Aircraft Performance

Get cruise speed, range, and wake category for an ICAO aircraft type code (e.g. B738, A320). Reference specs are drawn from ICAO Doc 8643 (Aircraft Type Designators) — the international register of type codes, manufacturer names, engine categories, and wake turbulence classes. Aircraft performance returns static reference specs for a type designator — not values for a specific tail number. The correct workflow is to resolve icao_type from Aircraft Lookup first, then call this endpoint.

The response includes cruise speed in KTAS (knots true airspeed — speed relative to undisturbed air), service ceiling (maximum altitude the aircraft can sustain in level flight), maximum range, engine and wake turbulence category (ICAO classification L/M/H/J based on MTOW — governs minimum separation between aircraft), and physical dimensions including MTOW (maximum take-off weight in metric tonnes) and max passengers. Use this data for range rings on maps, fuel and connection estimates, and wake-separation hints in dispatch tools.

Request

Response

{
  "icao_type": "B738",
  "name": "BOEING 737-800",
  "engine_type": "Jet",
  "engine_code": "L2J",
  "wake_category": "M",
  "cruise_speed_ktas": 460.0,
  "service_ceiling_ft": 35000.0,
  "max_range_nm": 2900.0,
  "wing_span_m": 34.4,
  "length_m": 39.5,
  "mtow_t": 78.2,
  "max_passengers": 189
}

All response fields are non-null when the type code is recognized — no optional nulls to guard against.

Client types

"""Aircraft performance models for GET /aircraft/performance/{icao_type}."""from __future__ import annotationsfrom dataclasses import dataclass@dataclassclass AircraftPerformance:    icao_type: str    name: str    engine_type: str    engine_code: str    wake_category: str    cruise_speed_ktas: float    service_ceiling_ft: float    max_range_nm: float    wing_span_m: float    length_m: float    mtow_t: float    max_passengers: int@dataclassclass PerformanceSummary:    """Compact model for range rings and briefing cards."""    icao_type: str    name: str    cruise_speed_ktas: float    max_range_nm: float    wake_category: str

Integration

Fetch performance specs for a type code and build a range-ring or briefing summary.

The example below caches performance profiles for 7 days because type-level data changes rarely. Each call uses connect/read timeouts (10 s / 15 s). The helper returns a compact model with normalized speed and range units for map overlays.

import osimport timefrom dataclasses import dataclassimport requestsHEADERS = {    "x-api-key": os.getenv("SKYLINK_API_KEY", "YOUR_API_KEY")}BASE = "https://data.skylinkapi.com/v3.1"CACHE: dict[str, tuple[dict, float]] = {}PERF_TTL = 604_800  # 7 days@dataclassclass PerformanceSummary:    icao_type: str    name: str    cruise_speed_ktas: float    max_range_nm: float    wake_category: strdef fetch_performance(icao_type: str) -> dict:    """Fetch performance profile for an ICAO aircraft type code."""    code = icao_type.strip().upper()    key = f"perf:{code}"    cached = CACHE.get(key)    if cached and time.time() < cached[1]:        return cached[0]    try:        r = requests.get(            f"{BASE}/aircraft/performance/{code}",            headers=HEADERS,            timeout=(10, 15),        )    except requests.Timeout as exc:        raise RuntimeError(f"SkyLink timeout fetching performance {code}") from exc    r.raise_for_status()    payload = r.json()    CACHE[key] = (payload, time.time() + PERF_TTL)    return payloaddef performance_summary(icao_type: str) -> PerformanceSummary:    data = fetch_performance(icao_type)    return PerformanceSummary(        icao_type=data["icao_type"],        name=data["name"],        cruise_speed_ktas=float(data["cruise_speed_ktas"]),        max_range_nm=float(data["max_range_nm"]),        wake_category=data["wake_category"],    )if __name__ == "__main__":    import json    from dataclasses import asdict    summary = performance_summary("B738")    print(json.dumps(asdict(summary), indent=2))

Implementation notes

Type code source. Resolve icao_type from Aircraft Lookup or ADS-B enrichment before calling this endpoint — pass the ICAO designator (B738), not the long marketing name.

Not tail-specific. MTOW and range are fleet-average figures for the type, not values for an individual aircraft configuration.

Wake category. Use wake_category for separation hints in dispatch tools only — it is reference data, not a live ATC instruction.

Caching. Safe to cache by icao_type for days or weeks. Invalidate only when SkyLink announces dataset updates.

Block time predictions. For ML-predicted block time using the type, see Flight Time.

Error responses

For shared platform errors (auth, rate limits, server errors), see Error Handling. Endpoint-specific behavior:

422 — unknown or invalid type code

{
  "detail": [
    {
      "type": "value_error",
      "loc": ["path", "icao_type"],
      "msg": "Unknown ICAO aircraft type"
    }
  ]
}

Occurs when the type designator is not in the performance dataset. Validate codes from lookup before calling, and handle 422 with a fallback label in your UI.

curl -X GET "https://data.skylinkapi.com/v3.1/aircraft/performance/B738"

{
  "icao_type": "B77W",
  "name": "BOEING 777-300ER",
  "engine_type": "Jet",
  "engine_code": "L2J",
  "wake_category": "H",
  "cruise_speed_ktas": 490,
  "service_ceiling_ft": 43000,
  "max_range_nm": 7370,
  "wing_span_m": 64.8,
  "length_m": 73.9,
  "mtow_t": 351.5,
  "max_passengers": 396
}

{
  "detail": [
    {
      "loc": [
        "string"
      ],
      "msg": "string",
      "type": "string",
      "input": null,
      "ctx": {}
    }
  ]
}

Related: Aircraft Lookup · ADS-B · Distance & Bearing