Flightradar24 Live Flights Scraper

Flightradar24 Live Flights Scraper

Scrape live flight data from Flightradar24 by bounding box, airline, or route. Get real-time positions, callsigns, aircraft types, altitude, speed, and origin/destination for up to a million flights per run. No API key. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.

Flightradar24's official API requires a paid subscription and rate limits. This Actor reads the public live flight feed directly, filtered by geographic bounding box, airline ICAO code, origin IATA, or destination IATA, and returns each flight as a flat row with its current position and flight details.

Who uses it	What they scrape Flightradar24 for
Aviation enthusiasts	Track flights over their city or region in real time
Travel analysts	Monitor airline operations and route activity
Logistics companies	Watch cargo flights and airport traffic patterns
Data scientists	Build datasets of live flight positions for modeling
App developers	Power flight tracking features without API keys

What it does

This Actor collects live flight data from Flightradar24 by bounding box, airline, or route, and returns each flight as a flat row with real-time position, callsign, aircraft type, altitude, speed, and origin/destination.

• 📍 Bounding box filter: Define a geographic area with north, south, west, east coordinates to capture flights only in that region.
• ✈️ Airline filter: Narrow results to a specific airline using its 3-letter ICAO code, like UAL for United or BAW for British Airways.
• 🛫 Route filters: Filter by origin IATA (e.g. JFK) or destination IATA (e.g. LHR) to focus on specific airports.
• 🔢 Max flights control: Set a limit from 1 to 1,000,000 flights per run to manage dataset size and cost.
• 📊 Flat row output: Each flight is returned as a single row with all fields, ready for export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Flightradar24 data

📡 Monitor air traffic over a region.

An aviation enthusiast sets a bounding box over their city and collects all live flights to see what's overhead right now.

📈 Analyze airline operations.

A travel analyst filters by airline ICAO code to track all flights operated by a specific carrier and study route patterns.

🛬 Track airport arrivals and departures.

A logistics company filters by destination IATA to monitor incoming flights to a major hub and plan ground operations.

🧪 Build live flight datasets.

A data scientist runs the Actor periodically to collect real-time flight positions for machine learning or visualization projects.

📱 Power a flight tracking app.

An app developer uses the Actor as a backend to fetch live flight data without dealing with API keys or rate limits.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Uses the public Flightradar24 feed, no registration or subscription needed
Real-time data	Positions and flight details are current at the moment of scraping
Flexible filters	Combine bounding box, airline, and route filters to target exactly the flights you need
Scalable	Collect up to a million flights per run, from a single city to global coverage
Structured output	Every flight is a flat row with consistent fields, easy to analyze or export

How it compares

This Actor offers more granular filtering by airline and route than the other Flightradar24 scrapers, while still using the free public feed.

Feature	ParseForge	Flightradar24 Live Flight Scraper	Flightradar24 Scraper	PlanesLive Scraper - FlightRadar24 Alternative
Bounding box filter	Yes	Not listed	Yes	Not listed
Airline ICAO filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Origin IATA filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Destination IATA filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Max flights control	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Real-time positions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Callsign and aircraft type	Yes	Yes	Yes	Not listed

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a bounding box, airline ICAO code, origin IATA, or destination IATA, alone or together, and filters run as each flight is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "bounds": "50.0,24.0,-125.0,-65.0",
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "bounds": "50.0,24.0,-125.0,-65.0",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Flightradar24 Live Flights Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Flightradar24 through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/flightradar24-live-flights-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Your bounding box may be too small or your filters too restrictive. Try widening the bounding box or removing the airline and route filters to see if any flights are returned.

Why are flights outside my bounding box included?

The bounding box uses north, south, west, east coordinates. Make sure the order is correct: north latitude, south latitude, west longitude, east longitude. For example, 50.0,24.0,-125.0,-65.0 covers the continental US.

Why is my airline filter not working?

The airline filter expects a 3-letter ICAO code, not the airline name. For example, use UAL for United Airlines, not 'United'. The match is case-insensitive.

Why did the run stop before reaching max flights?

The Actor stops when it has collected the maximum flights you set, or when there are no more flights matching your filters in the current feed. Try adjusting filters or increasing max flights.

Can I get historical flight data?

No, this Actor only scrapes live flight data. For historical data, you would need a different source or API.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a Flightradar24 API key?	No. This Actor uses the public live flight feed, so no API key or subscription is required.
How many flights can I scrape in one run?	You can set the maximum flights from 1 to 1,000,000 per run. The default is 10.
What is a bounding box?	A bounding box is a geographic rectangle defined by four coordinates: north, south, west, and east. The Actor only returns flights inside that area.
Can I filter by airline?	Yes, use the airline ICAO filter with a 3-letter code like UAL or BAW. It's a case-insensitive substring match.
Can I filter by origin or destination airport?	Yes, use the origin IATA or destination IATA filters with airport codes like JFK or LHR.
What data does each flight include?	Each flight row includes real-time position (latitude, longitude), callsign, aircraft type, altitude, speed, and origin/destination, among other fields.
What output formats are supported?	You can export the results to JSON, CSV, Excel, or XML.
Is the data real-time?	Yes, the Actor reads the live Flightradar24 feed, so positions and flight details are current at the moment of scraping.
Can I run this on a schedule?	Yes, you can schedule the Actor to run at regular intervals to collect fresh flight data automatically.
What if I get no results?	Check your filters. A bounding box that is too small or an airline code that doesn't exist may return no flights. Try widening the box or removing filters.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Flightradar24 AB. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.