When testing out the /airports/{id}/flights/to/{dest_id} API with parameters: KLAX, RJAA, 10 page max and not specifying start/end times, I noticed that Cathay Pacific is not returned. Why is that? I originally thought it was because backtracking isn’t allowed but I see EVA LAX-TPE-NRT which backtracks.
I also noticed that China Airlines is returned as a nonstop CI CAL5153 from LAX-NRT but this route doesn’t exist. Why is there not a route like CI 7 LAX-TPE + CI 100 TPE-NRT? Thanks!
The one stop options presented are algorithmically selected and non-exhaustive. For exhaustive one-stop options, you’d need to query all departures from the origin and all arrivals at the destination to join.
CAL5153 LAX-NRT does exist; it looks like a cargo flight.
Thank you for the reply! Is there a way to tell from an API if a flight is a cargo flight?
Whether a flight is cargo isn’t available through AeroAPI. That currently requires some human intuition to determine.
However, you can sometimes look at the first three-characters of the ident (which represent the operator’s code) and look that up on GET /operators/{id} to see if the name has the word “Cargo” in it.
For this particular flight that method wouldn’t have helped, since China Airlines uses the same operator code for both passenger and cargo operations. However, from looking at the physical location at KLAX where it parked at you can tell it is at the Cargo portion of the airport.