Flightradar24 – air traffic map online in South Africa

Flightradar24 is a progressive software that allows tracking any plane above the Earth and having an accurate minute information on it and its current and past flights. The tracker can be accessed via the Web or through mobile apps for Android or iOS-powered devices.

The service is based on the data received from the ADS-B receivers placed in different parts of the world. Starting from Scandinavian countries in 2006 as an initiative of two aviation enthusiasts from Sweden, the network developed quickly into the large coverage. However, embracing the globe is still the target to be achieved. Any owner of the ADS-B receiver can feed the system with its data, thus benefiting the wider and more precise information.

Statistics speaks for itself:

  • More than 10K ADS-B receivers supplying the data, which makes the largest global network.
  • 150,000+ flights recorded daily. For precise day-to-day figures, visit the Statistics page of the website.
  • Over 1.5 mln users connect to the service daily.
  • Professional trust: the large airlines (like Boeing, Airbus, Embraer) and other aviation companies rely on Flightradar data.
  • The Flightradar apps have surpassed 30 mln of downloads.
  • More than 120 states list the Flightradar app as Number 1 on AppStore.
  • Over 150 countries award as the best travel app offered on AppStore.

Flightradar-live flight tracker

Flight Radar 24 – the milestones of development

The idea to customise the ADS-B receivers data into the tracking system has been first realised by two aviation lovers from Sweden in 2006. At first, only the Scandinavian countries and Central Europe were covered; yet, the network had been growing quickly. In 2009, the service performance has been boosted, while its initiators allowed all ADS-B receiver users to connect to the system and thus make a contribution to the network.

A year after, the tracker’s data were used by global media to illustrate the flights’ schedule changes and aircraft movement above Europe and Atlantic during the volcano eruption in Iceland. This has inspired the interest and attracted thousands of users into the service. Today, it embraces vast space, though a full global map makes another milestone to reach.

In 2014, the dramatic aircraft catastrophes brought another wave of keen interest to the tracker. When one of the Malaysia Airlines planes’ got missed and another crashed over Ukraine in July 2014, the service’s online map had a powerful boost of visitors. The Indonesian AirAsia aircraft’ disappearance later in the same year triggered another wave of interest to the tracker. The service reported a 50-times increase in users’ visiting, resulting in the temporary online access problems.

Most of the aviation radar feeding stations are created by passionate users. They place the ADS-B receivers at their homes and other locations, where the devices decode the data received from planes and send the information to the server via the Internet. By the end of 2015, there were 9,000 receivers registered in the system. By that time, in November, the Guardian published the news about another aircraft catastrophe using the Flightradar 24 data as an official source.

The essence of Flightradar24.com

Flight radar24
Primarily based on ADS-B receivers’ data, the Flightradar got developed over the time. Today, it combines the information received by radars and the preciseness of the data is boosted by the MLAT technology implementation. Both aircraft and airport data are used and constantly updated. The combination of the several data feeds allows reflecting the most accurate position of any aircraft. Depending on the destination status (“unknown” / “known”), the plane’s current location is traced within every 10 or 120 minutes. Sometimes, the mistakes happen due to the insufficient coverage or poor connection with the aircraft. Then, the biggest deviation might make a bit more than 50 miles.

The following means of tracking connection are used in the Flight radar:

ADS-B receivers

This technology relies on transponders installed in each modern (and in some outdated) aircraft. The technology merits made for including it as a primary data feeding means in all aircraft by the year 2020. Currently, less than one-fifth of the general aviation planes is equipped with the ADS-B transponders. For passenger flights, this number is much bigger (about 70% on average), yet, still not enough for providing the full picture of the current aviation.

The ADS-B technology allows each receiver to control the territory of about 200 miles around it. It works at the high frequency of 1090 MHz, so the low signal is better caught at the higher flight. Today, there are 17K+ inland ADS-B receivers that receive and transmit the relevant signals from on board. The full coverage is present at the USA and for all the European countries. The most of South America and South Africa, Canada, Russia, the Middle East, and most of the Asian major countries (including China and Japan) have a well-established ADS-B connection, too. There might be some flaws in coverage in other countries; still, the ADS-B receivers’ worldwide system is constantly growing providing the more precise and informative data.

