How do I program the Airbus A320 MCDU/FMS in Microsoft Flight Simulator?
To program the Airbus A320 MCDU in Microsoft Flight Simulator, we enter the basic aircraft and route data in the normal Airbus flow: INIT, F-PLN, departure, arrival, then PERF. After that, we check discontinuities, altitude and speed constraints, and only then let the aircraft fly the managed route.
What do you actually need to enter in the A320 MCDU?
The exact page names vary slightly between the default A320, the more advanced default Airbus variants, and high-fidelity add-ons, but the workflow is the same. You are building four things: the route, the departure, the arrival, and the performance data the flight guidance needs.
| MCDU page | What it does | What you normally enter |
|---|---|---|
| INIT | Basic flight setup | Origin, destination, flight number, cost index, cruise level, sometimes weights and fuel |
| F-PLN | Route entry and editing | Waypoints, airways, direct legs, discontinuity clean-up |
| DEPARTURE | Take-off routing | Runway, SID, transition if applicable |
| ARRIVAL | Arrival and landing routing | STAR, transition, approach, landing runway |
| PERF | Flight phase data | Take-off flap setting, V-speeds if required, flex temp if used, approach data, minima |
| RAD NAV | Manual radio tuning | Usually left alone unless you need to force navaids or an ILS |
Step by step: how to program the A320 MCDU/FMS
Power the aircraft properly. If you start cold and dark, get external power or the APU on, align the aircraft systems as required, and make sure the MCDU is fully alive before typing anything. On some A320 variants, parts of the FMS will not behave normally until the aircraft has electrical power and the alignment process is under way.
Decide whether you are importing a route or building it manually. If you already loaded a flight plan from the simulator world map, the route may appear in the MCDU automatically. If you then enter the same route again by hand, you can create duplicate waypoints, broken legs or odd turns, so check what is already there first.
Fill the INIT page. Enter the departure and arrival airports, then your flight number if you want one. If the aircraft supports it, enter the cost index and planned cruise flight level; more advanced A320s may also ask for zero fuel weight, centre of gravity and block fuel on a later INIT page.
Build or verify the route in F-PLN. Enter each waypoint, airway or direct leg in sequence. If your aircraft supports airway entry, insert the airway name first and then the exit waypoint; if not, add the waypoints one by one and then inspect the route carefully on the navigation display.
Select the departure runway and SID. Go to the departure page for the origin airport, choose the active runway, then the standard instrument departure if one is being used. If you are flying VFR or using ATC vectors, you may simply choose the runway and skip the SID.
Select the arrival, STAR and approach. On the destination arrival page, choose the expected landing runway, then the STAR and any transition that matches your route. If you are not sure yet which runway will be active, you can leave the arrival simple and update it later before descent.
Clean up route discontinuities. Airbus MCDUs often insert a
DISCONTINUITYbetween route segments, vectors and approach legs. Some are intentional and should stay until ATC gives you the next clearance, but if a discontinuity would stop the aircraft from following the route, delete it with the clear key and line-select the next waypoint up into the gap.Check for silly turns and extra waypoints. Scroll through the flight plan page by page. We always look for duplicated fixes, route breaks, a STAR connected to the wrong transition, or a missed approach leg that has been pulled into the active route too early.
Complete the take-off performance page. Enter flap setting, thrust reduction and acceleration data if your A320 model expects them, and any take-off speeds that are not computed automatically. In simpler aircraft, some of this is filled for you; in more advanced ones, missing entries can stop the flight directors, autothrust logic or FMS predictions from working as expected.
Confirm cruise and constraints. Make sure the cruise altitude in the MCDU matches your actual plan, then check altitude and speed restrictions on the route. If a waypoint shows an odd constraint, the aircraft may level off or slow unexpectedly later.
Set approach data before descent. When you are closer to arrival, return to the performance approach page and enter the local pressure setting, temperature, wind if required, transition level if applicable, and landing minima. Some A320s calculate the final approach speed automatically from weight; others need more manual input.
Use managed guidance only after the route is sensible. The A320 will happily follow a bad route if we give it one. Before take-off, use the nav display in plan or arc mode and verify that the magenta line makes sense from runway to runway.
What is the normal Airbus MCDU flow?
If you want a simple memory aid, think in this order: initialise the flight, build the route, attach the departure, attach the arrival, fill performance, then verify. That is much closer to real Airbus habit than jumping randomly between pages.
A lot of simmers get into trouble by choosing the approach first, then typing waypoints, then trying to fix the take-off page later. The MCDU will usually let you do that, but it often leaves behind gaps, duplicates or conflicts that are harder to spot.
How do I enter a SID, STAR and approach in the A320?
Open the relevant airport in the flight plan, then use the lateral revision or departure/arrival page for that airport. On departure, choose the runway first and the SID second. On arrival, choose the approach runway first, then the STAR and transition that feed the aircraft onto that runway logically.
If the STAR does not connect neatly to your last en-route waypoint, the issue is usually a missing transition or an intentional vector segment. That is where the discontinuity check matters. Do not blindly delete every break without reading what the route is trying to do.
Why is the A320 not following my route?
Usually it comes down to one of five things:
The route contains a discontinuity or duplicated waypoint.
You are in selected heading or another selected mode instead of managed navigation.
The departure or arrival was changed, but the route was not cleaned up afterwards.
The aircraft is trying to honour an altitude or speed constraint you did not notice.
The simulator world map plan and the MCDU plan are fighting each other.
When this happens, the quickest fix is to stop, review the active leg on the F-PLN page, and compare it with the magenta path on the navigation display. In many cases a simple DIR TO the next sensible waypoint will recover the flight, but it is better to understand why the route broke in the first place.
Should you use the world map flight planner or only the MCDU?
For a simple gate-to-gate flight in the default simulator, the world map planner can save time. For more realistic Airbus operation, we generally prefer to verify everything in the MCDU and, in some aircraft, build the route there from the start.
The important part is consistency. If you use the world map, check the MCDU for imported legs, runway choices and duplicated procedure segments before departure.
Default A320 vs advanced A320 add-ons: what changes?
| Aircraft type | What is easier | What needs more care |
|---|---|---|
| Default Airbus variants | Some data may auto-populate, and the route can import from the simulator planner | The imported route may still need checking, especially departures, arrivals and discontinuities |
| Study-level A320 add-ons | More realistic MCDU logic and better route handling | Weights, fuel, performance entries and procedure logic are less forgiving if incomplete or entered in the wrong format |
So the answer is not that one A320 uses a different philosophy. They all follow the same Airbus logic; the more advanced ones simply expect better discipline from us.
Common mistakes when programming the A320 MCDU in Microsoft Flight Simulator
Entering the route before the origin and destination are set correctly.
Choosing a STAR or approach that does not fit the runway in use.
Deleting every discontinuity, including vector segments that should remain.
Ignoring scratchpad messages. If the MCDU rejects an entry, the format is often wrong.
Forgetting the approach performance page until short final.
Expecting managed descent to behave properly when the cruise level or constraints are wrong.
If you want the shortest practical workflow
For most flights, this is enough:
INIT: airports, flight number, cruise level.
F-PLN: route waypoints or imported route check.
DEPARTURE: runway and SID.
ARRIVAL: STAR, approach and runway.
CLEAN-UP: remove bad discontinuities and verify the map.
PERF TO/APPR: take-off and approach data.
If you do those six things in order, the A320 in Microsoft Flight Simulator will usually behave exactly as it should. If it does not, the problem is nearly always in the flight plan logic rather than the autopilot itself.
If you need Airbus-related downloads, liveries or simulator files, our library is here: https://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/.