Founded in 2022, Utrecht based Rotate describes itself as “the go-to team in the air-cargo industry”. Rotate helps their clients make sense of the fast-moving world of air cargo, capturing the status and cargo metrics of more than 500,000 flights a week. Their client portfolio spans everything from airlines in need of quality benchmark data for competitive analysis, to freight forwarders who arrange transportation of cargo. A key ingredient that underpins this work is real-time flight-tracking and aircraft activity data from Flightradar24.
"We chose to work with Flightradar24 for two main reasons. For starters, they offer the biggest data set of global aircraft position data. Not only that, the quality of the data Flightradar24 provides is second to none."
Flightradar24 data helps Rotate paint the whole cargo picture
By subscribing to a custom Live Flight Events Data Feed from Flightradar24, Rotate receives over 16 data points every second, covering live updates for the timings and locations of key aircraft movements. This includes Gate Departure, Takeoff, Cruise, Descent, Landing and Gate Arrival, alongside all primary flight, aircraft and operator information available. This massive amount of live data is then being enriched using Rotate’s proprietary software, their “secret sauce”, if you will.
The information then is presented to clients using an intuitive, easy-to-use, interface. With a few simple clicks, users can gain immediate insight into the past, present, and future status of cargo routes and available capacity. Their system is capable of displaying both direct as well as indirect routes, effectively discerning between specific aircrafts being used and taking into account how different configurations affect available cargo space. It’s powerful, yet surprisingly easy and fast to use.
“Thanks to our collaboration with Flightradar24, we can offer our clients not only real-time information, but also historical data for flights ranging as far back as 2018. We cover 99.99% of all relevant cargo flights and update our database every hour”, explains Jonathan.
The power of real-time data
The access to real-time data has proven a crucial differentiator on many occasions. As an example, the recent decision to cut flights in the United States due to the government shutdown immediately had an impact on available cargo capacity. Users could follow the change, and identify opportunities, in real-time. Something that wouldn’t be possible for anyone relying solely on static data, such as published time-tables.
Three ways Rotate helps cargo clients stay ahead
While one could argue that every client is unique and hence has different needs, here are three broad examples that showcase how Rotate help make a difference for their customers:
Real-Time Capacity Visibility
Rotate’s “Live Capacity” platform gives cargo clients up-to-date insight into deployed lift. Which aircraft are operating on which routes, inbound and outbound tonnage potential, slot utilization and other key data. Because Flightradar24 monitors aircraft activity globally, Rotate can map actual utilisation and not just what is scheduled.
Network Design & Opportunity Spotting
By overlaying tracked flight paths with historical movements, fleet-type information and airport connectivity, Rotate can help identify under-served lanes, latent capacity pockets and “quick-win” opportunities.
Commercial Optimization
With visibility into actual aircraft usage, charter patterns and frequency changes, cargo carriers and forwarders gain better benchmarks. Rotate uses granular movement data provided by Flightradar24, and turns it into actionable market intelligence. This can then be used to help companies refine contract-negotiation strategies, fine-tune dynamic pricing frameworks and create utilization strategies that are rooted in real trends, rather than “guesstimates”.
A partnership that moves the cargo world forward
Rotate’s collaboration with Flightradar24 serves as a perfect illustration of how the use of flight-tracking data can extend far beyond spotting aircraft on a map. In the hands of Rotate, the comprehensive data provided by Flightradar24 is translated into invaluable intelligence that helps shuttle cargo efficiently across the globe.
Jonathan Mellink of Rotate sums up the advantages of working with Flightradar24, from his point of view;
“For our clients, having Flightradar24 data serve as a crucial pillar of our market data portfolio in the end means that we can serve them with better, more reliable intelligence. You may be an established cargo company looking to optimize your fleet mix, looking to spot charter opportunities or simply want intelligence that helps you negotiate better contract terms, it all starts and ends with good data.”
“We’ve worked with Rotate since the very beginning and it’s been incredible to see them grow and prosper. Our collaboration with Rotate also offers an excellent business case and elegantly demonstrates exactly how real-time flight tracking data can be utilized to power a smart, successful company.”
Curious to learn more about how your company could benefit from flight tracking data from Flightradar24? Contact us, and we’ll tell you more about Flightradar24’s Commercial Services, and how we can help you take advantage of the sky above.
