News

Hello Pilots,

This month's news update will highlight some development updates, as well as some VA update news.

Development Updates

VAS ACARS 3.2.0 was released yesterday which includes native support for X-Plane. Instead of using XPUIPC and the FSUIPC connector, you can now install the new vasxplane plugin and use the X-Plane connector. This should be more stable and will allow us to support more operating systems in the future. It will also allow us to add support for specific aircraft natively within the plugin. For information on how to get started, please see our renewed X-Plane guide on our support website. VAS ACARS 3.2.0 also incorporated numerous other changes and improvements, for a full list please check the release notes.

In the last few weeks, we have been improving our database infrastructure. This project is now complete and has resulted in a noticeable speed-up on some pages:

We have also made various other improvements to the website, such as adding the aircraft substitutions widget in a few more places, improving our map style by for example adding runway and taxiway names to the map, adding a "Flights Yesterday" statistic to our statistics page, and replacing "Boarding" by "Pre-departure" for non-passenger carrying flights on live flights. 18 more airports around the world have received airport gate information. The flight processor has been updated to support the 'Hotel' mode on the recently released Microsoft ATR airliners when VAS ACARS 3.2.0 is used. Finally, the Pilot Handbook and the Complete Guide to Flight Scoring have received updates to further clarify how flights are scored. If you have any suggestions for other improvements we can make, post them in the #suggestions channel on our Discord server or create a support ticket.

Tour updates

We have introduced a number of new themed tours, and are working on further expanding our tour selection based on your suggestions in the Discord forum.

The monthly tour takes you around the Indian Ocean. 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. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

Please adhere to these closures when performing flights on the VA. This will be the last time this is mentioned in our newspost and the pilot handbook has been rewritten for more information on this subject for future reference.

Airline News

Air Calédonie has been added to the VA. This airline is partially owned by Air France and provides exciting new destinations for our network.

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.

Hello Pilots,

This month's news update will highlight some updates to the website, as well as some general airline information.

Website News

The forum has been discontinued and may now be found in our Discord server. For tour suggestions, or longer format discussions we encourage you to use the forum functionality. If you haven't joined Discord yet, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe to join. The flight briefing page will now show the airline call sign for reference, we are working on improving the accuracy of the displayed callsigns to take subsidiaries into account. Further airports have received gate information to further improve the information on the flight briefing page.

Tour updates

We are expanding our tour section, and older tours will slowly be phased out. Some tours will be direct replacements, but for airline tours there will generally not be a new award available. Other tours, and of course any completely new tours will receive new associated awards to collect.

The monthly tour takes you across South-East Asia. 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. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing on this FlightRadar24 page. Please adhere to these closures 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! To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

Airline News

Virgin Atlantic will be joining a the SkyTeam Alliance on March 2nd, taking the airline from a transatlantic joint venture partner to a full-member airline.

Several shifts and mergers are expected throughout the year, though as ever timeframes appear somewhat loose. We will do our best to follow real-world shifts in the aviation industry as they may occur, though none of the following news is final. As of writing ITA Airways is in negotiations with the Lufthansa group regarding a (partial) take-over of ITA Airways. Both the IAG group and Air France-KLM have expressed interest in a (partial) takeover of TAP Air Portugal. IAG has again offered to take a controlling stake in Air Europa. The planned Korean Air merger with Asiana Airlines is currently held up with multiple regulators requiring more time to investigate the planned merger. Multiple airlines including the Avianca group, LATAM group, JetSMART, Wingo and Aerolíneas Argentinas have all expressed interest in taking over VIVA Air Colombia.

Broadly we can gather there is interest in consolidation throughout the industry and we will continue following these developments.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions or questions do not hesitate to let us know. If you would be interested in helping improve the VA do not hesitate to send an application to join the volunteer staff team using the support ticket system.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hello Pilots,

First of all happy new year and we wish you all the best in 2023! This news update brings some minor news and development updates.

Development Updates

During this quarter we will be discontinuing the forum, as announced in our last news update. All content that is currently on the forum will be moving to Discord. If you haven't joined Discord yet, use https://discord.gg/EAKR7Qe to join.

We will be looking to expand our staff team in January, and more information on this will follow in the coming weeks.

Tour updates

The monthly tour takes you across Europe. Tours are continually in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage. We hope to expand and refresh our themed tours selection throughout January.

If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know on Discord.

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 https://discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Happy new Year and safe flights!

Hello Pilots,

This month's news update will highlight some changes to the website, as well as some airline update news.

