Observing Thousands of Aircrafts around the World in Real-Time
We all know that the sky isn’t empty anymore but crowded by planes. And we know that radar surveillance works to conduct that traffic and sometimes a plane comes down unexpectedly. But I was much astonished when I saw the website FlightRadar24, where you can see the life traffic in many parts of the world. You see where a plane started, where it’s about to go and at what height and speed it is travelling.
There is a tremendous traffic going on over Europe – like a swarm of birds, but flying in all kinds of directions.
A print screen from FlightRadar24
On their website they write:
“The technology we use to receive flight information from aircraft is called ADS-B. Roughly 60% of all passenger aircraft around the world are equipped with an ADS-B transponder. However, this percentage will continue to grow….
Flightradar24 is a flight tracking service that provides you with real-time info about thousands of aircraft around the world. Our service is currently available online and for your iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) or Android device plus for your Mac OS computer. Read more about our flight tracking apps….
Flightradar24 started as a hobby project in 2006 when two Swedish aviation geeks decided to build a network of ADS-B receivers in Northern and Central Europe. In 2009 we opened up the network, and made it possible for anyone with an ADS-B receiver to upload data to the network. Many parts of the world were quickly covered, but the quest to provide global ADS-B coverage is still ongoing. Hopefully with your support, we will get there….”
So not all areas of the world are covered – where there are no data fed to the network of FlightRadar24, there is no information.
Real-time flight traffic, data from FlightRadar24 (c)
