How do I create custom flight simulator airport scenery?

To create custom flight simulator airport scenery, use the editor and SDK made for your target simulator, build the runway and taxi network from reliable charts, add exclusions and objects, compile or export a self-contained package, then test the installed build. MSFS, X-Plane, FSX and Prepar3D require different tools and formats.

This is a general, cross-simulator answer. Choose the simulator and version before starting because airport projects, compilers and installation methods are not interchangeable.

• Layout correction: choose this when runways, taxiways, parking or airport data are wrong. An airport editor and suitable reference material may be all you need.
• Library-object airport: choose this for a recognisable airport without making every building from scratch. It is faster and usually lighter on performance, but the result depends on the simulator's object library.
• Fully custom airport: choose this when distinctive terminals, towers or hangars matter. You will also need 3-D modelling, texturing, collision and level-of-detail work.

Which airport scenery editor should I use?

Use the editor and compiler intended for the exact simulator version in which the airport will run. Our comparison of airport scenery editors, SDKs and modelling tools explains the wider toolchain when your project needs more than layout work.

Is Airport Design Editor the right tool for MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024?

Airport Design Editor is the established choice for FSX and Prepar3D, not the primary native airport design editor for MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024. A legacy ADE project or an FSX/P3D-compiled BGL is not a drop-in modern MSFS airport package.

For a dependable MSFS airport, use the Scenery Editor inside Developer Mode on PC and build through the target simulator's project system. There is no separate official stand-alone MSFS airport maker that replaces this workflow. Import or conversion tools can provide a starting point, but every runway, taxi route, material, model and exclusion still needs checking in the destination simulator.

How do I start a Project Airport in MSFS?

Start an MSFS airport as a new PC Developer Mode project containing a uniquely named package and scenery asset group. Keep the editable source outside the simulator's stock content and install only the built package for final testing.

1. Select the target simulator. Decide between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 before creating the project. Use the corresponding Developer Mode tools and documentation.
2. Create a unique project and package. Avoid generic identifiers such as myairport. Include an author or organisation prefix and the airport identifier to reduce collisions with other add-ons.
3. Add a scenery asset group. This is where the project tracks airport definitions, placed objects, models, textures and other scenery source assets.
4. Open the airport location in Scenery Editor. Add or configure the airport using the correct ICAO or local identifier. When replacing an existing airport, suppress only the stock elements that conflict with your work.
5. Save and build the package. Resolve reported errors and inspect the build output. Missing asset paths, duplicate names and source files stored outside the project are frequent causes of incomplete builds.
6. Test the built copy. Put the complete package at the proper level of the PC Community folder. Do not add an unnecessary parent directory, and do not test only from the editor's source folders.

Our complete MSFS project setup and package-building procedure covers exclusions, object placement and Community-folder testing in more detail.

Keep one airport per package while learning. A bundle containing several project airports in MSFS is harder to update and diagnose because one packaging error or conflicting dependency can affect the whole set. If moving a project between MSFS 2020 and 2024, preserve the original, open a copy with the target tools, rebuild it and test all assets rather than assuming direct compatibility.

A reliable airport simulator layout workflow

Build the operational airport layout before decorative scenery so that you create a flyable airport rather than a detailed model with broken taxi routes.

1. Set a dated reference baseline. Record which airport configuration you are reproducing. Runway numbers, taxiway names, parking stands and terminal buildings often change at different times.
2. Place the runway first. Confirm threshold positions, length, width, heading, surface and elevation. Small runway errors become obvious on final approach and make every connected feature harder to align.
3. Control the default scenery. Exclude or replace only conflicting runways, aprons, buildings, vegetation and objects. An oversized exclusion can erase nearby landmarks or parts of another add-on.
4. Build the taxi network. Create connected taxi paths, runway links and hold-short points. Painted taxiway lines do not automatically create a route that AI aircraft or ground services can follow.
5. Add aprons and parking. Set stand headings, dimensions and types for the aircraft expected there. Check that pushback does not place an aircraft inside a building, fence or neighbouring stand.
6. Install operational details. Add runway starts, signs, markings, lighting and windsocks using the target simulator's supported systems. A static jetway model may look correct but will not become an animated boarding bridge by itself.
7. Add buildings and ground detail. Use library assets where they are adequate. For custom models, check scale, origin, material assignments, texture paths, collision behaviour and levels of detail.
8. Compile and test a clean build. Validation success means only that the exporter accepted the files. Test without source libraries or unrelated add-ons that could hide missing assets.

Visual airport scenery and navigation data are separate systems in many simulators. Moving a runway model does not necessarily move its ILS, approach procedures or navigation database entry. Change those only through methods supported by the target SDK, and recheck them after navigation-data updates.

