The Navigraph Model
Free for DevelopersRead the “Free for Developers” section
A frequently asked question from you developers when investigating Navigraph as a source of data is: What does it cost? The answer is: It’s free.
As a flight simulator pilot creates a Navigraph account and purchases a subscription, Navigraph issues a personal, non-transferable license to use charts and navigation data to this end-user for the duration of the subscription period. Navigraph can only issue licenses that are personal and non-transferable. This type of license is not suitable for developers as they would not in turn be able to sublicense the right to use charts and navigation data. That is why Navigraph only issues licenses directly to end-users.
A clear benefit of this licensing model is that developers only need to agree to the Navigraph Developer Terms and follow the Development Guidelines to get started developing with Navigraph data. There is no commercial agreement between Navigraph and a developer for the use of charts or navigation data.
Another benefit of this licensing model is that the relatively high cost for obtaining data normally only available to the aviation industry is divided among many subscribers to a relatively low individual cost, which removes the financial risk from the developer. This is possible because there are always many concurrent subscribers for the versatile Navigraph subscription.
The Navigraph SubscriptionRead the “The Navigraph Subscription” section
The strength is in the numbers. It is a strategic business decision by Navigraph to include all products and services in one subscription, with the aim to make this subscription as useful and valuable to as many subscribers as possible.
To use Navigraph products and services, or to call any of our API endpoints, a user needs to have a Navigraph account connected to an active subscription. A logged in user receives a token which in turn contains claims which describes the subscription access. A subscription renews automatically for as long as a user has a valid payment method registered to the account. However, a user can cancel a subscription at any time, but the subscription will remain active and the user will have access for the remainder of the subscription period.
It is important to note that subscribing to Navigraph means that the user gets a personal and non-transferable license to use the data we provide. The license is only available for private individuals. You can read more about the subscription and the license here.
Unified DataRead the “Unified Data” section
Navigraph supplies many third party software developers with navigation data. This means that if you use any of those services, or fly in a networked mode together with other pilots and controllers, you want to use the most recent navigation data corresponding to the latest AIRAC cycle. That way everything is in sync and everyone shares the same updated virtual airspace.
By “Unified Data” we mean that the same dataset should be available everywhere in the flight simulation community. This makes people communicate more efficiently and makes systems and applications run more predictably.
For an individual this means that when you are flying “as real as it gets” with current conditions reflected in the simulator with regards to updated airspaces, airways, procedures, glide slopes, navaids, and communication frequencies, this information should also match the data in the Flight Management Computer (FMC) of any addon aircraft. Furthermore, to avoid any route discontinuities, the fligh planner software which was used to calculate the route should also be based on the same data. Of course the information should also match that visible on airport and enroute charts - glide slopes, frequencies and minimas are some examples.
For a community this means that everyone uses the same data when sharing an online virtual airspace. Misunderstandings are avoided when everyone uses the same frequencies, procedure names, and stays on current airways.
Navigraph enables Unified Data by offering both navigation data and charts from the same data provider. Furthermore, it is the same dataset which is used to parse the various addon data formats and the navigation data which is then distributed throughout the community using the FMS Data Manager and the API endpoints.