I’m just about to pick up my niece from Gatwick shortly.
Rather than trust the airport to give me correct/incorrect arrival time, I use a very nifty little programme called flightradar24. This allows me to track the progress of a flight in real time.
For instance at this moment her flight is at 38,000 ft and travelling at 442 kts, and on a course off 332 deg.
When it gets to Paris I shall jump into the car and head to the airport.
Just thought you might be interested.
I used that last week when I was due to pick up a friend from Gatwick. There was no info on whether or not the plane was delayed so I scoured the airlines and found the flight just as it was going over the north Spanish coast.
ReplyDeleteHowever, once I got to Gatwick (North terminal) I realised that there's no pick-up area and you have to go into the short stay car park!
There's also one for ships
ReplyDeletehttp://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
Yes and the great British airport rip-off of paying to park to do a pick-up.
It cost me £6.50 for an hour!
ReplyDeleteLiving just over 30 minutes from Gatport Airwick, I wait until I know the plane has landed, then set off in my trusty (sometimes) Model T Ford. By the time the traipse to the baggage areas has been made, bags collected and the customs area navigated, I am outside waiting. At both terminals, there is a drop off point. I just use that and if I'm moved on by an illegal immigrant who speaks just enough English to be employed as a parking warden, it only takes a minute or two to go round the circuit. Agree about the blatant rip-off of the cars parks. However, not as bad as Bournemouth where you can't even drop off/pick up without going into the car park!
ReplyDeletePenseivat
There's also http://www.radarvirtuel.com/
ReplyDeleteBe aware that both the air and ship versions depend on a network of enthusiasts and their own monitoring equipment. This can give rise to gaps in reception, although most major airports are well covered.
They both use VHF "line of sight" transmissions, so you may also find tracking drops in and out. Notwithstanding any of this, I agree that they are very useful resources. The aviation sites were almost unreachable during the Icelandic volcano ash disruption, when everyone and his dog were trying to see what was going on.
flightradar24 its a great system, Ive been using it for ages. However the installation of the reporting equipment is non-mandatory. Its an advanced version of an existing system. Basically it's a variation of the Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) transponders first invented during WW2. Not all airlines use this advanced version... Flybe for instance do not, so their aircraft do not appear on the displays available through flightradar24. Among the lo-co airlines all Ryanair, Easyjet and most of the Jet2 fleet are fitted.
ReplyDeleteAlso for trains on http://traintimes.org.uk/ includes London Underground trains.
ReplyDeleteLondon underground. *shudders*
ReplyDelete