What Is Flightradar24 and How Does Live Flight Tracking Work?

Flightradar24 is a live flight tracking service that shows aircraft positions on a map in near real time, based mainly on ADS-B signals broadcast by planes and received by a network of ground stations. You can use it to follow a specific flight, watch an airport's arrivals and departures, or look up an aircraft by its registration. It is best for situational awareness and curiosity, not for operational or safety-critical decisions, and coverage is not uniform everywhere.

How Flightradar24 gets its data

Most positions come from ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast), where an aircraft transmits its identity, position, altitude, and speed. Flightradar24 collects these transmissions through volunteer and commercial receivers, then combines them with other sources.

• ADS-B: The primary source. Requires the aircraft to be equipped and within range of a receiver.
• MLAT (multilateration): Estimates position by comparing the arrival time of a signal at several receivers. Used where ADS-B coverage is thin.
• Radar and other feeds: Supplementary data used in some regions to fill gaps.

Because the network depends on receivers, coverage is dense over populated land areas and thinner over oceans, deserts, and polar regions. An aircraft can also be temporarily missing if it is out of receiver range, if its signal is blocked, or if the operator restricts sharing.

How to track a flight, airport, or aircraft

The map is the main interface. You can move, zoom, and click on any aircraft icon to open a detail panel.

1. Search for a flight: Enter the flight number (for example, an airline code plus number) in the search box. Select the result to center the map on that aircraft and open its details.
2. Search for an airport: Type the airport name or code. The airport view shows arrivals, departures, and a live map of nearby traffic.
3. Search for an aircraft: Use the registration or ICAO 24-bit address to find a specific airframe, which is useful when a flight number changes but the plane does not.
4. Read the detail panel: It typically shows altitude, speed, heading, vertical rate, aircraft type, registration, route, and estimated arrival. Clicking the aircraft again or using the playback control lets you review the recent track.

Expected result: The selected aircraft appears highlighted on the map with a live-updating panel, and you can follow its progress along the route.

Common snags: A flight may not appear if it has not yet departed, if it is outside receiver coverage, or if the operator has asked not to be shown. Flight numbers can also be reused across days, so confirm the date and route before assuming you have the right flight.

Free vs. paid features

Flightradar24 offers a free tier and subscription options. The site's premium page advertises a free trial and features such as email alerts, so treat alerts and some advanced layers as paid unless the site states otherwise at the time you use it.

Check the current premium page for exact inclusions, trial length, and pricing, since these change. Do not assume any feature is free just because it appears in a screenshot or older article.

Coverage gaps and why an aircraft may not show

• Oceanic and remote routes: No ground receivers means no ADS-B or MLAT coverage, so aircraft can disappear for long stretches.
• Low altitude: Signals are line-of-sight, so planes on the ground or in valleys may be missed.
• Military and some private aircraft: May not transmit ADS-B publicly or may be filtered.
• Receiver outages: A single station going offline can create a temporary hole in coverage.

If a flight vanishes, it has usually just moved out of range rather than anything unusual. Reappearance near the destination is common.

Practical tips for real-time tracking

• Use the flight number for a scheduled airline flight, but switch to the registration if you want to follow the physical aircraft across legs.
• Zoom out to see the overall route, then zoom in to check altitude and speed changes during climb and descent.
• Use the airport view to see congestion and delays rather than tracking one plane at a time.
• Cross-check the estimated arrival against the airline's own app, since Flightradar24 estimates can lag or differ.
• Remember that positions are delayed or interpolated in some cases, so treat the map as a close approximation, not an exact instrument reading.