Can I build an airport layout from charts or aerial imagery?

Use current airport charts for runway dimensions, declared layout, taxiway names and operational markings, then cross-check positions against legally usable aerial imagery. Neither source should be followed blindly.

Charts can be out of date, diagrammatic rather than survey-accurate, and protected by copyright. Aerial images may have projection offsets, stitching errors, seasonal differences or an older airport configuration. Anchor the layout to confirmed runway thresholds and dimensions before tracing aprons and buildings.

Are Project Flight airport charts enough to build custom scenery?

Project Flight airport charts and other in-game diagrams are suitable only as secondary visual references, not as authoritative build data. They may simplify taxiways, omit stand details or represent a fictional or older configuration.

Do not copy and redistribute another title's chart artwork unless its licence permits it. For a real-world custom airport, verify geometry against dated aeronautical information and appropriately licensed imagery; for a fictional airport, document that the design is fictional so users do not mistake it for operational data.

Can I use satellite imagery as an airport ground texture?

You may redistribute aerial imagery only when its licence explicitly allows that use. Permission to view an image or use it as a positioning reference does not automatically include permission to package its pixels with scenery.

Use imagery you created, public material carrying suitable reuse terms or data licensed for redistribution. Also inspect it in the simulator at several altitudes: excessive resolution wastes memory, while poor colour matching creates an obvious rectangular patch around the airport.

Why does my custom airport not work correctly?

Most custom-airport failures come from package structure, competing scenery, disconnected routing or assets that existed only on the developer's computer.

• The airport does not appear: verify that you installed the compiled output rather than the source project. In MSFS, the package itself should sit at the correct Community folder level, with its package manifest and layout files at the package root.
• Two airport layouts overlap: the stock airport was not suppressed correctly, or another add-on edits the same location. Disable competing scenery while diagnosing the conflict, then review package priority and replacement settings.
• AI aircraft ignore the taxiways: repair disconnected taxi nodes, incorrect runway links, misplaced hold-short points and parking stands that are too small or use unsuitable types.
• Buildings or textures are missing: include every custom asset in the project and remove accidental references to working folders. If an external object library is genuinely required, identify it clearly and confirm that redistribution terms permit the dependency.
• The runway floats or sits below the ground: check airport elevation, terrain mesh conflicts and flattening or terraforming polygons. Large terrain corrections often create plateaux and cliffs beyond the airport boundary.
• Performance drops near the terminal: reduce draw calls, repeated individual objects, excessive texture sizes and unnecessary material variations. Add sensible levels of detail to complex custom buildings.
• Night scenery is dark or objects vanish: check emissive materials, night textures, light placement and level-of-detail settings. A daytime terminal texture does not create illuminated windows automatically.
• It works only on the development PC: test with development libraries disabled. A mistake we see repeatedly is packaging the airport while models or textures are still being loaded from an author's separate source directory.

How should I test custom airport scenery?

Test the compiled, installed package from the cockpit, from the air and in a clean simulator configuration. An editor preview cannot expose every routing, packaging or scenery-priority fault.

• Spawn at every runway end and a representative selection of parking stands to find incorrect headings, collisions and underground start positions.
• Taxi from parking to each runway, checking signs, hold-short lines, route continuity, surface joins and wingtip clearance.
• Fly visual approaches from several directions and compare the runway centreline with the expected position from a few miles away.
• Test published instrument approaches where applicable, while remembering that procedure and ILS errors may belong to the navigation-data layer rather than the visual airport.
• Inspect the airport by day and night and in weather that exposes lighting, terrain and ground-texture problems.
• Run AI traffic or ground services if the simulator supports them, watching pushback, runway access, stand allocation and go-arounds.
• Check performance while facing the densest group of buildings and lights, not only from an empty runway threshold.
• Repeat the final test with unrelated add-ons and development asset libraries disabled, then test common scenery combinations for priority conflicts.

Can I make an airport for a flight or airport sim on PS5?

Airport-scenery authoring and arbitrary package installation are not available directly on PS5; the required editors, SDK tools and compilers run on PC. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launched on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro on 8 December 2025, making it the first Flight Simulator released for a PlayStation console.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was never released on PlayStation. PSVR2 support for MSFS 2024 arrives through a free update in 2026, but that does not add console scenery-authoring tools.

Build and validate an MSFS airport on PC. Console users cannot copy an arbitrary development package into a PC-style Community folder, so distribution to Xbox or PlayStation requires a supported in-simulator publishing route and platform compliance. A custom airport that works on the author's PC is not automatically available or compatible on PS5.