Where can I find official UK airport charts for flight sims?
Find official UK airport charts in the UK eAIP, locate AD 2.24 by ICAO code, and check AIRAC dates before using them in a flight simulator.
Official UK airport charts are in the UK electronic Aeronautical Information Publication (eAIP), supplied by the national Aeronautical Information Service. For flight simulation, open Part 3, Aerodromes, select AD 2 and the airport’s four-letter ICAO code, then use AD 2.24 for airport, SID, STAR and approach charts.
For Aviation & Real-World Flying reference, the UK eAIP is the authoritative source. It is preferable to copied chart packs because it identifies the effective publication date and includes amendments to procedures, frequencies and airport layouts.
How do I find a UK airport in the eAIP?
Use the airport’s four-letter ICAO code and follow Part 3 → AD 2 → airport → AD 2.24.
- Open the official UK eAIP. Reach it through the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s aeronautical information route or the national Aeronautical Information Service. Avoid saved chart collections with no identifiable issue date.
- Select the active edition. An upcoming AIRAC edition may be available before it becomes effective, so check the date rather than automatically choosing the newest-looking package.
- Open Part 3, Aerodromes. Choose
AD 2, which contains detailed information for listed aerodromes. - Find the ICAO code. Search for a code such as
EGLLfor Heathrow, not the three-letter IATA codeLHR. - Open AD 2.24. This subsection lists the charts published for that aerodrome. Select the required chart rather than downloading every plate.
Which UK airport chart do I need?
Choose the chart according to the phase of flight; an aerodrome chart cannot replace a SID, STAR or instrument approach plate.
| Chart | Use in the simulator |
|---|---|
| Aerodrome Chart — ICAO | Runways, taxiways, aprons, holding points and key airport details |
| Aircraft Parking/Docking Chart | Stand numbers, terminal parking and detailed apron layout |
| Ground Movement Chart | Extra taxi detail at complex airports |
| SID or STAR chart | Published instrument departure or arrival routes |
| Instrument Approach Chart | ILS, localiser, RNP and other published approaches |
| Visual Approach Chart | Visual reporting points, routes and local restrictions where published |
Our guide to interpreting aerodrome charts explains holding points, hotspots, declared distances and other details that are easy to misread.
How do I know whether a UK chart is current?
The active eAIP effective date and the amendment information on the chart establish whether it belongs to the operative publication.
UK aeronautical information is updated on AIRAC cycles, normally at 28-day intervals, but an individual chart may remain unchanged across several cycles. An older date printed on a plate does not automatically make it obsolete if that same plate remains part of the active eAIP.
A common mistake is selecting a future edition simply because it has a later date. Use the edition effective on the simulated flight date, and check any amendment or supplement that affects the airport or procedure.
What if the official chart does not match the simulator?
A current UK chart can disagree with a simulator whose scenery or navigation database represents an older airport state.
- Wrong taxiways, stands or runway layout: the installed scenery is probably outdated or depicts a different airport revision.
- Missing SID, STAR, approach or waypoint: the simulator or aircraft navigation database is probably on another AIRAC cycle.
- Different procedure track: compare the chart’s effective date with the aircraft’s navdata cycle before assuming the plate is wrong.
- Renamed runway: magnetic variation can eventually cause real airports to renumber runways while older scenery retains the previous designation.
Where supported, update the scenery or navdata so both represent the same period. Otherwise, use the procedure available in the simulator and brief the mismatch rather than forcing an old flight-management database to reproduce a newer plate. Our practical chart-use guidance covers matching diagrams and procedures to simulator data.
Why is an airport or chart missing?
Most failed searches come from using an IATA code, looking outside AD 2, or expecting a chart type that the aerodrome does not publish.
Not every small airfield has a full entry or a set of instrument procedures. Some publish only basic aerodrome information, while private strips may require information issued directly by the aerodrome operator. A missing approach plate can also mean that no such procedure exists; it is not necessarily an eAIP search error.
Can I use official UK charts legally in a simulator?
Yes, the official publication can be consulted as a personal flight-simulation reference, but access to a chart does not grant permission to redistribute or package its PDF files with scenery.
Keep downloaded plates separate from add-on files and replace them when superseded. Our explanation of legal chart sources and permitted simulator use covers this distinction. A chart saved for simulation should never be assumed suitable for real-world navigation without verifying that it is the operative publication.