Matching Departure and Arrival Times

FlightAware AeroAPI
1

Hi

I’ve noticed the actual departure and actual arrival times being the same for some flights returned from FlightInfoEx:


https://flightxml.flightaware.com/json/FlightXML2/FlightInfoEx?ident=AUR600&howMany=15&offset=0

e.g. AUR600-1464242400-schedule-0002:0

Does this have some special connotation?

Thanks

Phil


{
  "FlightInfoExResult": {
    "next_offset": -1,
    "flights": 
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1465192800-schedule-0001",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1465192800,
        "filed_departuretime": 1465365600,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 0,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1465368100,
        "actualarrivaltime": 0,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1465106400-schedule-0003",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1465106400,
        "filed_departuretime": 1465279200,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 0,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1465281700,
        "actualarrivaltime": 0,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1465020000-schedule-0003:1",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:53:00",
        "filed_time": 1465195726,
        "filed_departuretime": 1465192800,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1465193220,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1465196100,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1465196113,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464933600-schedule-0000:5",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:42:00",
        "filed_time": 1465109334,
        "filed_departuretime": 1465106400,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1465106820,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1465109400,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1465109430,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464847200-schedule-0001",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464847200,
        "filed_departuretime": 1465020000,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1465020492,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1465022380,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1465022306,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464760800-schedule-0001:1",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:39:00",
        "filed_time": 1464936642,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464933600,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464934680,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464937680,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464937697,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464672486-airline-0204",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464672486,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464847200,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 249,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464847515,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464850680,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464850726,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464588000-schedule-0003",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464588000,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464760800,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464761470,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464763500,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464763493,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464501600-schedule-0003",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464501600,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464674400,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464674756,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464676980,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464676954,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464415200-schedule-0000",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464415200,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464588000,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464588151,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464590820,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464590817,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464328800-schedule-0000:1",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:50:00",
        "filed_time": 1464503123,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464501600,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464501900,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464504540,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464504576,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464242400-schedule-0002:0",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "03:58:00",
        "filed_time": 1464415482,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464415200,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464435699,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464449999,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464435699,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464156000-schedule-0003",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464156000,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464328800,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464329181,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464331080,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464331050,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      },
      {
        "faFlightID": "AUR600-1464069600-schedule-0001",
        "ident": "AUR600",
        "aircrafttype": "E190",
        "filed_ete": "00:33:00",
        "filed_time": 1464069600,
        "filed_departuretime": 1464242400,
        "filed_airspeed_kts": 166,
        "filed_airspeed_mach": "",
        "filed_altitude": 0,
        "route": "",
        "actualdeparturetime": 1464242522,
        "estimatedarrivaltime": 1464245580,
        "actualarrivaltime": 1464245571,
        "diverted": "",
        "origin": "EGJB",
        "destination": "EGKK",
        "originName": "Guernsey",
        "originCity": "Guernsey, Channel Islands GB",
        "destinationName": "London Gatwick",
        "destinationCity": "London, England GB"
      }
    ]
  }
}
2

The specific format/syntax of the faFlightID is not terribly interesting, nor intended to be user-parsable.

If you are asking about the trailing colon and digit, then that is just an internal revision number for the flight plan.

3

That’s not what I meant; I meant the flight with that id has matching actual departure and actual arrival times. This seems unexpected to me, but maybe there’s a special connotation to that which I am unaware of:

{
“faFlightID”: “AUR600-1464242400-schedule-0002:0”,
“ident”: “AUR600”,
“aircrafttype”: “E190”,
“filed_ete”: “03:58:00”,
“filed_time”: 1464415482,
“filed_departuretime”: 1464415200,
“filed_airspeed_kts”: 166,
“filed_airspeed_mach”: “”,
“filed_altitude”: 0,
“route”: “”,
“actualdeparturetime”: 1464435699,
“estimatedarrivaltime”: 1464449999,
“actualarrivaltime”: 1464435699,
“diverted”: “”,
“origin”: “EGJB”,
“destination”: “EGKK”,
“originName”: “Guernsey”,
“originCity”: “Guernsey, Channel Islands GB”,
“destinationName”: “London Gatwick”,
“destinationCity”: “London, England GB”
}

4

The condition (actualarrivaltime != 0 && actualarrivaltime == actualdeparturetime) implies the outcome of “flight result unknown” (FRU), which typically means that we suspect the flight has landed but we don’t have a positive indication of it landing nor know the precise timestamp of the arrival.

If you view that particular flight on our website, you’ll see “result unknown” and “(?)” shown on the arrival time.
flightaware.com/live/flight/AUR … /EGJB/EGKK

5

Ok, thanks

6

Do these times get updated if the flight result becomes known? At the moment, I’m missing a bunch of data because these flights are returned with the actualarrivaltime == actualdeparturetime, and my program never pulls the same data twice.

7

They were flying to the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

8

So I’m guessing they don’t get updated then… It seems that you guys use the estimated arrival time to calculate duration and display the arrival time on the website then. Is this correct?

9

When the flight result is unknown, the estimated arrivaltime is what is shown on the website with a “(?)” displayed next to it.

Theoretically, a flight that had been result unknown could be upgraded to an official actualarrivaltime if we later receive a message with the arrival time. This would probably only occur where the destination was in an area where we do not receive positional information and the flight is more than a couple hours later than its planned arrival time (perhaps in a holding pattern).