Aviation Data Reference
The Norba Aviation Data API provides a comprehensive, canonical catalogue of airports, airlines, and aircraft types — sourced from OurAirports, the FAA aircraft databases and OpenTravelData.
Airports
Full airport profiles: codes, city and country, timezone, coordinates, elevation and a runway count. The list and single-item endpoints both return the same object — there is no summary projection. Runway detail (length, width, surface, headings) comes from GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/runways, or from GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/full, whose response is { airport, runways, frequencies, navaids }.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| iata_code | string (3) | IATA 3-letter airport code (e.g. LHR, JFK, MAD). |
| icao_code | string (4) | ICAO 4-letter airport code (e.g. EGLL). Used in flight plans. |
| name | string | Canonical airport name (e.g. London Heathrow Airport). |
| city | string | City the airport serves (e.g. London). |
| country | string | ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (e.g. GB). |
| region | string | ISO 3166-2 subdivision, when known. |
| timezone | string | IANA timezone identifier (e.g. Europe/London). |
| latitude | number | Decimal latitude. |
| longitude | number | Decimal longitude. |
| elevation_ft | number | Elevation above sea level in feet. |
| airport_type | string | OurAirports classification: large_airport, medium_airport, small_airport, heliport, seaplane_base, closed. |
| scheduled_service | boolean | Whether the airport has scheduled commercial service. |
| runways_count | integer | How many runways the airport has. The runway records themselves come from the /runways sub-resource. |
Airlines
Airline profiles with IATA/ICAO codes, alliance membership, country, callsign, operating status, hubs and base airports. Filterable by ?status=, ?iata=, ?icao=, ?country=, ?alliance= and ?name=.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| iata_code | string (2) | IATA 2-letter airline code (e.g. BA, EI, VY). |
| icao_code | string (3) | ICAO 3-letter airline code (e.g. BAW, EIN). |
| name | string | Full airline name (e.g. British Airways). |
| callsign | string | Radio callsign (e.g. SPEEDBIRD). |
| country | string | Country of registration. |
| alliance | string | Alliance membership (oneworld, Star Alliance, SkyTeam, or null). |
| status | string | Operating state: active, inactive or defunct. Also served on its own by GET /v1/aviation/airlines/{id}/status. |
| hubs | array<string> | Hub airport codes, when known. |
| base_airports | array<string> | Base airport codes, when known. |
Capabilities
Every Aviation Data API endpoint is live in production. A green dot indicates the feature is fully implemented and available. Every call needs an API key and is metered like any other request: it counts against the account's 500-request lifetime allowance and, once that is spent, costs €0.0025 — see Billing and Pricing. These routes are exempt from the per-IP rate-limit floor, because they never reach an airline, but not from metering.
| Category | Endpoint | Method | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id} | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/full | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/iata/{iata} | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/icao/{icao} | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/runways | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/frequencies | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/navaids | GET | Live |
| Airports | GET /v1/aviation/airports/{id}/timezone | GET | Live |
| Airlines | GET /v1/aviation/airlines | GET | Live |
| Airlines | GET /v1/aviation/airlines/{id} | GET | Live |
| Airlines | GET /v1/aviation/airlines/iata/{iata} | GET | Live |
| Airlines | GET /v1/aviation/airlines/icao/{icao} | GET | Live |
| Airlines | GET /v1/aviation/airlines/{id}/status | GET | Live |
| Aircraft | GET /v1/aviation/aircraft-types | GET | Live |
| Aircraft | GET /v1/aviation/aircraft-types/{icao_type} | GET | Live |
| System | GET /v1/reference/sources | GET | Live |
Aircraft Types
Aircraft type lookup by ICAO type designator — GET /v1/aviation/aircraft-types/{icao_type}. IATA aircraft codes (32A, 788) are not supported and return 404. Includes manufacturer, model, body class, and engine classification. Used by the normalization pipeline to enrich offer responses with aircraft family names.
| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| icao_type_code | string (4) | ICAO type designator (e.g. A20N, B788). This is the lookup key for GET /v1/aviation/aircraft-types/{icao_type}. |
| faa_designator | string | The FAA's own designator for the type, where it differs. |
| manufacturer | string | Manufacturer name (Airbus, Boeing, Embraer, etc.). |
| model | string | Canonical model name (A320neo, 787-8 Dreamliner). |
| description | string | Brief human-readable description. |
| aircraft_class | string | Body class: narrowbody, widebody, regional or turboprop. |
| physical_class_engine | string | FAA physical/engine class: Jet, Turboprop, Piston, Electric. |
| engine_type | string | jet, turboprop, piston or electric. |
| num_engines | integer | Engine count. |
| wake_turbulence_category | string | L, M, H or J. |
Data Sources
All reference data is sourced from open datasets and refreshed periodically:
- OurAirports — airport coordinates, elevation, runways, timezone data.
- FAA Aircraft Characteristics Database — aircraft types: designators, manufacturer and model, physical and engine class, wake category. U.S. Government work, public domain in the U.S.
- FAA Aircraft Registry — tail-number records. U.S.-registered (N-) aircraft only.
- OpenTravelData — airline IATA/ICAO codes, callsigns, alliance membership.
- Norba internal seed catalogue — curated records filling gaps the open datasets leave.
GET /v1/reference/sources returns this same list at runtime, with each source's licence and current status.