How to track Santa’s Christmas journey online: Flightrader24 confirms Rudolf, sleigh are on the way
Santa Claus and his reindeer, guided by Rudolf, are officially up in the air and warming up, ready to fly around the world to bring Christmas joy.
Santa’s sleigh took off at 8am (UTC), with the man in the big red suit letting his reindeer warm up around Lapland and the North Pole before the mammoth journey for Christmas.
Popular flight tracking platform Flightradar24 is tracking the important Christmas journey online, confirming that Mr Claus’ reindeer are helping transmit flight data through their antlers.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“We use a bit of special Christmas magic to track the flight alongside our usual mix of terrestrial and satellite-based ADS-B coverage,” Flightradar24 revealed.
“Santa is also helpfully able to extend the reach of his transponder by using the reindeer antlers as an additional antenna.”
How to track Santa’s sleigh online
This year, Santa can be tracked through the live tracking tool on Flightradar24 or through a special live feed on the company’s YouTube channel.
Santa can be seen either as a unique reindeer drawn sleigh icon on the map, or in 3D for premium users if they hit the 3D view button.
Santa’s first stop is usually the Pacific Islands. He then stops by New Zealand before making the very important visit to Australia.
After racing around one of the biggest stops, Santa heads to Asia, Europe, North America and everywhere in between, travelling at magical speed.
How is Santa’s Christmas journey tracked?
Flightradar admit tracking Santa’s ancient sleigh is not an easy task. However, the nine-engine craft, which is currently flying under flight number SANTA1 with the call sign R3DN053, is helped by a big red nose.
“Santa’s sleigh is a unique 9-engine Rangifer tarandus registered HOHOHO (MSN 0001),” Flightradar24 revealed.
“At 1,753 years old, it’s the oldest active airframe in the world.
“While the sleigh itself is ancient, a ninth power plant was added a number of years ago on an instrument flight rules-conditions Christmas Eve due to fog.
“This nose so bright has guided Santa’s way each Christmas Eve since 1939.”