The mechanism of ADS-B-based tracking system goes like follows:

  • The plane’s position is defined basis satellite connection.
  • The position along with the supplementary data is sent via the ADS-B transponder onboard.
  • The ADS-B inland receiver (making a Radar24 active unit) catches the signal.
  • The receiver sends the information to the Flightradar24 service.
  • The information is reflected on the Flightradar24 interactive map and is read by users.

Track airplane

Flarm receivers

Flarm is a technology working for smaller personal aviation. These receivers can catch signals within 60 miles and are used mostly by airports with intensive glider traffic.

Multilateration technology

For the planes with the older version of transponders, the position can be calculated through the MLAT tech. It is based on the data received from four or more receivers and the estimation of the time the signal needs to get through. This mode of data transmission can be used only above 3,000 feet height. Currently, the technology is used over Europe, North and South America, Asia, South Africa, Australia. The data received by means of MLAT is precise though features a bit more delay than ADS-B technology operation.

Radar technology

Flightradar24 is enhancing its data by means of the information got directly from radars. The major part of the commercial flights and scheduled private flights are registered by radars. This technology covers the territory of USA and Canada, as well as adjoining oceans airspace.

How to go with the Radar 24 Service?

Accessing the website, you can see the map of the air traffic in the real time. To find the information about the specific flight, you can:

  • Use the search tab and install filters (some are available with the paid account only):
  • tail number
  • speed or height filter (shows all aircraft currently flying with the determined speed or at the certain height)
  • aircraft type
  • airline
  • city, etc
  • Find a specific airport (via Search or clicking on it on the map) and get the information about the flights to and from it. The airport filter can be used (incoming or departing flights can be selected, or both).
  • The cursor hovering over the plane makes for the tail number popping up. When clicking on the plane, you will see the following data in the left part of the map:

FR24-ZA

  • flight number
  • tail number
  • aircraft type
  • aircraft registration data
  • time and place (airport) of departure and arrival
  • flight distance, as well as the distance already covered and how much is left to reach the destination
  • current height of flight
  • current ground speed (in knots, 1 knot is about 1.15078 miles per hour)

The paid account provides for additional information:

  • aircraft age
  • the air temperature around the aircraft
  • serial number
  • actual wind speed (in mph)
  • the current speed of flight (in knots)
  • wind speed (in knots)
  • vertical speed for illustrating the speed of ascending and descending (in fpm; descending speed is marked with “-”)

Additional options include:

  • tracking the route of the specific aircraft (click the icon in the lower left corner)
  • the record of the aircraft movement can be viewed (up to one week for free account, up to one year for the paid account). Date, time, and speed of record must be set
    watch the plane flight in 3D (currently available as the beta option)
  • for the paid account: e-mail notifications / push SMS can be set

The map can be viewed in different modes and adjusted by the following parameters:

  • the default map reflecting all the flights and airports currently tracked
  • the map reflecting only the selected aircraft and their routes
  • radar-interface map
  • the airport operation map – it shows the airports ranged by the flight delays (in the left part of the map); the airports are also marked with different stickers on the map:

Flightradar24-radar view

red sticker
the most congested airport; lots of delays and cancellations
yellow sticker
some delays are present in the background of the satisfactory operation
green sticker
next to no delays, perfect traffic without cancellations

Flightradar24 in 3D

Pressing on the gear on the right you can access the map settings:

  • day / night mode
  • brightness of picture
  • time mode (12 or 24 hours)
  • units of measurements (for speed, height, temperature, distance, etc)
  • plane icon size
  • flight animation on/off
  • airport marker view

The paid account enables additional map options:

  • airline filter – shows the planes of the specific airline on the map
  • airport filter – shows the airport and all the flights to and from it
  • have a list of all the currently reflected aircraft (in the left part of the map)
  • have a full-screen map for a better view (no menus present)

Additional setting options (for the paid account) include:

  • volcano tracking (location and activity)
  • basic weather or general cloud coverage
  • lightning outbursts (recorded, updated each quarter of an hour)
  • heavy precipitation (substantial for the flight delays and cancellation; updated each half an hour)

Track my airplane on FR24 – geography and airlines

Currently, the flight radar service tracks more than 32505 aircraft of different type arriving and departing from 8675 airports located in 190 countries. That makes for 960 airlines from all over the world embraced.

