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Getting Started

SkyLink API provides comprehensive real-time aviation data through a developer-friendly REST API. This guide will have you making your first request in minutes.

Base URL​

All API requests are made to the following base URL:

YOUR_API_BASE_URL

The API is versioned via URL path prefixes:

VersionBase URLStatusDescription
v3YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3StableFull-featured API with all endpoints. Recommended for new projects.
v2YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v2StableCore endpoints. Maintained for backward compatibility.
Recommendation

Use v3 for new integrations. It includes everything in v2, plus charts, aircraft lookup, airport search, ML predictions, AI briefings, and more.

Authentication​

Every API request requires an API key passed via the X-RapidAPI-Key header.

curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/weather/metar/KJFK

See [Authentication](./authentication) for details on obtaining and using your API key.

## Your First Request

Let's fetch the current METAR weather report for New York JFK:

```bash
curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/weather/metar/KJFK

**Response:**

```json
{
  "icao": "KJFK",
  "airport_name": "John F Kennedy International Airport",
  "raw": "KJFK 151856Z 31012KT 10SM FEW250 M02/M17 A3042 ...",
  "timestamp": "2026-02-15T18:56:00Z"
}

Quick Examples​

Search Airports by Location​

Find airports within 50 km of a coordinate:

curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/adsb/aircraft?lat=40.64&lon=-73.78&radius=50"

Get Flight Status​

Track a flight by its IATA or ICAO flight number:

# IATA format
curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/flight_status/BA123

# ICAO format (auto-converted)
curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/flight_status/BAW123

Calculate Distance Between Airports​

curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/distance?from_icao=KJFK&to_icao=EGLL&unit=nm"

Get Aerodrome Charts​

curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/charts/KJFK

Live ADS-B Aircraft Near an Airport​

curl -H "X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "YOUR_API_BASE_URL/v3/airports/search/location?lat=51.47&lon=-0.46&radius=50"

Response Format​

All responses are JSON. Successful responses return the data directly. Error responses follow a consistent structure:

{
  "error": "Not Found",
  "message": "No airport found with ICAO code XXXX",
  "code": "AIRPORT_NOT_FOUND"
}

See Error Handling for the full list of error codes.

Rate Limits​

The free tier includes 1,000 requests per month. Rate limit headers are included in every response:

HeaderDescription
X-RateLimit-LimitMaximum requests allowed
X-RateLimit-RemainingRequests remaining in current window
X-RateLimit-ResetUnix timestamp when the window resets

API Playground​

An interactive API playground is available to subscribers for testing endpoints. Contact support for access.

Next Steps​