How to Track a Ferry or Positioning Flight
What ferry and positioning flights are, why airlines fly empty aircraft between cities, and how to track these unusual movements with consumer apps.
FlightyFlow Team·· 5 min read
What a ferry flight is
A ferry flight is a non-revenue movement of an aircraft. Common reasons:
- Repositioning for the next scheduled flight.
- Moving the airframe to a maintenance base.
- Delivering a new aircraft from the factory.
- Returning a charter aircraft to its home base after a one-way booking.
How to spot one
In most flight trackers, ferry flights show up with:
- A non-standard flight number (often a 9-prefix on US carriers, a 00 suffix, or a callsign with the operator's name).
- No published gate at the destination.
- A "Non-revenue" label where supported.
Where to track
FlightyFlow and Flightradar24 both show non-scheduled movements. Search the tail number rather than a flight number — it's the most reliable handle.
Famous ferry routes
- New aircraft delivery flights from Toulouse (TLS) and Everett (PAE) to airline maintenance bases.
- Hurricane evacuation positioning flights from Florida to inland hubs.
- Aircraft retirement flights to Marana (MZJ), Victorville (VCV), or Teruel (TEV).
#ferry flight#positioning#ops#guide
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