Flightradar24 Historic Positions API
Historical aircraft position data (back to May 11, 2016)
Historical aircraft position data (back to May 11, 2016)
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
title: Flightradar24 Airlines Historic Positions API
description: Flightradar24 is the world's most popular real-time flight tracking platform, monitoring over 250,000 daily flights using data from a global network of ADS-B, MLAT, and radar receivers. The FR24 API provides developers with programmatic access to live aircraft positions, historical flight data, flight summaries, and reference data for airports and airlines. The credit-based subscription API uses Bearer token authentication and is available at https://fr24api.flightradar24.com/api with three tiers — Explorer, Essential, and Advanced — covering hobby projects through high-volume commercial applications.
version: 1.0.0
contact:
url: https://support.fr24.com/support/solutions/folders/3000022922
license:
name: Proprietary
url: https://fr24api.flightradar24.com/docs/getting-started
servers:
- url: https://fr24api.flightradar24.com/api
description: Flightradar24 API
security:
- bearerAuth: []
tags:
- name: Historic Positions
description: Historical aircraft position data (back to May 11, 2016)
paths:
/historic/flight-positions/light:
get:
operationId: getHistoricFlightPositionsLight
summary: Get historical flight positions (light)
description: Provides historical aircraft positional data using Unix timestamp. Returns lightweight position records (latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, heading, callsign, registration) for past flights. Historical data coverage extends back to May 11, 2016, with availability depending on the subscription plan. A timestamp and at least one additional filter parameter are required.
tags:
- Historic Positions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/timestamp_required'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/bounds'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/flights'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/callsigns'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/registrations'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/painted_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/operating_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/airports'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/routes'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/aircraft'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/altitude_ranges'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/squawks'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/categories'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/data_sources'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/gspeed'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/limit_30000'
responses:
'200':
description: Successful response with historical light flight position data
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/FlightPositionsLightResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests'
/historic/flight-positions/full:
get:
operationId: getHistoricFlightPositionsFull
summary: Get historical flight positions (full)
description: Returns full historical aircraft flight movement records for a given time window, combining positional data with enriched flight metadata including origin, destination, callsign, registration, aircraft type, and operator. Data is accessible back to May 11, 2016 depending on the subscription tier. Available on Essential and Advanced plans. A timestamp and at least one additional filter parameter are required.
tags:
- Historic Positions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/timestamp_required'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/bounds'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/flights'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/callsigns'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/registrations'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/painted_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/operating_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/airports'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/routes'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/aircraft'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/altitude_ranges'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/squawks'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/categories'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/data_sources'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/gspeed'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/limit_30000'
responses:
'200':
description: Successful response with historical full flight position data
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/FlightPositionsFullResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests'
/historic/flight-positions/count:
get:
operationId: getHistoricFlightPositionsCount
summary: Count historical flight positions
description: Returns the number of historical aircraft positions that match the given filters. A timestamp and at least one additional filter parameter are required.
tags:
- Historic Positions
parameters:
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/timestamp_required'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/bounds'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/flights'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/callsigns'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/registrations'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/painted_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/operating_as'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/airports'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/routes'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/aircraft'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/altitude_ranges'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/squawks'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/categories'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/data_sources'
- $ref: '#/components/parameters/gspeed'
responses:
'200':
description: Successful response with count of matching historical records
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/CountResponse'
'400':
$ref: '#/components/responses/BadRequest'
'401':
$ref: '#/components/responses/Unauthorized'
'429':
$ref: '#/components/responses/TooManyRequests'
components:
schemas:
FlightPositionsLight:
type: object
description: Lightweight real-time or historical aircraft position data point.
required:
- fr24_id
- lat
- lon
- track
- alt
- gspeed
- vspeed
- squawk
- timestamp
- source
properties:
fr24_id:
type: string
description: Flightradar24 unique identifier for the flight (hexadecimal).
example: 34242a02
lat:
type: number
format: float
description: Latitude in decimal degrees.
example: 51.4706
lon:
type: number
format: float
description: Longitude in decimal degrees.
example: -0.4619
track:
type: integer
description: True heading in degrees (0-360).
example: 270
alt:
type: integer
description: Altitude in feet.
example: 35000
gspeed:
type: integer
description: Ground speed in knots.
example: 450
vspeed:
type: integer
description: Vertical speed in feet per minute.
example: 0
squawk:
type: string
description: Transponder squawk code (4-digit octal).
example: '7700'
timestamp:
type: string
format: date-time
description: ISO 8601 date-time of the position fix.
example: '2024-01-15T10:30:00Z'
source:
type: string
description: Data source (e.g., ADSB, MLAT, RADAR).
example: ADSB
hex:
type: string
description: ICAO 24-bit aircraft address in hexadecimal (Mode S hex code).
nullable: true
example: 400A10
callsign:
type: string
description: ATC callsign.
nullable: true
example: BAW123
CountResponse:
type: object
description: Generic count response.
required:
- record_count
properties:
record_count:
type: integer
description: Number of records matching the query filters.
example: 1247
FlightPositionsLightResponse:
type: object
properties:
data:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/FlightPositionsLight'
FlightPositionsFullResponse:
type: object
properties:
data:
type: array
items:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/FlightPositionsFull'
FlightPositionsFull:
type: object
description: Detailed real-time or historical aircraft position data point with full flight metadata.
required:
- fr24_id
- lat
- lon
- track
- alt
- gspeed
- vspeed
- squawk
- timestamp
- source
properties:
fr24_id:
type: string
description: Flightradar24 unique identifier for the flight (hexadecimal).
example: 34242a02
lat:
type: number
format: float
description: Latitude in decimal degrees.
example: 51.4706
lon:
type: number
format: float
description: Longitude in decimal degrees.
