FAQ

Is it good for my case?

AeroDataBox is a niche enthusiast-driven aviation and flights API with certain limitations that we openly communicate. When it comes to our services, we try to under-promise and over-deliver. But is an enthusiast-driven API good for your case? That depends!

This API is originally built with the idea of supporting smaller applications teams, researchers, individual developers, and anyone else who can’t afford hefty charges imposed by market-leading data companies and who are OK with having a bit less in terms of data precision, coverage, and service stability in exchange. So, if you’re developing a small or medium application that does not have top-level demand for data quality and does not require SLA, our API might be just right for you, because it:

• is offered at symbolic rates with lowest one being comparable to a cup of coffee (see Pricing);
• has some unique features which are not offered anywhere else or offered at higher rates (airport and flight delays API, airport routes statistics, take-off/landing runway detection, realistic flight-time calculations, FAA LADD aircraft status, etc.);
• means supporting smaller enthusiastic projects rather than bigger corporate products;
• is easy to integrate with, not complicated in use and well-documented.

However, you currently are discouraged (and even not allowed in some cases) to use our API for mission-critical products, especially if your product is involved with real-life aircraft operations or navigation.

We’re planning to improve this, though. We’re currently working hard to improve the quality of the service and start providing certain guarantees under special terms soon. If you need it earlier or should you have special needs, please contact us and tell us your story! We already have a record of implementing custom solutions tailored for specific needs of our customers.

What is the stability of the service? Do you have SLA?

We are doing our best to achieve the best API uptime possible. Our current uptime metrics can be seen here.

We do not provide any service level guarantees at the moment. However, we are working hard to, hopefully, start providing premium access to our APIs that will include SLAs in 2025.

What are the data quality and coverage?

Though our coverage of aircraft data is rather decent, flight data coverage is somewhat limited. Please read more about data coverage.

Do you have worldwide coverage for flights? Which regions are supported?

Coverage is extensive, yet not worldwide. Please read more about data coverage.

Is it possible to subscribe to AeroDataBox API directly, without Intermediates?

AeroDataBox API is currently provided exclusively through the listed API marketplaces at the moment. However, we have plans to start providing direct access to our API hopefully in 2025. Under certain conditions we may, however, provide direct access to our API earlier than that. Contact us to let us know if you are interested.

Why charging at all?

Even a relatively small enthusiast-driven project, like AeroDataBox, processes gigabytes of data in a very complex manner daily. It requires constant attention from highly qualified professionals involved with the project and regular payments for server infrastructure. In a modest attempt to compensate for these expenses and volunteering, our flights API is made public at a low cost.

Please note that software engineering and aviation enthusiasts working on AeroDataBox during their spare time in between job and family duties are not getting compensated for these efforts. At the moment, revenues from the API are not enough to hire even a single engineer full-time. For the same reason, we kindly ask for your understanding if some aspects of data quality or service level are not meeting your expectations.

Do you have free trials?

We temporarily reinstated our free plans on API.Market as a part of our 2024 promotion!

In the past, we used to provide free access to our Basic plan, which is an excellent plan for trying the API. Unfortunately, this option was often abused by customers creating multiple accounts and continuing using our API this way for extended periods of time. Effective July 2023 we discontinued completely free access to AeroDataBox API and put a symbolic fee for the lowest of our plans.

Do you provide free or discounted API keys for students?

Yes, we do, actually. Learn more here.

You don’t have the feature I need. Is it possible to add it?

You are always welcome to send us your suggestion! We regularly make adjustments and introduce new features into our API based on the feedback received from the users. However, we cannot always guarantee that your feature will be implemented (soon): unfortunately, not all things are possible or achievable within a reasonable amount of time and effort. We have as well a long backlog of items to work on, and there might be more critical things awaiting there.

You may as well contact us if you don’t want to wait or if you’re looking for a custom solution to be implemented for you on a paid basis. Depending on our availability and your budget and requirements, we might be able to discuss possible options.

Are you compliant with FAA LADD?

Flight activity of the aircraft listed in the FAA LADD program is currently hidden from AeroDataBox API by default. Read more about it here.

If you are the operator or the owner of the aircraft blocked in the FAA LADD list and if you want to use AeroDataBox API to gain access to the data about your aircraft, please contact us to remove the restriction for your account. Fees may apply.