Code To Check Flight Availability Python

The Python programming language offers a plethora of options for developers to interact with flight availability APIs and perform real-time flight searches. One popular and powerful library for this purpose is the python-flight-search library, which provides an easy-to-use interface for checking flight availability and retrieving detailed flight information.

Getting Started with python-flight-search

To begin using this library, you’ll first need to install it via pip, Python’s package installer. Open your terminal or command prompt and run the following command:

pip install python-flight-search

Once installed, you can import the library into your Python script or notebook.

import flightsearch

Initializing the Flight Search Client

Before you can start checking flight availability, you need to initialize the FlightSearch client with your API credentials. These credentials are typically provided by the flight availability API service you’re using.

client = flightsearch.FlightSearchClient(api_key='your_api_key')

Replace 'your_api_key' with your actual API key. This key is usually a long, unique string of characters that identifies your application to the API service.

Performing a Basic Flight Search

With your client initialized, you can now perform a basic flight search. The FlightSearch client provides a simple and intuitive method called search_flights for this purpose.

Here's a basic example of how to use this method:

results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01')

In this example, we're searching for flights from New York City (NYC) to Los Angeles (LAX) on August 1, 2023. The search_flights method returns a list of FlightSearchResult objects, each containing detailed information about a specific flight.

Flight Search Result Attributes

Each FlightSearchResult object contains a wealth of information about the flight, including:

• Flight Number: The unique identifier for the flight.
• Departure Time: The scheduled departure time of the flight.
• Arrival Time: The scheduled arrival time of the flight.
• Duration: The estimated duration of the flight.
• Price: The price of the flight ticket.
• Airlines: The name(s) of the airline(s) operating the flight.
• Departure Airport: The departure airport's IATA code.
• Arrival Airport: The arrival airport's IATA code.
• Stopovers: The number of stopovers in the flight.
• Baggage Allowance: Information about the baggage allowance for the flight.
• Meals: Details about the meals provided during the flight.
• Seat Selection: Information about seat selection options.

You can access these attributes using dot notation, for example:

flight_result.flight_number

Filtering and Sorting Flight Results

The FlightSearch client also allows you to filter and sort the flight results to meet your specific needs. For instance, you might want to filter results based on price or duration, or sort them by departure time.

Filtering by Price

To filter flights based on price, you can use the max_price and min_price parameters in the search_flights method.

results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01', max_price=500)

In this example, the search will only return flights with a price of $500 or less.

Sorting by Departure Time

To sort flights by departure time, you can use the sort_by parameter and set it to ‘departure_time’. By default, results are sorted by price.

results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01', sort_by='departure_time')

Advanced Search Options

The python-flight-search library offers several advanced search options, allowing you to fine-tune your flight searches. These include specifying the class of travel (e.g., economy, business), setting a preferred airline, and more.

Specifying Travel Class

To specify the travel class, you can use the travel_class parameter. Possible values include ‘economy’, ‘premium_economy’, ‘business’, and ‘first’.

results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01', travel_class='business')

Preferred Airlines

If you have a preference for a particular airline, you can specify it using the preferred_airlines parameter. This parameter takes a list of airline codes (e.g., [‘AA’, ‘DL’]).

results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01', preferred_airlines=['AA', 'DL'])

Handling Errors and Rate Limits

When working with external APIs, it’s important to handle errors and be mindful of rate limits. The python-flight-search library provides tools to help with both.

Error Handling

The library raises specific exceptions for various error conditions. For example, if the API key is invalid or the request exceeds the rate limit, appropriate exceptions will be raised.

try:
results = client.search_flights(departure_city='NYC', arrival_city='LAX', departure_date='2023-08-01')
except flightsearch.exceptions.InvalidApiKeyError as e:
print(f"Invalid API Key: {e}")
except flightsearch.exceptions.RateLimitExceededError as e:
print(f"Rate Limit Exceeded: {e}")

Rate Limit Handling

To prevent exceeding rate limits, you can use the rate_limit_manager attribute of the FlightSearch client. This attribute provides information about the rate limit and the number of remaining requests.

print(f"Rate Limit: {client.rate_limit_manager.limit}")
print(f"Remaining Requests: {client.rate_limit_manager.remaining}")

Conclusion

The python-flight-search library offers a robust and flexible solution for developers looking to integrate flight availability checks into their applications. By leveraging its powerful features and intuitive methods, developers can quickly and easily retrieve detailed flight information, filter and sort results, and handle errors and rate limits effectively.

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