One of the great advantages of getting to the airport in plenty of time is to be able to watch flight movements from the Christchurch Airport Koru lounge. It has one of the best runway and domestic apron views of any airport in the region.
A tool that makes this even more enjoyable is an online and live aircraft movements tracking monitor called Flight Radar. flightradar.com is a website that tracks aircraft in real time allowing users to see their progress on an interactive make as they make their way to their destination. Flight Radar gets its live information direct from the aircraft’s on board ADS-B transponder. Roughly 60% of all passenger aircraft around the world are equipped with an ADS-B transponder – this will grow with new international regulations soon to make this mandatory for all commercial aircraft. See http://www.flightradar24.com/how-it-works for more information.

The free version that I was using has a wealth of information and functionality that will keep any aviation enthusiast happy for hours. The paid subscription version goes a lot further and gives you much more functionality and access to flight radar wealth of data.

This simple website enabled me to track the incoming flight from Wellington that I will be soon departing on back to the capital. Another feature of the Flight Radar system is it provides speed, height and position information – as well as airline, make, model and aircraft registration information – the incoming Air New Zealand A320 I tracked was exactly the same aircraft I did the same sector on two weeks ago…!!