Flightradar24

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Flightradar24.com
Real-time position display of aircraft
languages English
operator Flightradar24 AB
http://www.flightradar24.com

Flightradar24.com is an online service for real-time position display of aircraft . It is operated by the Stockholm- based company Flightradar24 AB .

Using what is known as radar spotting , the signals emitted by ADS-B transmitters are captured by ADS-B receivers on the ground and transmitted to the Flightradar24 network via the Internet. Most modern commercial aircraft used in civil aviation - including some in military aviation - are now equipped with such devices. The position data transmitted for the respective aircraft are correlated with further information on the aircraft type and route and displayed on a map. A view based on Google Earth has been implemented since spring 2013 , as if you were on a plane: the Cockpit View .

An ADS-B receiver provided by Flightradar24

The ADS-B recipients are partly provided by the company itself; In addition, spotters transmit the data from their privately operated ADS-B receivers to the web service.

According to the company's own information, more than 4000 ADS-B receivers were in operation at the end of 2014, delivering their data to Flightradar24. According to the operator, these receivers cover around 90% of European airspace and some areas in North America, Australia and the Middle East. The website was visited an average of 7 million times a month in 2014, two years later it was already 30 million visits.

The display does not always take place in real time: Due to FAA regulations , there is a delay of around 5 minutes on flights whose data is provided directly by the FAA; this applies in particular to the North American airspace. The display of those flights, on the other hand, for whose position ADS-B data is used, takes place in real time according to Flightradar24.

There is an app for Android and iOS in a free and paid version. The paid one puts together a variety of other features and is ad-free. There was only one paid app for Windows , which was removed from the Windows Store in 2016.

A turnover of almost 7 million euros was achieved in 2015 via advertising banners, app sales and trading in raw data, and the operating profit was a good 2 million euros.

Since September 2016 a wave glider floating in the European Arctic Ocean has been sending aircraft position data to Flightradar24.

Currently, around 65% of aircraft in Europe are equipped with ADS-B , but only 35% in the US. In principle, all aircraft of the Airbus Group are equipped with ADS-B, however, for example, many Boeing 707 , 717 , 727 , 737-200 , 747-100 , 747-200 and 747SP aircraft are not equipped with ADS-B and are generally not visible if they are not retrofitted by their operators. Typical ADS-B receivers are the SBS-1 from Kinetic Avionic and AirNav from AirNav-systems. These receivers are run by volunteers, mostly aviation enthusiasts. ADS-B signals can also be received and uploaded from an inexpensive radio defined by the software , e.g. B. on the basis of an R820T tuner .

Tracking

Flightradar24 collects data from the following sources:

  1. ADS-B data: The main source is a large number of ground-based ADS-B receivers that collect data from aircraft in their vicinity that are equipped with an ADS-B transponder. The recipients deliver this data to the institution in real time via the Internet. Other receivers are located on satellites and at sea. The on-board transponders use GPS data for the position and other flight data such as aircraft registration numbers, as well as altitude, airspeed and others, which come from on-board instruments.
  2. Multilateration (MLAT): a signal transit time measurement with FR24 receivers. It works with the secondary radar mode S transponders , which are also found in aircraft without ADS-B. It covers 99% of Europe, but only parts of the US. At least four receivers are required to calculate the position and altitude of an aircraft based on the transit time differences.
  3. Federal Aviation Administration data. In the US, data that is 5 minutes late is provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, the data may not include aircraft registration numbers and other information.

history

The service was founded in 2006 by two Swedish aviation enthusiasts for Northern and Central Europe who then opened it up so that anyone with a suitable ADS-B receiver has been able to submit data since 2009. The service became internationally known in 2010. The media relied on it to describe the flight disruption over the North Atlantic and Europe caused by the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption .

In 2014, the system was used by several major news outlets after several spectacular aircraft accidents. Examples are the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines - Flight 370 and in July 2014 the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine , as well as Indonesia-AirAsia Flight 8501 . Flightradar24 reported that the web traffic has normally increased to about 50 times the usual and has led to an overload of the system.

The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation sometimes uses position data recorded by Flightradar24 as part of its investigations.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Sonja Álvarez: Real-time radar "Flightradar24": On the trail of aircraft. Der Tagesspiegel , July 24, 2014, accessed on December 28, 2014 .
  2. ↑ Flightradar24 AB. In: LinkedIn . Retrieved December 28, 2014 .
  3. ↑ https://radarspotting.com/ Radarspotting explanation on radarspotting.com
  4. ↑ David Cenciotti: War era 2.0 in the Web: how Air Forces deal (or do not) with Internet-based flight tracking tools. The Avionist, October 13, 2014, accessed December 29, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Help Us Increase Coverage - Host ADS-B Equipment. Flightradar24 AB, accessed December 28, 2014 .
  6. ↑ Share your ADS-B data with Flightradar24. Flightradar24 AB, accessed December 28, 2014 .
  7. ↑ a b How it works. Flightradar24 AB, accessed December 7, 2014 .
  8. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : On the track of the aviator , from May 24, 2016, loaded on August 24, 2018
  9. ↑ https://www.flightradar24.com/apps
  10. ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung : On the track of the aviator , from May 24, 2016, loaded on August 24, 2018
  11. ↑ Setting Sail for Global Coverage - Flightradar24 ADS-B Receivers On-board a Surface Ocean Robot. Flightradar24 AB, September 6, 2016, accessed on September 12, 2016 (English).
  12. ↑ ᐅ FLIGHTRADAR24 I Free & LIVE flight tracking. Retrieved December 18, 2018 (German).
  13. ↑ Investigation report BFU 17-1441-7X. (PDF; 2.09 MB) Federal Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau , October 16, 2019, accessed on February 17, 2020 .