How do I use add-on airports in FS2004 flight plans?

In FS2004 (FS9), an add-on airport missing from Flight Planner usually lacks an active airport-facility BGL, often called an AFCAD. If it appears but offers no usable start, its runway, parking or start records are incomplete or conflicting. If AI traffic is not showing, the airport layout, traffic schedules and AI settings must be checked.

Visible, selectable, GPS-compatible and AI-ready are not the same

Seeing an add-on airport in the simulator proves only that some visual scenery is active; it does not prove that FS2004 has loaded a functional airport record.

Updated navaids or airways can change route generation, but they do not make a visual-only airport functional. The package needs an airport-facility BGL containing the airport record itself.

How do I add the airport to an FS2004 flight plan?

Once the correct FS2004 scenery and airport-facility BGL are active, add the airport exactly as you would a stock airport.

1. Install and activate the scenery. The package normally has an area folder containing Scenery and, where required, Texture subfolders. Follow our detailed FS2004 scenery folder and library procedure if the area is not yet active.
2. Confirm that airport data are included. Buildings and ground textures are insufficient. If the download supplies a separate AFCAD, use our guidance for installing an FS2004 airport-facility BGL safely.
3. Find the actual airport identifier. Use the ICAO or local identifier defined inside the add-on, which may differ from the modern real-world code. A replacement airport usually retains its stock FS2004 identifier.
4. Restart FS2004. FS2004 must rebuild or reload its scenery data after BGL and Scenery Library changes.
5. Select the departure and destination. Open Flight Planner and search by airport ID. If that fails, search by airport name or city; our airport search and selection methods cover each option.
6. Generate the route. Choose VFR or IFR and then direct GPS, VOR-to-VOR or an airway routing option. A newly added airport can be recognised even when FS2004's older airway database cannot generate a sensible airway route to it; direct GPS is a useful diagnostic in that case.
7. Inspect and save a new plan. Check that the first and final route points use the intended airport identifiers, then save the .PLN.

The scenery itself is not stored in the .PLN. The plan stores route and airport references, while the active Scenery Library supplies the airport layout when the flight loads.

Why is my add-on airport missing from Flight Planner?

An airport visible in FS2004 but missing from Flight Planner has either no usable facility record or a facility BGL that FS2004 is not loading correctly.

• Visual-only scenery: the package adds buildings, objects or textures but no airport definition. Install the FS2004-compatible AFCAD supplied for that scenery.
• Wrong Scenery Library path: the active entry points to the wrong folder level. It should reference the package area containing its Scenery subfolder, not an unrelated parent or inactive nested folder.
• BGL in the wrong location: the airport file remains inside the downloaded archive, a documentation folder or an inactive scenery area.
• Wrong simulator format: an airport made for FSX, Prepar3D, Microsoft Flight Simulator or another simulator does not become FS2004-compatible merely by copying its BGL into FS9.
• Unexpected identifier: FS2004's database reflects the airport names and codes of its era. An add-on may use a legacy code for compatibility or define a new code that differs from the package name.
• Duplicate airport layouts: two third-party AFCADs for the same airport can cause duplicate runways, misplaced starts, bad parking and inconsistent results. Keep the intended layout at the appropriate higher scenery priority and temporarily disable the competing third-party file. Do not delete stock scenery BGLs.

Why does the airport appear but have no usable start positions?

If the airport is selectable but offers no valid runway or parking start, FS2004 has found the airport record but the active layout lacks usable start data.

Install the intended AFCAD and disable older layouts for the same identifier. The file should define runways with valid start positions and, where required, parking spots connected to the taxi network. A saved flight may also reference a stand removed by the new layout, so select another valid position or create a fresh flight.

User start positions and AI parking are related but not identical. A runway start can let you begin a flight even when the airport has no suitable gates for AI aircraft.

AI traffic not showing at an add-on airport

AI traffic appears only when the airport has a usable layout, suitable parking and an active FS2004 traffic schedule referencing the airport's exact identifier.

• Check the parking list: a visually empty apron may contain no actual parking records. The AFCAD needs gates or ramp positions, and those positions should be connected to valid taxi links.
• Check parking size: each stand has a radius. If every position is smaller than the scheduled aircraft requires, that aircraft cannot use the airport correctly.
• Check parking types and codes: restrictive or mismatched airline parking codes and parking types can prevent the intended aircraft from taking a stand or place it somewhere unexpected. The aircraft configuration and AFCAD must use compatible values.
• Check the schedule: the compiled traffic BGL must be active, compatible with FS2004 and reference the same airport identifier used by the add-on. Test at a day and time when a flight is actually scheduled.
• Check the AI aircraft: the aircraft named by the traffic schedule must be installed and available to FS2004. A schedule pointing to a missing aircraft will not produce the intended flight.
• Check traffic density: raise the relevant airline or general aviation traffic-density setting for testing. Flights with a percentage threshold above the selected density will not appear.
• Check for duplicate AFCADs: another active layout may be supplying different parking or runway data. Duplicate files are often included with older scenery or AI packages, so disabling only the obvious airport folder may not remove the conflict.
• Check the traffic file itself: a disabled file, a file left outside an active scenery folder or traffic data compiled for an incompatible simulator will not generate FS2004 AI.

If no schedule exists for the airport, the AFCAD cannot create flights by itself. Use the process for building and compiling FS2004 AI traffic schedules, making sure every departure and arrival uses the add-on's actual identifier.

Will an existing FS2004 .PLN use the add-on airport?

An existing .PLN normally uses the add-on automatically when it replaces a stock airport under the same identifier.

Create a new plan if the add-on changes the identifier, moves the airport substantially or removes the runway or parking position referenced by the old flight. A plan copied to another FS2004 installation also needs the same airport-facility BGL there; otherwise FS2004 will use the stock airport or fail to resolve a genuinely new airport.

Does the FS2004 GPS recognise an add-on airport?

The default GPS can use an add-on airport when FS2004 has loaded its facility record and can resolve the airport identifier.

That does not mean every modern navaid, airway or instrument approach is available. Those records come from separate navigation data, and visual scenery does not update them. If the airport works with a direct GPS route but airway route generation fails, the likely problem is FS2004's route or navaid data rather than the airport listing.

The add-on airport still did not work in Flight Planner

Use this isolation sequence to distinguish an installation fault from a bad or conflicting airport-facility file.

1. Verify the active Scenery Library entry. Open the Scenery Library and confirm that the enabled area points to the package folder containing the correct Scenery subfolder. Check its priority against other scenery covering the same airport.
2. Confirm the airport BGL location. With FS2004 closed, verify that the facility BGL is physically inside the Scenery folder of an active area and is no longer inside an archive. Do not assume every BGL in the package is an airport definition.
3. Identify the actual ICAO or local code. Read the package documentation and search Flight Planner by identifier, airport name and city. The folder name and download title do not determine the internal airport code.
4. Temporarily disable competing layouts. Untick separate third-party scenery areas for the same airport or move suspect add-on AFCADs out of active scenery folders while FS2004 is closed. Leave the simulator's stock BGLs intact.
5. Restart FS2004. BGL and Scenery Library changes are not a reliable test until the simulator has restarted and loaded the revised scenery database.
6. Create a completely new flight plan. Do not reload an old .PLN or saved flight. Select the airport afresh and first try a simple direct GPS plan, which removes obsolete starts and airway routing from the test.

If the airport remains absent after those checks, the supplied BGL is probably visual-only, damaged or incompatible with FS2004. If it appears but still has no starts, the facility definition is incomplete. If Flight Planner and GPS work but AI is not showing, return to the parking, schedule and traffic-file checks rather than reinstalling the visual scenery.