FAA Data Scraper

Extract FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) aviation data for any US airport — static airport information (runways, ownership, radio frequencies) and live METAR weather observations updated hourly.

Data is sourced from the FAA via the Aviation Weather Center public REST API (aviationweather.gov) — no API key or authentication required.

Features

• Airport static data — ICAO/IATA codes, name, state, coordinates, elevation, runway count/dimensions/surface, owner type, tower/beacon status, radio frequencies, annual passengers
• Live METAR weather — temperature, dewpoint, wind, visibility, altimeter setting, sky cover, cloud layers, flight category (VFR/IFR/MVFR/LIFR)
• Browse mode — 80+ major US airports pre-curated, filterable by state
• Flexible input — accepts both 3-letter IATA codes (ATL) and 4-letter ICAO codes (KATL)
• No proxy required — fully public API
• Batch fetching — up to 500 records per run

Input

Field	Type	Description	Example
mode	select	searchAirports, getAirportInfo, or getWeather	getAirportInfo
airportCodes	array	IATA or ICAO airport codes	["ATL", "LAX", "JFK"]
state	string	US state filter for searchAirports mode	"CA"
maxItems	integer	Max records to return	50

Modes

• searchAirports — Browse 80+ major US airports. Optionally filter by state. Provide airportCodes to override with specific airports.
• getAirportInfo — Fetch static FAA data for specific airports by IATA/ICAO code.
• getWeather — Fetch current METAR weather observations for specific airports.

Output (Airport Info)

Field	Type	Description
airportId	string	IATA code (e.g. ATL)
icaoId	string	ICAO code (e.g. KATL)
iataId	string	IATA code
airportName	string	Airport name
state	string	US state code
country	string	Country code
latitude	float	WGS84 latitude
longitude	float	WGS84 longitude
elevation	float	Elevation in feet MSL
ownerType	string	Ownership type
runwayCount	integer	Number of runways
runwayLengthCategory	string	Short/Medium/Long
primarySurface	string	Primary runway surface
runways	array	Detailed runway info
annualPassengers	integer	Annual passenger count
hasTower	boolean	Has control tower
hasBeacon	boolean	Has rotating beacon
radioFrequencies	array	Radio frequency list
sourceUrl	string	API source URL
recordType	string	"airport"
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp

Output (Weather / METAR)

Field	Type	Description
airportId	string	IATA code
icaoId	string	ICAO code
stationName	string	Station name
observationTime	string	Observation timestamp (UTC)
metarType	string	METAR or SPECI
tempC	float	Temperature in Celsius
dewpointC	float	Dewpoint in Celsius
windDirectionDeg	integer	Wind direction (degrees true)
windSpeedKt	integer	Wind speed in knots
visibilityMiles	string	Visibility in statute miles
altimeterHPA	float	Altimeter setting (hPa)
seaLevelPressureHPA	float	Sea level pressure (hPa)
flightCategory	string	VFR / MVFR / IFR / LIFR
flightCategoryName	string	Full flight category name
skyCover	string	Sky cover code
cloudLayers	array	Cloud layers with cover and base
latitude	float	Station latitude
longitude	float	Station longitude
elevation	float	Station elevation (ft)
rawMETAR	string	Raw METAR string
sourceUrl	string	API source URL
recordType	string	"weather"
scrapedAt	string	ISO 8601 timestamp

Example Output (Airport)

{
  "airportId": "ATL",
  "icaoId": "KATL",
  "iataId": "ATL",
  "airportName": "Atlanta/Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta Intl",
  "state": "GA",
  "country": "US",
  "latitude": 33.6367,
  "longitude": -84.4279,
  "elevation": 312.0,
  "ownerType": "Publicly Owned",
  "runwayCount": 5,
  "runwayLengthCategory": "Long (>8000 ft)",
  "primarySurface": "Concrete",
  "runways": [
    {"id": "08L/26R", "dimension": "9000x150", "surface": "Concrete", "alignmentDeg": 90}
  ],
  "annualPassengers": 93700,
  "hasTower": true,
  "hasBeacon": true,
  "recordType": "airport",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-01-01T12:00:00+00:00"
}

Example Output (Weather)

{
  "airportId": "ATL",
  "icaoId": "KATL",
  "stationName": "Atlanta/Hartsfield-Jackson Intl, GA, US",
  "observationTime": "2025-01-01T07:00:00.000Z",
  "metarType": "METAR",
  "tempC": 21.1,
  "dewpointC": 19.4,
  "windDirectionDeg": 170,
  "windSpeedKt": 4,
  "visibilityMiles": "10+",
  "altimeterHPA": 1014.3,
  "flightCategory": "VFR",
  "flightCategoryName": "Visual Flight Rules",
  "skyCover": "OVC",
  "cloudLayers": [{"cover": "FEW", "baseFt": 500}],
  "latitude": 33.6297,
  "longitude": -84.4422,
  "elevation": 309.0,
  "recordType": "weather",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-01-01T12:00:00+00:00"
}

FAQ

Q: Where does the data come from? A: Airport static data and METAR observations are sourced from the FAA via the Aviation Weather Center public REST API at aviationweather.gov/api/data/.

Q: How current is the weather data? A: METAR observations are updated approximately every hour (or more frequently in rapidly changing conditions). The observationTime field shows the exact observation time.

Q: Can I use 3-letter IATA codes or 4-letter ICAO codes? A: Both work. The actor automatically normalises 3-letter US codes by prepending K to convert to ICAO format (e.g. ATL → KATL).

Q: Does this work for international airports? A: The Aviation Weather API covers ICAO airports worldwide. Provide the full 4-letter ICAO code for non-US airports (e.g. EGLL for London Heathrow).

Q: How many airports can I request in one run? A: Up to 500 airports per run. Requests are batched in groups of 20.