcharge, you can enable the “Airport Scoreboard” function in the application, which displays the actual (as well as predicted based on real flight data) departure and arrival times for all flights at the airport (you understand that information on airport websites is far from relevant). To indulge, you can also buy, for example, a set of aircraft icons, then their silhouettes will differ depending on the type.

Online Radar aircraft in flight

Click here for a full-screen display of the Aviaradar map


We live in the era of the age-old dream of all mankind that has come true - to fly like birds! Many people do not even think that at any given time there are thousands of aircraft in the air - planes and helicopters. This program will be especially interesting for kids who dream of choosing a profession related to the military or civil aviation. In the program, as follows already from the site address, you can around the clock, in the Mercator projection on a map of the entire Earth, see air routes over any part of it, zooming in or out. Find out which planes are flying at a given time, but only of course from among those with a transponder turned on. By simply clicking the aircraft radar program online on the icon of any of the thousands of aircraft displayed, for example, the one that flies overhead, an inquisitive person can see the points of departure and destination of the flight, the route already passed and the expected route, the time of departure and arrival, speed, altitude of the aircraft, its brand and side number. As well as dozens of photographs of this particular aircraft from the site's database, taken by planespotters. The program displays all international airports Lands, when clicked, it becomes visible official name, local time and weather - precipitation, temperature and wind speed. In addition, the display shows the departure and arrival of this airport. Therefore, it is interesting to observe when one of the acquaintances or relatives flies by plane. Knowing the flight number, you can watch their flight from takeoff to landing online. And immediately after landing, when everyone on the plane frantically turns on their mobile phones (previously turned off when landing), send an SMS with congratulations on arrival. The program also displays navigation lines (immediately after sunset) and astronomical twilight (when it is full night) constantly moving on the map of the Earth, which allows you to plan your events. In addition, you can turn on the software-simulated view from the cockpit in any of the four directions. It is especially interesting to watch when another plane is visible ahead. To use all the services of this program, you need to pay a small monthly fee. But the main and most requested online flight radar functions are available for free. You only need to reboot every half an hour, which is not particularly annoying.

The wide coverage of Flyradar ensures the service's successful operation throughout Europe and the United States of America. The functionality of the tracker was appreciated by clients from Ukraine, Russia, Canada, Mexico, Latin America, South Africa, and in Asian countries it generally occupies a leading position among similar services.

Flightradar24 covers almost every country in the world, tracking 960 airlines and 32,505 aircraft. The service also provides detailed information about the work of 8675 airports located in 190 countries. Flightradar monitors their condition, weather in the region, keeps records of the number of departing and arriving aircraft. Those airports that are under the control of the radar are marked in blue.

The coverage quality is determined not only by the number of installed ADS-B receivers, but also by their technical specifications and the location of the antennas. One ground station capable of receiving aircraft signals within a radius of 200 to 400 km.

Visibility air transport depends not only on the capabilities of the receiving station, but also on other factors, such as the type of aircraft and transponder. Of no small importance are such indicators as: flight altitude and terrain - it is obvious that equipment on the plain will show the best result.

FlightRadar | History and description

In 2007 the Swedish Travel company Network developed the Flightradar24 real-time aircraft tracking system in the air. The radar operates 24 hours a day. The data received by the system is displayed on a map and allows you to see aircraft online all over the world - a map of aircraft flights.

When you select any aircraft on the map, the system displays a list of its data, including:

  • type of aircraft and its photo,
  • tail number and airline affiliation,
  • place of departure and landing,
  • altitude and current speed,
  • geographic position in degrees,
  • distance traveled from the departure airport and other data.

The system also supports aircraft search by flight number.

The database is updated every few seconds, and the positions of all aircraft on the map are specified. The collected data is stored in the system memory for 28 days, allowing you to track not only current flights, but also those that have already ended. This Flyradar24 has become very popular in our time. People use it for certain tasks - to track a flight, or they are just interested in watching planes online on the radar.

The principle of operation of the Flyradar

Almost all aircraft of the latest generations use the method of receiving flight information from the aircraft using the ADS-B transponder. This allows you to track the movement of freight and passenger aircraft in various parts the globe. However, the system does not track aircraft not equipped with this transmitter.

Currently, no more than 60% of aircraft in the world (less than 30% in the US, but more than 70% in Europe) are equipped with this device, but their number is constantly increasing.

What is the coverage area of ​​the Fly Radar system?
Aircraft Map - The FlightRadar system uses over 500 transceiver stations that communicate with the ADS-B transponder. They collect information from all aircraft in the air, equipped with ADS-B transponders, and transmit it to the central server of the system, which, after processing the data, displays the position of these aircraft on a map in real time.

Of course, aircraft without ADS-B transponders, or those outside the coverage area of ​​the network of stations, are not displayed on the service map. More than 90% of Europe is covered by a network of stations, and coverage is also present in the North and South America, Australia, in Japan and some other regions of the Earth.

Displayed aircraft types on Flyradar
Listed below are all types of aircraft displayed by the system (having an ADS-B transponder):

  • All Airbus (Airbus A300 - A380)
  • BAeATP
  • BAe Avro RJ70-85-100
  • The most popular Boeing modifications (Boeing 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 787)
  • Newest Embraer E190
  • Fokker 70-100
  • Gulfstream V, Gulfstream G500/550
  • McDonnell Douglas MD10–MD11
  • Sukhoi SuperJet 100
  • The latest models Ilov and Tu (IL-96 and Tu-204)

Aircraft types not displayed on Flightradar24 (not having an ADS-B sensor)

  • An-225 "Mriya"
  • ATR-42-72
  • Boeing 707, 717, 727, 737-200, 747-100, 747-200, 747SP
  • CASA all models
  • Bombardier all models
  • Dornier 328
  • Embraer Legacy Models
  • Jetstream 32
  • Fokker 50
  • McDonnell Douglas DC-9, MD-8x, MD-9x
  • Saab 340-2000
  • Aircraft of the Presidents ("Air Force One")
  • Outdated aircraft models
  • The vast majority of military aircraft of all countries

There are also a huge number of exceptions. Some aircraft from various companies or popular Cessna private jets are visible on the Flyradar, while some Boeing and Airbus aircraft not equipped with ADS-B transmitters are not visible on the service map. The online aircraft map is one of the most interesting inventions that is being improved every day - stay tuned.

