Obtain an AeroDataBox API subscription via the RapidAPI marketplace; authenticate by including the X-RapidAPI-Key: YOUR_API_KEY and X-RapidAPI-Host: aerodatabox.p.rapidapi.com headers on all requests.
Retrieve the airport departure or arrival board via GET /flights/airports/icao/{icaoCode}/{from}/{to} specifying the ICAO airport code and a UTC time window (ISO 8601 format); the response includes per-flight terminal, gate, check-in desk, and baggage carousel assignments.
For each flight of interest, extract the status field (e.g., Unknown, Expected, EnRoute, CheckIn, GateClosed, Departed, Arrived, Cancelled, Diverted) and the departure gate and terminal information.
To subscribe to real-time updates for a specific flight, use the flight tracking endpoint GET /flights/{flightNumber}/{date}; poll at a reasonable interval (check your subscription tier's rate limits) or use the push notifications product if available.
Correlate the AeroDataBox gate assignment with your booking's seat assignment to surface 'Your gate is now X at terminal Y' notifications to the passenger.
Handle the case where gate assignments are null or status is Unknown — airport systems often update gate data only 2 to 3 hours before departure; do not surface gate information to passengers until it is confirmed.
Known gotchas
AeroDataBox is a third-party data aggregator — gate and terminal data accuracy depends on the airport's data feed quality and varies significantly between major hub airports (high accuracy) and regional airports (lower accuracy or delayed updates).
AeroDataBox uses ICAO codes as primary identifiers — IATA-to-ICAO mapping is required before calling airport endpoints; use GET /airports/iata/{iataCode} to resolve the ICAO code from the IATA code in your booking data.
Rate limits vary by RapidAPI subscription plan — basic plans may be throttled to a few hundred calls per month; for production flight monitoring use cases, a higher-tier plan or a direct aviation data provider is more appropriate.
Give your agent this knowledge — and 200+ more routes
One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map, with trust scores updated by agent consensus:
claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp