View Tracker data
using Google Earth
Bristol Airport’s Tracker system enables aircraft tracks to be plotted against specific locations on the ground, providing graphical information to support responses to local residents reporting concerns over aircraft noise.
Data from Tracker is now available to view online using Google Earth* (which can be downloaded at http://earth.google.co.uk/). Separate files will be published monthly on this page for arrivals and departures in each week of the preceding month, giving local residents or prospective house-buyers an overview of operations in a particular area.
Once you have installed Google Earth, simply click on the data file for the week you are interested in. This will launch Google Earth with the tracks flown by aircraft overlaid. The files may be large and take a few minutes to download and launch so please be patient. Zoom in to see how aircraft activity relates to specific locations on the ground. The tracks are colour-coded by altitude bands which are red for 0 to 4,000ft, yellow for 4,000ft to 6,000ft and green for over 6,000ft. The tracks cut off at 10,000ft when the aircraft leave our controlled airspace. If you click on a flight track, information about the aircraft will display in a pop-up box.
Departing jet aircraft and propeller driven aircraft of more than 5700 kg maximum certificated weight are required to follow noise preferential routings unless otherwise instructed by Air Traffic Control. There are also standard outbound routes for departing aircraft joining the airways system (also known as Standard Instrument Departure Routes, or SIDS). You can download the departing flight corridors to your Google Earth plot by clicking here. To avoid having to do this every time you use Tracker online, you can save the flight corridors under ‘My Places’ in Google Earth. You might want to follow the tutorials on the Google Earth website to see how you can make the most of this information.
Most inbound aircraft are guided to the runway by the Instrument Landing System (ILS). Aircraft line up with the ILS at a distance of between 7 and 10 miles before descending at an angle of 3 degrees.
Flight data displayed using Google Earth is indicative and should be used as a guide only. Members of the public wishing to register concerns about aircraft noise or track-keeping, or seeking further information on a specific incident, should contact Bristol Airport’s noise complaints service.
Aircraft noise data is also published in Bristol Airport’s annual Operations Monitoring Report and reported to the Airport Consultative Committee on a quarterly basis.
Please let us know if you have any comments or feedback on the Google Earth files by clicking here
*Please note that Google Earth is subject to the Google Terms of Service. Bristol Airport is not responsible for its content or operation.
FLIGHT DATA – APRIL 2013
Data will be published monthly, with files for each period made available by the mid-point of the following month.