example: -0.4619
track:
type: integer
description: True heading in degrees (0-360).
example: 270
alt:
type: integer
description: Altitude in feet.
example: 35000
gspeed:
type: integer
description: Ground speed in knots.
example: 450
vspeed:
type: integer
description: Vertical speed in feet per minute.
example: 0
squawk:
type: string
description: Transponder squawk code (4-digit octal).
example: '7700'
timestamp:
type: string
format: date-time
description: ISO 8601 date-time of the position fix.
example: '2024-01-15T10:30:00Z'
source:
type: string
description: Data source (e.g., ADSB, MLAT, RADAR).
example: ADSB
flight:
type: string
description: Flight number (e.g., "BA123").
nullable: true
example: BA123
callsign:
type: string
description: ATC callsign.
nullable: true
example: BAW123
hex:
type: string
description: ICAO 24-bit aircraft address in hexadecimal.
nullable: true
example: 400A10
type:
type: string
description: ICAO aircraft type code (e.g., "B77W", "A320").
nullable: true
example: B77W
reg:
type: string
description: Aircraft registration number.
nullable: true
example: G-STBK
painted_as:
type: string
description: Airline ICAO code for the livery carrier.
nullable: true
example: BAW
operating_as:
type: string
description: Airline ICAO code for the operating carrier.
nullable: true
example: BAW
orig_iata:
type: string
description: Origin airport IATA code.
nullable: true
example: LHR
orig_icao:
type: string
description: Origin airport ICAO code.
nullable: true
example: EGLL
dest_iata:
type: string
description: Destination airport IATA code.
nullable: true
example: JFK
dest_icao:
type: string
description: Destination airport ICAO code.
nullable: true
example: KJFK
eta:
type: string
format: date-time
description: Estimated time of arrival (ISO 8601).
nullable: true
example: '2024-01-15T15:45:00Z'
Error:
type: object
properties:
message:
type: string
description: Human-readable error description.
code:
type: string
description: Machine-readable error code.
parameters:
operating_as:
name: operating_as
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of airline ICAO codes for the operating carrier. Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: BAW,DLH
airports:
name: airports
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of airport IATA or ICAO codes. Matches flights departing or arriving at these airports. Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: LHR,EDDF
flights:
name: flights
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of flight numbers (e.g., "BA123,LH456"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: BA123,LH456
limit_30000:
name: limit
in: query
required: false
description: Maximum number of records to return (1-30000).
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1
maximum: 30000
example: 1000
categories:
name: categories
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of aircraft/vehicle category codes. Maximum 15 values. P=Passenger, C=Cargo, M=Military and Government, J=Business Jets, T=General Aviation, H=Helicopters, B=Lighter than Air, G=Gliders, D=Drones, V=Ground Vehicles, O=Other, N=Non-Categorized.
schema:
type: string
enum:
- P
- C
- M
- J
- T
- H
- B
- G
- D
- V
- O
- N
example: P,C
routes:
name: routes
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of routes in origin-destination format (e.g., "LHR-JFK"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: LHR-JFK,CDG-LAX
registrations:
name: registrations
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of aircraft registration codes (e.g., "G-STBK,D-ABCD"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: G-STBK,D-ABCD
timestamp_required:
name: timestamp
in: query
required: true
description: Unix timestamp (seconds since epoch) for the historical snapshot. Must be after 2016-05-11T00:00:00Z (Unix timestamp 1462924800).
schema:
type: integer
minimum: 1462924800
example: 1705312200
squawks:
name: squawks
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of transponder squawk codes (4-digit octal, e.g., "7700,7600"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: 7700,7600
callsigns:
name: callsigns
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of ATC callsigns (e.g., "BAW123,DLH456"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: BAW123,DLH456
altitude_ranges:
name: altitude_ranges
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated altitude ranges in feet using "min-max" format (e.g., "0-5000,35000-45000"). Minimum altitude is -2000 ft. Maximum 15 ranges.
schema:
type: string
example: 0-5000,35000-45000
aircraft:
name: aircraft
in: query
required: false
description: ICAO aircraft type code (e.g., "B77W", "A320").
schema:
type: string
example: B77W
bounds:
name: bounds
in: query
required: false
description: Geographic bounding box in the format "north,south,west,east" (e.g., "51.5,51.0,-0.5,0.5"). Latitudes range -90 to 90; longitudes -180 to 180. North must be greater than south.
schema:
type: string
pattern: ^-?\d+(\.\d+)?,-?\d+(\.\d+)?,-?\d+(\.\d+)?,-?\d+(\.\d+)?$
example: 51.5,51.0,-0.5,0.5
gspeed:
name: gspeed
in: query
required: false
description: Ground speed filter in knots (0-5000), or a range string (e.g., "200-400").
schema:
oneOf:
- type: integer
minimum: 0
maximum: 5000
- type: string
example: 200-400
painted_as:
name: painted_as
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of airline ICAO codes for the livery carrier (e.g., "BAW,DLH"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: BAW,DLH
data_sources:
name: data_sources
in: query
required: false
description: Comma-separated list of data source types (e.g., "ADSB,MLAT"). Maximum 15 values.
schema:
type: string
example: ADSB,MLAT
responses:
BadRequest:
description: Bad request — invalid or missing parameters.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
TooManyRequests:
description: Too many requests — rate limit or credit limit exceeded.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
Unauthorized:
description: Unauthorized — missing or invalid Bearer token.
content:
application/json:
schema:
$ref: '#/components/schemas/Error'
securitySchemes:
bearerAuth:
type: http
scheme: bearer
description: Bearer token authentication. Obtain your API token from the Flightradar24 developer portal at https://fr24api.flightradar24.com/.