I think it would be neat to have on each airport page a ticker that counts the number of arrivals per day and the number of departures per day for each airport.
While not a ticker (I guess you mean like the crap they put at the bottom of TV newscasts), there is airport statistics for each airport. Here’s an example using OAK: flightaware.com/analysis/graphs/airport/KOAK
To access this, look for the link at the bottom of each airport page which says Statistics and (airport code) Airport Graphs.
No I mean like a hit counter on a web page. So each time a plane lands or takes off it adds one to the appropriate counter (either departure or arrival for that airport).
What would be the purpose of that? The graphs basically show that now.
Like hit counters on a web page, it would also be grossly misleading. Would you count an aircraft doing touch-and-goes as multiple aircraft? How would you account for traffic at a non-controlled airport? What about private airports?
I think the way FlightAware does it works just fine wtihout taking up too much precious bandwith.
you got me wondering - if an a/c departs VFR into the circuit for touch n’ go’s is each touch an arrival and each go a departure??
Or is VFR in the circuit logged at the airfield as one flight until full stop landing?
Hope the pilots are looking in this discussion area… 
IN
Absolutely should touch and gos be counted. A touch and go is an aircraft movement. The statistics on the site show per hour not amount per day. All these figures would start when their flightplan is uploaded into the system. So it doesnt matter if it is tower controlled. When the flight is moved into the arrived or departed section above the scheduled flights that is when it counts it as a flight.
Since this system only contains flights with a flight plan it would only count touch and gos that the pilot has made a flightplan for. This would make it even more accurate. Most touch and gos will not require a flightplan.
I’m not convinced this system does fully show flights where a plan has been filed but that is a seperate thread.
Fair point that circuits only requires a pilot to book out with no plan filed: we have some smaller dromes nearby that are busy in terms of movements because of training flights but actual (regular) filed flights are fewer.
Anyway, drifting off the point - the graphs are kinda user friendly and if I wanted to be more analytical there should be a better source out there but is there a better way to display the operations(?) per hour here?
A ticker - maybe?
IN(UK)
We don’t track touch and go or other VFR traffic. Even an aircraft practicing IFR approaches would likely being doing so on one flight plan and we wouldn’t count every missed approach.
When the controllers in the tower clear an aircraft for a touch and go, they click a little counter two times: its counted as 2 local operations: an arrival and a departure.
Here is the book: the FAA Facility Management manual, 7210.3.
This chapter of the book will tell you all about traffic counts.
faa.gov/Atpubs/FAC/Ch12/chp12toc.htm
(I am not sure which source FA uses for the traffic count info they use on this site)