Use add-on airports in FS2004 flight plans: activate airport data, select the ICAO code, build the route, and fix airports missing from Planner.
To use an add-on airport in an FS2004 flight plan, install and activate its scenery, restart FS2004, then open Flight Planner and select the airport by ICAO identifier. The add-on must include an airport-facility BGL—often called an AFCAD—not merely visual scenery, or Flight Planner will not recognise it.
How do I add the airport to an FS2004 flight plan?
Once the airport is active and has a valid airport record, select it in Flight Planner exactly as you would a default airport.
- Install and activate the scenery. Place the package where its instructions specify and add the correct area to the Scenery Library. Our procedure for installing and activating FS2004 scenery covers folder structure, library priority and the restart requirement.
- Confirm the airport identifier. Check the ICAO code supplied with the add-on. A replacement for an existing airport normally retains the default code, while a newly built or renamed airport may use a different one.
- Open Flight Planner. Choose the add-on airport as the departure or destination and search by airport ID. FS2004 does not provide a separate add-on category or label; a replacement airport appears under its ordinary ICAO code.
- Choose the route settings. Select VFR or IFR and the appropriate routing option, such as direct GPS, VOR-to-VOR or an airway route, then generate the route.
- Inspect and save the plan. Check that the first and final route points correspond to the intended airports. Save the resulting
.PLNfile and load it for the flight.
If FS2004 offers to reposition the aircraft when the plan loads, verify the starting runway or parking position afterwards. An add-on may have removed or relocated the stand stored in an older flight.
What FS2004 Flight Planner actually reads
Flight Planner reads airport and navigation records from active BGL files; it does not identify an airport from its terminal buildings or ground textures.
| Package component | What it contains | Effect on Flight Planner |
|---|---|---|
| Visual scenery | Buildings, objects, ground textures and other visible details | No airport listing by itself |
| Airport-facility BGL or AFCAD | ICAO code, runways, start points, taxiways, parking and often frequencies | Makes the airport available to the simulator and Planner |
| Navaid and airway data | VORs, NDBs, intersections and route connections | Affects how FS2004 generates the route |
The scenery is not embedded in the .PLN file. The plan stores route information, while the active scenery library supplies the airport when FS2004 loads the flight.
Why is my add-on airport missing from Flight Planner?
An airport that is visible in FS2004 but absent from Flight Planner usually lacks a working airport-facility BGL or is being overridden by conflicting scenery.
- Visual-only package: the download contains buildings and textures but no AFCAD or equivalent airport record. Install the FS2004-compatible airport-data file supplied for that scenery.
- Scenery is not active: the library entry may point at the wrong folder level, or the BGL may still be inside an archive or nested inactive folder. Correct the entry and restart FS2004.
- Wrong simulator format: an airport built for FSX, MSFS or another simulator will not become FS2004-compatible simply by placing its BGL files in an FS2004 scenery folder.
- Unexpected ICAO code: search by airport name or city, then check which identifier the add-on actually defines. FS2004's original navigation database reflects its own era, so later airport codes and route changes may be absent.
- Duplicate AFCAD files: two active airport layouts can produce duplicate runways, incorrect parking, misplaced AI traffic or inconsistent Planner results. Keep one intended add-on layout at the highest relevant scenery priority and disable the competing add-on file. Do not delete stock scenery BGLs.
Airport BGLs, AFCAD files and global navigation data solve different problems. Our explanation of FS2004 airport and navigation-data updates helps identify which data needs changing; updating navaids alone will not make a visual-only airport appear in Planner.
Will an existing FS2004 .PLN use the add-on airport?
An existing flight plan normally uses the add-on automatically when it replaces a default airport under the same ICAO code.
Rebuild the plan if the add-on changes the identifier, significantly relocates the airport, or leaves the saved departure position aligned with an obsolete runway. A plan transferred to another FS2004 installation also requires the corresponding airport-data BGL there; otherwise it will use the stock airport or fail to resolve a genuinely new one.
Does the FS2004 GPS recognise an add-on airport?
The default GPS can follow a loaded plan to an add-on airport when FS2004 has successfully loaded that airport's facility record.
The GPS route and airport information remain limited by the installed BGL and navigation data. New terminal scenery does not automatically update airways, navaids or instrument approaches. Once the plan is active, follow our FS2004 GPS controls and route-following instructions to display the route, use direct-to and couple compatible aircraft systems to GPS guidance.