Methodology

One data model, no copied facts

Every fact on BookAndFly lives once, in a structured record: an airline, an airport, a route between two airports, a transport option from an airport. Pages are built from those records. Counts, “nonstop available”, fastest and cheapest are calculated from the records when the site is built, so two pages can’t disagree about the same thing.

Each record carries its sources (a URL and what that source supports), the date it was last verified, a confidence level and a review status.

Where the data comes from

Information	Primary source	Re-checked every
Airline networks (who flies where)	The airline’s own route map and timetable, cross-checked with airport destination lists	90 days
Route pages (nonstop airlines, connections)	Built from the airline network records above	90 days
Airport basics (codes, location, terminals)	OurAirports (public domain) for codes and coordinates; the airport operator for terminals	365 days
Airport transport	Airport operator → transport authority → the operator’s own site	120 days
Layover plans	Airport and transport operators; entry rules are linked to official sources, never summarised	120 days
Prices	Only shown as a dated range from the operator, or a partner price less than 72 hours old	As stated

We don’t use scraped data from flight-search sites, and we don’t publish routes from old open datasets.

Verification and publishing

A page only goes into Google and Bing when every fact on it traces to a sourced, dated record that has been checked against those sources, and it answers a question no other page on the site answers.

Pages carry one of two labels. “Checked against sources” means each fact was compared with the cited airline, airport or operator page on that date. “Editor-reviewed” means an editor has also checked the page, usually from having made the journey. First-hand field notes are added to airport transport guides as we cover each airport in person.

Each page shows the date of its oldest underlying check. When a page goes past its re-check interval it shows a “being re-checked” note; if it isn’t re-verified within 30 days it is taken out of search until it is. The date only changes when the information was actually re-checked.

Distances

Distances are great-circle distances between airport coordinates — the shortest path over the Earth’s surface — not flight times or the path an aircraft actually flies.

Corrections

If something is wrong, tell us. Corrections to published facts are logged on the corrections page.