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Amadeus Altea vs FlightAware

Amadeus Altea logo

Amadeus Altea

Software

Complete airline passenger service and reservation system

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
FlightAware logo

FlightAware

Software

Global flight tracking and aviation data platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only FlightAware has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amadeus Altea pricing is not published and is negotiated with airlines; FlightAware flightAware Global is sold per aircraft tail, with discounts applied only when multiple aircraft are tracked
  • They diverge on capability: Amadeus Altea covers Reservation management, FlightAware covers Real-time tracking.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amadeus Altea and FlightAware actually diverge.

Attributes where Amadeus Altea and FlightAware differ
AttributeAmadeus AlteaFlightAware
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelusage-basedfreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, Ios, AndroidWeb, Ios, Android
Founded19872005

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amadeus Altea

  • Reservation management
  • Inventory control
  • Departure control
  • Revenue management
  • Customer profiles
  • GDS systems
  • Payment gateways
  • Loyalty programs

Only in FlightAware

  • Real-time tracking
  • Flight status
  • Airport info
  • Delay tracking
  • Weather data
  • APIs
  • Third-party apps
  • Airlines

Both cover

  • Data encryption
  • Web support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amadeus Altea

  • Passenger service system covering reservations, inventory and departure controlnot FlightAware
  • Airline distribution and retailingnot FlightAware
  • Check-in and boarding operationsnot FlightAware
  • Fare and ancillary merchandising for full-service carriersnot FlightAware

FlightAware

  • Tracking a business aviation fleet by tail number with taxi and ground alertsnot Amadeus Altea
  • Blocking or selectively sharing an aircraft's flight legs for privacynot Amadeus Altea
  • Pulling live and historical flight positions and tracks into an application over a REST APInot Amadeus Altea
  • Predicting arrival times with Foresight for airline and airport operationsnot Amadeus Altea

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amadeus Altea

  • Pricing is not published and is negotiated with airlines
  • Altea is aimed at full-service carriers; low-cost and hybrid airlines are pointed at Navitaire New Skies instead
  • Amadeus is steering new work toward Nevio, its cloud-native retailing suite, so Altea sits alongside a newer platform

FlightAware

  • FlightAware Global is sold per aircraft tail, with discounts applied only when multiple aircraft are tracked
  • Global satellite tracking through Aireon space-based ADS-B requires the Platinum plan at $295 per month or $3,540 per year
  • Secure flight sharing, flight leg unblocking and access management start at the Gold plan at $168 per month, not the $60 per month Silver plan
  • AeroAPI Standard carries a $100 monthly minimum and AeroAPI Premium a $1,000 monthly minimum regardless of usage
  • Historical flight data and flight alerting are excluded from the free AeroAPI Personal tier
  • AeroAPI Personal is rate limited to 10 result sets per minute against 5 per second on Standard
  • AeroAPI billing is metered per result set, for example $0.050 per result set for flight search, where one result set is 15 records
  • AeroAPI volume discounts begin only above $1,000 of monthly usage
  • Firehose, Foresight and FBO Toolbox carry no published price on the commercial products page

Pricing, plan by plan

Amadeus Altea

On request
  • Altea PSSFree
    • Per-passenger pricing
    • Full PSS functionality
    • Global distribution

FlightAware

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Flight tracking
    • Basic info
    • Mobile app
  • Subscription$9.99/month
    • Ad-free
    • Premium tracking
    • Weather maps

Which should you pick?

Choose Amadeus Altea if

  • You need reservation management.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Ios, Android.
  • You also want inventory control.
Amadeus Altea review

Choose FlightAware if

  • You need real-time tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want flight status.
FlightAware review

Questions people ask

Is Amadeus Altea or FlightAware better?
Neither clearly leads. Amadeus Altea starts at On request and FlightAware at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amadeus Altea or FlightAware?
FlightAware has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Amadeus Altea and Free for FlightAware.
Does Amadeus Altea or FlightAware run on more platforms?
Amadeus Altea runs on Web, Windows, Ios, Android. FlightAware runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use FlightAware for free?
Yes. FlightAware has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amadeus Altea starts at On request.
What is Amadeus Altea best used for?
Amadeus Altea is most often used for passenger service system covering reservations, inventory and departure control, airline distribution and retailing, check-in and boarding operations, fare and ancillary merchandising for full-service carriers. Of those, passenger service system covering reservations, inventory and departure control and airline distribution and retailing are not what FlightAware is typically brought in for.
What can Amadeus Altea do that FlightAware cannot?
Amadeus Altea covers Reservation management, Inventory control, Departure control, Revenue management. FlightAware covers Real-time tracking, Flight status, Airport info, Delay tracking. Both handle Data encryption, Web support.
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