In our latest mobile update, we rebuilt our filter functionality and made them easier to use. Filters are a great tool for when you’re looking for something specific, but want to see more than just a single flight. In this post we’ll walk through each type of filter and provide some basic examples of how to use them in the apps. We’d also love to hear how you’re using filters. Send us a tweet or comment on Facebook and we’ll share some of the most creative uses of filters.

New Features

Filters are now just one tap away in the app. We moved the filters button to the bottom left corner of the screen in the app so you can easily set a filter. Next to the filter button, you’ll find the map settings button and the “go to my location” button. All three buttons can be hidden when not in use so they don’t take up space while you’re tracking flights. To show or hide the buttons, just tap anywhere on the screen. You’ll also notice a new red outline that acts a reminder that you have an active filter.

Saving a Filter

To save a filter, set the filter you want (more on that below) and tap “Apply”. Tap the filter button again and then tap Save. You will be prompted to give the filter a name, then tap “Save” to add it to your saved filters list. Below is an example for saving an Airline filter.

Filter Overlay

Also new is the ability to overlay filtered flights on all traffic. For instance, say you want to filter Aeroflot flights over Moscow. You can choose to see only those flights or you can view Aeroflot aircraft overlaid on all other traffic in the area. You can choose which view you would like when activating the filter. You can also toggle between views by tapping the button in the bottom right corner of the screen after you’ve applied the filter.

Types of Filters

Speed

Filtering for speed is as simple as using the sliders to choose the range for which you’d like to filter. Depending on which units you have selected, you can filter in knots, miles per hour, or kilometers per hour.

Altitude

Similar to speed, filtering by altitude is accomplished by moving the sliders to the range you’d like to see. The minimum altitude selectable is 0 feet/meters and the maximum is approximately 65,000 feet/19,000 meters. Altitude filtering can be used to view different kinds of traffic, such as setting filters for higher altitudes to see business jet traffic.

Airline

Filtering by airline is now even easier with multiple ways to choose the airline you’d like to see. Select an airline from the list or by using the search bar. You can search for an airline by name or by ICAO code. A list of airline ICAO codes may be found here. You can also filter for multiple airlines by separating ICAO codes with a comma, for instance, see Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar flights by entering “UAE,ETD,QTR” in the search box.

Aircraft

Aircraft filtering received a substantial upgrade in our latest release. You can now filter for any aircraft by aircraft family or by ICAO aircraft type designator. You can also add multiple aircraft types from different type families to a single filter. We provide a list of the most common aircraft and aircraft families, but you can add any ICAO code to an aircraft filter.

ICAO codes are three or four digit codes that specify a type of aircraft. For instance, if you want to filter for all Airbus A340 aircraft, you would either select the “A340 Family” from the list or type “A34”. If you only want to see Airbus A340-600 aircraft, you can type “A346”.

Adding Multiple Aircraft Types to a Single Filter

To add multiple aircraft types to a single filter, separate each type code by commas. For example, if you want to see Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A340-600 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft, you would type “A346,B744”.

Finding an ICAO Type Code

You can find a list of popular ICAO codes here, or you can visit ICAO’s website and search for codes by Manufacturer, Model, Description (landplane, seaplane, helicopter, etc), number and type of engines, and wake turbulence category.

Airport

We also made major improvements to filtering by airport. You can now set an airport filter by selecting a country, then selecting an airport. You can also search for an airport by airport name, IATA code (3 letters), ICAO code (4 letters), or city name. To filter for multiple airports, just enter the airport IATA codes separated by a comma. For example, to see flight activity at some of London’s airports, enter “LHR,LGW,LCY” to see flights at Heathrow, Gatwick, and London City airports.

You can filter for inbound, outbound, and inbound/outbound flights for each airport.

Registration

With registration filters, you can enter as little or as much of a registration as you’d like. If you enter “TC-JNM” you’ll see only a Turkish Airlines Airbus A330-300. If you just enter “TC,” any aircraft registered in Turkey will be shown.

Filtering by registration is a great way to keep tabs on aircraft with special liveries. Lists of aircraft in special liveries may be found else where on our blog.

Special Airline Alliance Liveries

Retro Jet Liveries

Sports Liveries

Those are just some of the ways you can use filters in the Flightradar24 mobile apps. We want to hear how you’re using filters to find and track flights. Send us a tweet or comment on Facebook and we’ll share some of your most creative uses of filters. You can always contact us if you have any questions about using filters or the site in general.