Live Flight Tracker
See aircraft flying right now on a live map — search near any location, or by callsign, registration or ICAO hex. Real-time positions from a global community of ADS-B receivers.
Flight data from the adsb.lol community network · base map © OpenStreetMap contributors via OpenFreeMap.
Positions are crowd-sourced from volunteer ADS-B receivers and may be incomplete or delayed; coverage depends on receiver density. For enthusiast and informational use only — not for navigation or operational decisions.
What this tracker shows
This is live position tracking: it plots aircraft that are airborne right now and broadcasting over ADS-B, and shows where each one is, how high, how fast and which way it’s heading. Pick a flight by its callsign, find an aircraft by its registration or hex code, or simply watch everything in the sky around an airport or your own location. It does not show scheduled times, gates or terminals — those come from airline and airport systems, not from the aircraft.
How flight tracking works
Most aircraft continuously broadcast their GPS position, altitude, speed and identity over ADS-B. A worldwide network of volunteers runs small receivers that pick up these signals and pool them. This tracker reads that community feed (via adsb.lol) through our own server, refreshes every few seconds, and glides each aircraft to its new position on the map. Because the feed is unfiltered, you’ll see many private and military aircraft that some commercial trackers hide — and because it depends on volunteer coverage, remote oceans and regions with few receivers show fewer aircraft.
Reading the data
| Field | What it means |
|---|---|
| Callsign | The flight identifier the aircraft broadcasts — usually the airline’s ICAO code plus a number (e.g. BAW123). It often differs from the IATA “marketing” flight number on your ticket. |
| ICAO hex | A unique 24-bit address assigned to each airframe, shown as six hex characters (e.g. 4007F4). It stays with that aircraft for life. |
| Registration | The aircraft’s tail number (e.g. G-XWBA) — like a licence plate for the airframe. |
| Altitude | Barometric altitude in feet above mean sea level. A value of “ground” means the aircraft isn’t airborne. |
| Ground speed | Speed over the ground in knots. It’s not airspeed, so a strong wind shifts it up or down. |
| Track / heading | The direction of travel over the ground in degrees (0° = north). The plane icon points this way. |
| Squawk | The four-digit transponder code set by air traffic control (e.g. 7000). The codes 7500, 7600 and 7700 signal hijack, radio failure and general emergency. |
Common airline codes
A broadcast callsign usually starts with the airline’s three-letter ICAO code, while your ticket uses the two-letter IATA code. A few common ones:
| IATA | ICAO | Airline |
|---|---|---|
| BA | BAW | British Airways |
| AI | AIC | Air India |
| EK | UAE | Emirates |
| LH | DLH | Lufthansa |
| AF | AFR | Air France |
| KL | KLM | KLM |
| QR | QTR | Qatar Airways |
| SQ | SIA | Singapore Airlines |
| EY | ETD | Etihad Airways |
| TK | THY | Turkish Airlines |
| AA | AAL | American Airlines |
| DL | DAL | Delta Air Lines |
| UA | UAL | United Airlines |
| 6E | IGO | IndiGo |
| UK | VTI | Vistara |
| QF | QFA | Qantas |
Common airport codes
Searching near an airport? These three-letter IATA codes mark some of the busiest:
| IATA | Airport | City |
|---|---|---|
| LHR | London Heathrow | London |
| JFK | New York JFK | New York |
| DXB | Dubai Intl | Dubai |
| DEL | Indira Gandhi Intl | Delhi |
| SIN | Changi | Singapore |
| HND | Haneda | Tokyo |
| CDG | Charles de Gaulle | Paris |
| FRA | Frankfurt | Frankfurt |
| AMS | Schiphol | Amsterdam |
| BOM | Chhatrapati Shivaji | Mumbai |
| HKG | Hong Kong Intl | Hong Kong |
| LAX | Los Angeles Intl | Los Angeles |
| SYD | Kingsford Smith | Sydney |
| DOH | Hamad Intl | Doha |
| IST | Istanbul | Istanbul |
| CCU | Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose | Kolkata |
Planning around a specific airport? See our airport guides and per-airport arrivals and departures boards, or work out when to leave for the airport.
Live Flight Tracker — FAQ
What does this flight tracker show?
It shows aircraft that are airborne right now and broadcasting their position over ADS-B — plotted live on a map with each plane’s callsign, type, registration, altitude, ground speed, heading and squawk code. It tracks where aircraft physically are; it does not show scheduled departure times, gates or terminals, which come from airline and airport systems rather than the aircraft itself.
How do I find a specific flight?
Switch to “By callsign” and enter the callsign — usually the airline’s three-letter ICAO code plus the number (British Airways 138 is BAW138, not BA138). You can also search by the aircraft’s registration (tail number) or its ICAO hex address, or pick “Near a location” to see everything around an airport or your own position. The aircraft only appears while it’s airborne and in range of a receiver.
Why can’t I find my flight?
Only aircraft that are flying and transmitting ADS-B, within range of a volunteer receiver, appear here. A flight that hasn’t taken off yet, has already landed, or is crossing an area with sparse receiver coverage (mid-ocean, parts of Africa and Asia) may not show. Also remember the callsign is ICAO-based and often differs from the IATA flight number on your booking.
What’s the difference between a callsign and a flight number?
The flight number on your ticket (e.g. BA138) uses the airline’s two-letter IATA code. The callsign the aircraft broadcasts and that air traffic control uses is built from the three-letter ICAO code (e.g. BAW138), and for some flights it doesn’t match the ticketed number at all. This tracker searches by the broadcast callsign.
Where does the data come from, and is it free?
Positions come from adsb.lol, a community network of volunteers running ADS-B receivers worldwide, and the map tiles from OpenFreeMap. It’s completely free to use here. Because the feed is unfiltered, it includes many private and military aircraft that some commercial trackers deliberately hide.
How live and accurate is it?
The map refreshes every few seconds while the tab is open, so it’s near-real-time. Accuracy and completeness depend on how many volunteer receivers cover an area — dense over Europe and North America, patchier elsewhere. It’s built for enthusiasts and the curious, and is not for navigation or any operational use.