If you have someone who loves to travel, flying around the country and around the world, then you will most likely want to find a way to track his flight and make sure he arrives safely at his destination. And if you take into account all the missing in Lately planes, then such a desire is quite justified. The choice of applications designed for these purposes is simply huge. We bring to your attention the best of them.

Airline Flight Status Tracking

With FlightHero, you can follow the flight by watching the aircraft in real time, get information about the specific time of arrival or departure of airliners at the airports you need. Its synchronization with the social travel organizer TripIt (which is also a “not sickly” application) is provided. In addition, you will have access to both the current coordinates of the aircraft and its cruising speed.

Flightradar24 Free

The Flightradar24 app has a wide range of features. You will be able to learn about the movement of the aircraft in real time, information about the airline, and even information about the call signs of individual aircraft. If you decide to purchase Flightradar24 Pro (paid version of the application), you will have at your disposal detailed information about each individual aircraft, including its route, speed, flight altitude, etc. With the help of augmented reality technology, it will be possible to identify an aircraft flying over you. All you have to do is point your phone's camera at the sky. It will not be difficult to find a specific flight; filter information by parameters such as the name of the carrier company, flight altitude, speed, and more. Moreover, you can receive alerts about emergency signals, see directly on the map the flight route, call signs of any aircraft and airline logos in relation to a particular flying aircraft.

flight tracker

Compared to other applications presented in this review, the Flight Tracker application is not as feature rich. But with its help, you will have the opportunity to use such a service as receiving real-time information about the status of a particular flight. Regardless of the location of the airport, data on the exact time of departure and arrival of aircraft and information about the terminals at the gate will be available. Definitely not the most best app However, by providing reliable information, it clearly and fully fulfills the tasks assigned to it. Which, you see, is also not so bad.

Airport (All) + Flight Tracker



It's a truly amazing feature-packed app that runs on a version of the Android Wear operating system designed for smartwatches and wearables. It contains data for more than 2,500 airports around the world. With Airport (All) + Flight Tracker you get access to many features such as Live Arrival and Departure boards; the ability to use the information resource Google Flights (Google Flights); receive information about terminals and their schemes (Terminal maps), food and restaurants (Food and restaurants), about car rental points and parking (Parking), about land transport(Ground transportation), etc.

SeatGuru: Maps+Flights+Tracker



This application is a little more than just an application to track flight or flight information. With it, you can not only follow the flight and receive information about the flight, but also the ability to see (since the plane is presented in a section) where this or that place is located and choose the most preferable option for you. In addition, the SeatGuru app allows you to view maps to see which route the flight will take, as well as receive accurate information regarding the time of arrival at the destination. The app has a pretty decent interface. You can install it completely free of charge, without in-app purchases.

PNR Status Rail Flight Tracker



This is, in some ways, even a unique application, since it allows you to track not only the movement of aircraft, but also the movement of trains. It will help you save time by getting all the necessary travel notifications. The app provides features such as Automatic trip PNR identification; Review your trip status; Booking status alerts (PNR Status alerts); Train Delay alerts; Flight Delay alerts; Alerts about when web check-in starts (Flight web check-in alerts); Boarding a train without presenting a paper version of the document (Paperless Boarding for Trains); Paperless entrance to the airport; The ability to see all your PNRs on one screen (See all your PNRs in one screen), and much more.

RadarBox24 Free Flight Tracker



Install the free app RadarBox24 (which was developed by highly qualified pilots) and you will be able to track any flights, both to / from the USA and in other countries of the world. By means of transponders installed on board the aircraft, flight data is transmitted directly to your phone and, therefore, you can follow the flight in real time. There is a SkyView function: (function "find the plane"). Just point your phone's camera at the sky to identify the aircraft flying over you. One of the distinguishing features of this application is the full functionality of the search: you can find, for example, any flight, city or airport. It is possible to save the places you like the most. Take photos of the aircraft. Also available (in real time) running line informing about the time of departure/arrival.

FlightAware Flight Tracker



The app makes it easy to get the information you need and filter it by flight number, airport/carrier airline or destination. All this makes it easier to find out exact time departures, arrivals or schedule changes. This app is (more than any of the others) up-to-date and very popular these days.

FlightView Free Flight Tracker



The FlightView application is feature rich and is also one of the leaders in providing real-time flight information. For example, using the Track flights function, you can easily track the movement of the flight you need on the map, which displays the trajectory of the aircraft and current meteorological radar data at the moment. Thanks to the My Home page, you can easily access data regarding both the current status of your home airport and your next trip. Flight Status Push Alerts for flights are stored in the My Trips subsection. It is possible to view information regarding terminals, boarding gates and baggage claim. In addition, you can find out information on the aircraft on which you will travel, and (for previous flights) check its status through Aircraft’s Previous Flight. With Driving Directions to Airport integrated with Google Maps, you can lay the traffic pattern to the airport. By looking at the schedule of aircraft between cities, it is easy to find alternative flights. It is also available to search for flights 350 days before departure and save information on them.