The current state of the Flightradar coverage is reflected by the airport icons in the area. With the sufficient coverage, the icons are blue. Still, the coverage and visibility of the plane depend on many parameters such as congestion, type of aircraft, its altitude, transponder type and operation, ground landscape and so on. It might happen that two aircraft at the same location are tracked differently. Not seeing the plane you need means it is either not covered by the service currently, or its transponder is out of service / non-compatible with the system.

What planes are tracked by the Live Flight Radar?

All the aircraft equipped with the ADS-B transponders are seen on the Flightradar24 map. However, currently, the large passenger aviation planes are the ones maintaining the technology. At the same time, the owners and operators of the smaller aircraft tend to equip them with the ADS-B transponders, too. Besides, even the ADS-B equipped aircraft might be not visible in the area with the limited number of ground ADS-B receivers or an uneven landscape.

Some of the aircraft (ADS-B equipped) that are usually tracked by the Flight Radar24 service, are listed below:

  • Airbus – all planes
  • ATR 72-600 (the newest models)
  • Boeing (standard models from 737 to 787)
  • Bombardier CS100 and CS300 series
  • Embraer E190 (the newest models)
  • McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and MD-11
  • Sukhoi SuperJet 100

The next list consists of the aircraft not tracked by the service (mostly, not having the ADS-B transponder):

  • ATR 42 and 72
  • Boeing up to 737 and specific series (e.g. 747-200, 747SP)
  • Bombardier Dash (all planes)
  • De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
  • Saab 340, 2000
  • Majority of military aviation and propeller-equipped planes
  • Majority of helicopters, business, and older aircraft

Some of the listed aircraft might be tracked via Flightradar24 if the ADS-B transponder has been installed. Otherwise, some of the planes from the first list might be not seen on the map due to the insufficient coverage or ADS-B transponder being out of operation.

Stats and archives – flyradar24 in numbers

Fly radar online
The Flight radar 24 gathers the statistics by the flights tracked. The number of flights tracked within the last 30 days, is shown on a diagram on the service’s website, having the daily number of the aeroplanes tracked as the reference points.

The free account allows getting the following data:

  • number of aircraft tracked currently by the service. The actual models and the plane modelling line are indicated.
  • number of covered airlines. This information includes the airlines listed alphabetically (the letter-wise search is enabled), the international abbreviation for each airline and the number of the tracked planes. The search bar enables a quick search by the airline name.
  • number of airports reflected. The airports are ranged by country. The list shows a country and the number of airports it hosts. There is also a search tool allowing tracking the airport by its name or the city it belongs to, as well as by IATA or ICAO codes.

Should you need more detailed information or the data for the longer period (e.g. 365 days), you might use the paid subscription that corresponds with your needs. Meanwhile, the specific request can be submitted via the website’s page for business, on the payment basis.

Fly radar free version – pros and cons

The basic functionality of the Flightradar 24 is available online for free. You will be able to track the aircraft and airports in real time, use the Search bar and its standard filters, change the basic map settings, browse the statistics up to 30 days and enjoy the 3D flight tracking (in the limited version), as well as some ads.

The paid account brings more diversity. It is provided for a year and can be Silver, Gold or Business. Each higher level account has the functionality of the lower level and additional functions.

With the Silver account, you will get:

  • More specific data on aircraft
  • More stats – for 90 days period
  • Unlimited 3D route tracking
  • Labels for aircraft with details
  • Push SMS and e-mail notification
  • No ads

The Gold account features the next benefits:

  • Yet more detailed information on the aircraft
  • Year-round statistics
  • Limits of Air Traffic Control coverage
  • Professional aviation charts
  • Weather state (with regard to the aviation specifics) reflected on the map

The Business account provides the widest functionality:

  • Aircraft view
  • Airport visualisation
  • The enhanced weather state reflection (according to AIRMET and SIGMET standards)
  • The lightning outbursts and current danger reflection
  • Business-oriented software with the license

Making records with Flightradar24

You can record your flight or any other tracked flight in online or Playback mode in the Flyradar service. For that, track the plane you need and hit the Playback button on the right. Adjust the settings (date, time, playback speed). Then, use the Javascript or a content recording prog to make a record. Start the playback and make the full-screen size (for the better view). Upon finishing, save the video to your PC or a soft disc / memory pad.

Such videos can be shared in social networks, databanks or video platforms like YouTube. There is a Flightradar24 channel on YouTube that makes a considerable video bank of similar records. Here, other videos of the flight records can be found, together with some teaching and entertainment videos.