January 2025 VA Update
Happy New Year and we wish you all the best for 2025!
This month's news update will highlight some of our updates, as well as future plans.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 support
VAS ACARS fully supports Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 if you are using the SimConnect connector, which is our recommended way of connecting to your simulator. You can find more information about configuring SimConnect on this page.
IVAO Partner VA
We have completed our application process for becoming an official IVAO partner VA and are now an official IVAO Partner VA. To allow IVAO to keep track of flights flown for SkyTeam Virtual, we ask that you add IVAOVA/STV in field 18 when flying on IVAO. This will be pre-filled automatically if you are using SimBrief from the flight briefing page and you file your flight plan using SimBrief.
Airline updates
A number of timelines for airline mergers, integrations and general updates have shifted slightly and these have been outlined here.
ITA Airways is expected to leave the VA and move to Star Alliance as part of the Lufthansa Group in the first quarter of 2025. This timeline is still fluid and we will continue to monitor this news.
The merger of Korean Air and Asiana is expected to go ahead with complete integration of Asiana Airlines into Korean Air planned for 2026. As operations slowly changeover these changes will be reflected on the VA.
Starting in April 2025 Sunwing will be fully integrated into Westjet airlines, with all Sunwing aircraft and routes being part of the larger Westjet network from that point forward.
It is expected that aircraft deliveries will speed up in the new year, further advancing many airlines' fleet renewal programs. The accompanying schedule changes will be reflected on the VA.
Schedule updates
We have moved all schedules to the Northern Winter/Southern Summer flying season. If you notice any irregular flight times and/or missing routes after this time please let us know in the Discord server or in a support ticket.
Tour updates
We continue to work on updating our existing tours, and if you have tours that you would like to see do not hesitate to let us know! We aim to roll over all hub tours to new ones throughout this year.
The monthly tour takes you across Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece. If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know on Discord.
Closed airspaces
Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. We would recommend checking your route prior to departure especially if it crosses airspaces with known security warnings. A complete overview can be found here.
Please adhere to these security warnings when performing flights on the VA.
Event Updates
We are working with the vACEPG initiative to co-host more VATSIM events. Please check the Events page for more details, we hope to see you there! Please let us know via Discord what kind of events you would like to see! If you have other events on online platforms that you feel are a good match to include on the VA please let us know. To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.
Closing words
As always if you have any suggestions or questions do not hesitate to let us know.
We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.