Track any aircraft on Earth in real-time. Live ADS-B positions updated every ~10 seconds. Filter by bounding box, callsign, ICAO24 hex, registration, altitude, and speed. Powers flight maps, airspace tools, and aviation dashboards.
The SkyLink Flight Tracking API gives you direct access to a global ADS-B receiver network with over 15 million messages processed daily. It is one of the most complete free flight tracking API alternatives to OpenSky Network and FlightRadar24's developer API.
| Feature | SkyLink | OpenSky | FlightRadar24 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | 1,000 req/mo | Rate-limited | No free tier |
| Aircraft DB enrichment | 615,000+ records | No | No |
| Aircraft photos | Yes | No | No |
| Filter by airline | Yes | No | No |
| Filter by altitude range | Yes | No | No |
| JSON schema consistency | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Sub-second response (cached) | Yes | No | Yes |
- Real-time ADS-B positions — latitude, longitude, altitude (ft), ground speed (kt), heading, vertical rate, squawk
- Filter by geographic bounding box —
bbox=lat_min,lon_min,lat_max,lon_max - Filter by lat/lon + radius — find all aircraft within N km of a point
- Filter by callsign — e.g.,
callsign=BAW123 - Filter by ICAO24 hex address — e.g.,
icao24=400BE3 - Filter by registration — e.g.,
registration=G-STBC - Filter by airline — e.g.,
airline=British+Airways - Filter by altitude range —
min_altitude=5000&max_altitude=35000 - Filter by speed range —
min_speed=300&max_speed=500 - Aircraft DB enrichment — type, manufacturer, operator, year built from 615,000+ record database
- Optional aircraft photos — toggle high-res photos from airport-data.com
- Statistics endpoint — total tracked aircraft, coverage metrics
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft # all tracked aircraft (paginated)
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?icao24=400BE3 # single aircraft by ICAO24
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?registration=G-STBC # by tail number
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?callsign=BAW123 # by callsign
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?airline=Delta # by airline name
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?lat=40.7&lon=-74.0&radius=100 # radius search (km)
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?bbox=38,-90,45,-80 # bounding box
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft?min_altitude=29000&max_altitude=41000 # altitude filter
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft/{icao24} # single aircraft detail
GET /v3/adsb/aircraft/statistics # network statistics
Sign up at RapidAPI — SkyLink API — 1,000 free requests/month, no credit card required.
importrequestsurl="https://skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com/v3/adsb/aircraft"headers= {
"x-rapidapi-key": "YOUR_API_KEY",
"x-rapidapi-host": "skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com"
}
# Track all aircraft over New York City (100 km radius)params= {
"lat": 40.7128,
"lon": -74.0060,
"radius": 100
}
response=requests.get(url, headers=headers, params=params)
data=response.json()
print(f"Tracking {data['total_count']} aircraft over NYC")
foraircraftindata["aircraft"][:5]:
print(f" {aircraft['callsign']} — {aircraft['aircraft_type']} "f"at {aircraft['altitude']}ft, {aircraft['ground_speed']}kt")constaxios=require('axios');constoptions={url: 'https://skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com/v3/adsb/aircraft',headers: {'x-rapidapi-key': 'YOUR_API_KEY','x-rapidapi-host': 'skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com'},params: {bbox: '51.0,-1.0,52.5,1.5'// London area bounding box}};const{ data }=awaitaxios.request(options);console.log(`${data.total_count} aircraft tracked over London`);data.aircraft.forEach(ac=>{console.log(`${ac.callsign} (${ac.registration}) — ${ac.altitude}ft`);});# All aircraft over London area
curl -X GET "https://skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com/v3/adsb/aircraft?bbox=51.0,-1.0,52.5,1.5" \
-H "x-rapidapi-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "x-rapidapi-host: skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com"# Single aircraft by ICAO24
curl -X GET "https://skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com/v3/adsb/aircraft/400BE3" \
-H "x-rapidapi-key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
-H "x-rapidapi-host: skylink-api.p.rapidapi.com"{
"total_count": 247,
"aircraft": [
{
"icao24": "400BE3",
"callsign": "BAW123",
"registration": "G-STBC",
"aircraft_type": "B77W",
"type_name": "Boeing 777-36N",
"operator": "British Airways",
"latitude": 51.4775,
"longitude": -0.4614,
"altitude": 28000,
"ground_speed": 487,
"heading": 267,
"vertical_rate": -64,
"squawk": "6421",
"on_ground": false,
"last_seen": "2026-03-29T14:32:10Z",
"photo_url": "https://cdn.airport-data.com/aircraft/full/..."
}
]
}- Interactive flight maps — like FlightRadar24 or FlightAware, using Leaflet.js or Mapbox
- Airport approach/departure monitors — real-time boards for local aviation enthusiasts
- Airline operations dashboards — track your fleet in real time
- Drone corridor awareness — check for manned aircraft before BVLOS operations
- ATC simulation and training software — inject live traffic into simulators
- Aviation education apps — teach ADS-B, transponders, and airspace management
- Aircraft photography tools — know when specific aircraft types are approaching an airport
- aircraft-registration-lookup-api — enrich ICAO24 hex addresses with registration, type, and operator data
- flight-status-api — get gate, terminal, and delay info for a specific flight number
- airport-database-api — look up airport coordinates, runways, and frequencies
- aviation-utilities-api — distance calculator, navaids, FAA delays
adsbflight-trackingaircraft-trackingaviation-apireal-timeopenskyflightradarpythonjavascriptrest-apifree-apiads-b
All features are included in a single SkyLink API subscription. No juggling 5 different providers. One key, one schema, one bill.
- Website: https://skylinkapi.com
- Full Docs: https://skylinkapi.com/docs
- RapidAPI: https://rapidapi.com/skylink-api-skylink-api-default/api/skylink-api
- Free Tier: 1,000 requests/month — no credit card required
- Coverage: Global ADS-B network, 15M+ messages/day, sub-100ms response