track flights live.....

[andrewcregan]

It is reliant on enthusiasts uploading the info. This is achieved via a Mode S box.
Not all aircraft have a Mode S transponder giving out the enhanced information, so they will not be displayed eg Flybe and Eastern aircraft in the UK, and most military aircraft.
As these Mode S boxes only pick up aircraft in line of sight, large areas such as Africa would require a much larger number of enthusiasts.
It is quite obvious that there are many more enthusiasts in Europe and the US, and people with the disposable income to purchase the equipment.

[markrlondon]

It is reliant on enthusiasts uploading the info. This is achieved via a Mode S box.
Not all aircraft have a Mode S transponder giving out the enhanced information, so they will not be displayed eg Flybe and Eastern aircraft in the UK, and most military aircraft.
As these Mode S boxes only pick up aircraft in line of sight, large areas such as Africa would require a much larger number of enthusiasts.
It is quite obvious that there are many more enthusiasts in Europe and the US, and people with the disposable income to purchase the equipment.

I don't think it uses Mode S; it only uses ADS-B transponders which are (to the best of my knowledge) not necessarily the same box as a Mode S transponder.

As you say, coverage is dependent on enthusiasts contributing data from their ADS-B receivers (and historically this has mostly been in Europe) but there is also the issue that not all passenger aircraft currently have ADS-B transponders. At present there are some aircraft types that do you have ADs-B transponders but, as I understand it, almost all new passenger aicraft worldwide will have ADS-B.

There's an about page here: http://www.flightradar24.com/about



**edit**
Mode S versus ADS-B from the about page:

I work at an airline, and our aircraft are equipped with ModeS-transponder but not visible on your map, why?

Our receivers can receive signals from ModeS-transponders, but there is no position information from ModeS, so we cannot plot this aircraft on the map. Your have to upgrade the transponder in the airplane to ADS-B / VDL 4 to be visible on Flightradar24.com.

[imb1]

I was wondering why Europe was so crowded but not so much USA. It says

Flightradar24 shows live airplane traffic from different parts around the world. The technique to receive flight information from aircraft is called ADS-B. That means the Flightradar24 can only show information about aircraft equipped with an ADS-B transponder. Today about 60% (about 30% in USA and about 70% in Europe) of the passenger aircraft and only a small amount of military and private aircraft have an ADS-B transponder.

[pilch23]

hOW COOL IS THAT WOWSER