About Mapper

What Mapper is

Mapper is a free web tool for mapping great-circle flight paths between IATA airports. Type codes such as JFK, LHR, or NRT and it draws the route on a draggable globe (the default) or a flat map, with per-leg distance in miles, kilometers, or nautical miles. You can export a JPEG, copy the itinerary, or share a URL that reopens the same map.

It is published by Sauces 201 LLC, doing business as PNM Now — independent points-and-miles news, no affiliate links. There is no account and no paywall. Terms and Privacy apply.

What a great-circle route is

A great-circle route is the shortest path between two points on a sphere. On a Mercator-style map it often bows toward the poles; on Mapper’s globe it is the obvious arc. Mapper computes that distance with the haversine formula and a mean Earth radius of 6,371.0088 km.

Airlines do not fly perfect great circles. Real routings follow airways, winds, weather, and air-traffic control, so the flown distance is usually longer. Mapper does not show ATC tracks, live radar, or schedules.

How to plot a route

1. Open mapper.now.
2. Type IATA codes. A hyphen joins stops on one itinerary (JFK-LHR-PRG). A comma starts a new route (JFK-LHR, SFO-NRT).
3. Read unofficial distance and estimated airborne time for each leg. Switch units with km / mi / nm.
4. Optionally open Estimate miles earned to see unofficial partner-program credit (Delta, American, United, Alaska) from the plotted distance and a fare class you pick.
5. Share the address-bar URL, or download a JPEG of the map.

Equivalent share links:

• https://mapper.now/?r=JFK-LHR-PRG
• ?r=JFK-LHR-PRG&v=map for the flat map
• &u=km for kilometers

What the numbers mean

• Distance — great-circle statute miles, kilometers, or nautical miles between the coordinates Mapper has for each airport.
• Flight time — on the website, an unofficial airborne estimate (AI model with a cruise-speed fallback). Not a timetable.
• Partner miles — unofficial redeemable miles and status currency from published partner charts, using Mapper’s plotted distance. Confirm with the program before you book.

JSON API (for scripts and AI agents)

No API key. CORS is open. The route API returns great-circle math only — it does not call the flight-time model.

GET https://mapper.now/api/route?r=JFK-LHR-PRG

Machine-readable instructions: llms.txt (short) and llms-full.txt (embed notes). Do not call /api/flight-time from an agent.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mapper?

Mapper is a free great-circle flight mapper from PNM Now. You plot IATA airport codes and it draws the shortest path on a globe, with unofficial distance, flight-time, and partner-miles estimates. It is not affiliated with any airline.

What is a great-circle route?

A great-circle route is the shortest path between two points on a sphere. On a flat map it often looks curved. Mapper uses a haversine formula with a mean Earth radius of 6371.0088 km. It is not the path air traffic control assigns a flight.

Does Mapper show the path a plane actually flies?

No. Mapper shows the great-circle (shortest-on-the-globe) path between airports. Real flights follow airways, weather, winds, and air-traffic control, so the flown route is usually longer.

How do I plot a flight path on Mapper?

Open https://mapper.now/ and type IATA codes. Dashes join stops on one itinerary (JFK-LHR-PRG). Commas start a new route (JFK-LHR, SFO-NRT). You can also open a share URL such as https://mapper.now/?r=JFK-LHR-PRG.

Is there a Mapper API?

Yes. GET or POST https://mapper.now/api/route with the same r= IATA scheme. No API key. CORS is open. It returns great-circle distances and a simple cruise-time estimate. Do not call /api/flight-time from a script; that endpoint is for the website only. See https://mapper.now/llms.txt.