Flight Tracking Apps

There aren't many people these days who don't carry a smart phone when travelling. One of the apps you might find useful is one to keep track of your flights, so you can get real-time alerts when your flights are delayed along with checkin and gate information. They aren't just for those travelling though, they're also very handy for the people picking travellers up from the airport like us, letting you know of any delays and when flights have landed.

There are quite a lot to choose from, so it's worth downloading a few and seeing which ones you like the best. Melbourne Airport has it's own app, though it doesn't get great reviews.

You can see some of the best flight tracking apps here.

One of my favourite new apps that makes that list is Flightradar24, and it is great fun even when you aren't travelling. Over the last year I'd noticed helicopters flying over the house at night on a regular basis and wondered where they were going. Someone told me about this app and now I know that it's the Air Ambulance flying from Gippsland to Melbourne, I can even watch it's flight path and see when it lands. In the photo you can see it circled, having just taken off from Essendon Airport, destination unknown. You can point your phone at the aircraft in the sky to see the information and even tap on 3D view to get an idea of what the pilot is seeing!

The main technology that Flightradar24 uses to receive flight information is fairly new one called automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B). They estimate that roughly 70% of all commercial passenger aircraft (80% in Europe, 60% in the US) are equipped with an ADS-B transponder but for general aviation this number is probably below 20%, so you won't be able to see the details for every aircraft you can see, but they will become mandatory for most aircraft around the world by 2020.

#Flights #Travel #Apps