Flightstats.com - watch the runway from the web

Where to start writing a review of Flightstat.com? Initially, I imagined this site's prime target user would be plane spotters, scanning the site rather than loitering on the viewing deck watching the comings and goings of planes all day long.

The traditional plane spotter would be impressed, I'm sure. The Flight Status search option alone aroused levels of excitement in me (non-spotter) not seen since I was introduced to Netvibes (see post). With the Flight Status search you can view flights by airline name and flight code; route or destination or arrival airport.

Flight Status search is also perfect for anxious mums waiting for teenage travellers to touch down on the other side of the globe, or be picked up by Dad at the Arrivals gate, tanned, skint and having found themselves. And super savvy loved ones - have strayed from their laptop - can set up a Flight Alert text or email, letting Flightstats.com send reassurance the second Daniel's plane - plus tail lights - have landed in Spain.

So out of interest, I searched the status of all Departures from London Heathrow between 18.00 - 21.00 today: five pages of scrolling later, I'd viewed airport gateway codes (with link to airport details), flight codes (in multiple if a code-sharing flight),carrier names and equipment (model of plane), terminals, scheduled against actual departure times (in real-time) and status (landed, en route, on time or running late)for flights departing to destinations worldwide - everywhere from Amsterdam to Zurich. Yes, a cyber plane-spotter was born!

There's more. The Flight Tracker application - using Googlemaps - lets you see the latest position of each flight along its course: which city, town, village or ocean the plane is flying over in real time. As the map refreshes, Positional Information shares details of the flight's exact Latitude; Longitude; Speed; Altitude; Bearing; miles (KM) from destination and from origin. Click here to see a random flight in action

Flights Status and Tracker are just two options in just one drop down menu (Flights)

There's even more. Check the following tabs for these travel resources...

TRAVEL PLANNING tab includes Flight Availability search engine (powered by Kayak), Frequent Flyer promotions drop downs
AIRLINES tab including Airline Scorecard and Airlines of the World drop downs
AIRPORTS tab including Airport Information, Delays by Airport, Airport Chatter, Security Wait Times (currently just US airports) and Airport Parking drop downs
COMMUNITY tab including Forums and Travel Directory drop downs

Visit Flightstats.com , explore and be amazed by the depth of information available.

About Flightstats.com (from the site)
Conducive Technology Corp. is a leading provider of worldwide flight performance information to the global travel and transportation industries. Our FlightStats platform delivers real-time and historical flight information that lowers travel-related costs and improves the travel experience. With unique products that can deliver value at each stage of a travel transaction, to both business and consumer audiences, FlightStats is poised to benefit as travel management evolves.