What?
In some cases, the data may fail on the matching rules for a correct flight. This will then show two or more rows of the same flight. To avoid these disturbances and potential misunderstandings, the flights must be merged. Merge = combining two duplicate flights into one flight.
Remember to use a flight view that has "merge" in its name to combine flights.
N.B.: It is worth mentioning that we are continuing to work on the heliport.no integration, and when this is ready, there will be even less need for these manual merges. We often see these errors due to differences in times beyond the set time interval, and/or ATM messages with missing official ICAO codes for offshore destinations.
Where?
It is not always easy to detect duplicate flights, but here are some ways to find them:
Alternative #1
Manual scrolling and visual detection. These are the most common similarities between duplicates:
- One flight is missing a callsign and the other is missing flight ID.
- The same to and/or from destinations.
- The same or close in times.
- AC_reg.
- Located directly above/below each other when sorted by time.
Alternative #2
Set up a filter called "Configuration". It works like a regular SQL query, so you can experiment a bit here.
Below is an example for finding helicopter flights and an example for scheduled, unscheduled, and cargo flights.
Click on the settings icon next to "Configuration" and select "Add".
- Example of how it can be configured for helicopter flights:
The checkboxes indicate parentheses. In this example either Flight Id should have a value OR Callsign should have a value. - Example of how it can be configured for scheduled commercial passenger (01), unscheduled commercial passenger (02), and freight (03) flights.
- Example of how it can be configured for helicopter flights:
| Operator | Meaning | Example | Explanation of the example |
|---|---|---|---|
| IS NULL | Is missing value. | To ICAO IS NULL | This will give you flights that do not have an ICAO code destination. |
| IS NOT NULL | Has a value. | Fuel Request IS NOT NULL | This will give you flights that have a value in Fuel Request field. |
| = | To find something identical. Absolute similarity. Single values only. | Flight Id = DY1234 | This will give you flight with flight id DY1234. Nothing more, nothing less. |
| != | To find something not equal to the expression. Single values only. | Flight Leg Status != CAN | This will give you all flights that do not have Flight Leg Status CAN |
| LIKE | To find similiarities. Can be combined with wildcards (%) to find patterns. Same as =, but allows the use of wildcard. | Flight Id LIKE %Y% | This will give you all flights that have Y somewhere in their Flight Id. For example DY1234 or AY1234. |
| NOT LIKE | To find dissimiliarities. Can be combined with wildcards (%) to find patterns. Same as !=, but allows the use of wildcard. | A/C Reg NOT LIKE LN% | This filters out all flight that have an A/C Reg starting with LN. |
| IN | To find one of many possible values. | ST Ext IN 01,02,03 | This will give you flights that either have 01, 02 or 03 in ST Ext. |
| NOT IN | To find values that are not included. | ST ICAO NOT IN M,G | This will give you flights that neither have ST ICAO M nor G. |
How?
- Tick off the relevant flights, and press on "Merge"
- Select the main flight by dragging the flight with the most information to the top (normally an IATA-flight) and select "Edit main leg"
- Edit the information at the top to be as complete and accurate as possible. Use information from the other flights to fill in what is missing. Remember to scroll to the right to fill in information there as well.
Typical information that needs to be completed includes the following:- Callsign
- Ifplid
- Linked Arrival
- ST ICAO
- Often EOBT/EIBT, but not always.
- Passenger count (located farthest to the right)
- Click on merge.
Why?
- One of the reasons we do this, as mentioned, is to avoid disturbances and potential misunderstandings.
- Avoid having multiple identical flights on the screens available to passengers.
- Ensure that updated information (typically ATM messages with updated estimated times) is applied to the correct flight.
- mAOS will be used as the basis for billing and statistics.