Searching for a Specific Aircraft (Watchlist Mode)

Summary: How to search live traffic by callsign, type, registration, operator, squawk, or hex code, and get notified when a match appears.

Use the search box in the Live Flights panel to find aircraft by:

• Callsign
• Aircraft type
• Registration
• Operator
• Squawk code
• ICAO hex code

Searching by Operator

Operator search now covers most civil traffic, not just the handful of aircraft that happen to broadcast one. The airline is worked out from the first three letters of the callsign (its ICAO designator) against a curated lookup, so both the airline’s name and its spoken radio callsign are searchable – “british airways” and “speedbird” find the same aircraft, which is useful when the spoken callsign is what you actually hear.

Searching for Several at Once

Separate terms with a comma, the word “and”, or a “+” to search for more than one thing together – for example “ryanair, easyjet” or “ryanair and easyjet” shows both fleets at once. A plain space doesn’t split terms, so names like “British Airways” or “Royal Air Force” are safe to type as a single search without being broken apart.

Turning a Search into a Watchlist

Enabling Notify on a search switches the map into watchlist mode: instead of showing all traffic, the map shows only aircraft matching your search, and alerts you the moment a match appears over the UK. This is useful for keeping an eye out for a specific aircraft, operator, or type without needing to watch the map constantly.