Future of the forum

In the next week, we will be rolling out a new homepage layout, which includes removing the last active forum topics from the homepage. The forum generally sees low usage, and this is the first step towards discontinuing the forum. We will be fully discontinuing the forum in the first quarter of 2023. As a replacement, we will be creating one or multiple forum channels on Discord. If you haven't joined Discord yet, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe to join.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing on this FlightRadar24 page. Please adhere to these closures when performing flights on the VA.

Tour updates

The monthly tour takes you from Eastern Africa to Southern Africa. Tours are continually in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage.

If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know on Discord.

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! To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

This month's focus city is London; all flights to and from this city will provide a score bonus.

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.

Hello Pilots,

This month's news is on the shorter side, due to personal obligations throughout the summer period. We will be looking to expand our staff team in the coming weeks; more information regarding this will be published in a separate news post.

Airline News

All China Southern Joint ventures have run their course and China Southern has been migrated to oneworld virtual on account of a new partnership with American Airlines.

Development Updates

For X-Plane pilots the latest ToLiss A340-600 update broke compatibility with numerous third-party programs. We have implemented a fix for this and flights performed by this aircraft should now be scored correctly. For MSFS pilots the Fenix A320 continues to experience detection issues when using the SimConnect recording mode. Switching back to FSUIPC, which requires FSUIPC7 to be installed, allows for the correct scoring of this aircraft.

A number of older awards are being reworked to improve legibility and create a more coherent style. These will be rolling out over the course of the following weeks.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via a support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing on this FlightRadar24 page. Please adhere to these closures 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 and the forums what kind of events you would like to see! To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

This month's focus city is Toronto; all flights to and from this city will provide a score bonus.

Tour updates

The monthly tour takes you across Europe and the Middle East. Tours are continually in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage.

If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know in the forums.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hello Pilots,

This month's news update will highlight number of Quality of Life updates, as well as some airline update news.

Airline News

New Air France-KLM partner CMA CGM Cargo Airlines has been added, providing cargo flights from Liege. A number of Air France partners, partly owned by Air France, have been added. This will increase the number of available routes throughout Africa. New airlines include Air Algérie, Air Madagascar, Air Mauritius, and Tunisair.

All China Southern Joint ventures have run their course and China Southern will be migrated to oneworld virtual on account of a new partnership with American Airlines.

Development Updates

Most major route and fleet updates have been completed and should provide for more accurate flights. Asia is still experiencing severe COVID restrictions and this area is not as updated as our others. We are continually working to improve our schedule accuracy throughout this region.

Over 100 airports around the globe have received gate information, providing for a more detailed experience. If you would to help collaborate on gathering gate information for airports please let us know by creating a collaboration type support ticket. We will provide a document that can be filled out and imported to help improve our coverage.

As you may have noticed, some flights are now automatically approved. Auto-flight approval is based on flight score, as well as a number of other factors, among others substitution and routing requirements.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing on this FlightRadar24 page. Please adhere to these closures 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 and the forums what kind of events you would like to see! To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

Tour updates

The monthly tour takes you across China. Tours are continually in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage.

If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know in the forums.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hello Pilots,

This news update brings some more airline news and development updates.

Airline News

The SkyTeam alliance has suspended ties with Aeroflot, as a result Aeroflot and its subsidiaries will be removed from the VA on May 1st 2022. When the suspension has been lifted these airlines will be returned to the VA.

Etihad subsidiary Air Serbia has been added to the VA and will provide more routes to and from Southeastern Europe.

Development Updates

All airlines have received their new summer schedules except for cases where there are still significant COVID related service disruptions. If there are routes missing please let us know via support ticket, and we will add these routes as soon as possible.

We are working on improving gate information, if you would to help collaborate on gathering gate information for airports please let us know by creating a collaboration type support ticket. We will provide a document that can be filled out and imported to help improve our coverage.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing at this FlightRadar24 page. Please adhere to these closures when performing flights on the VA.

Event Updates

We are working with the vACEPG initiative to co-host more VATSIM events. The next one is scheduled for the 15th of May, please check the Events page for more details, we hope to see you there! Please let us know via Discord and the forums what kind of events you would like to see! To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

Tour updates

We continue to roll out tour updates, to keep tours fresh. This month will see the retirement of the Martinair Tour, 777 Tour, 787 Tour, and A350 Tour. If you have any suggestions regarding tours which you would like to see please let us know.

The monthly tour takes you across South East asia. A number of tours are currently in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hello Pilots,

We are currently reducing schedules to and from Russia as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the sanctions implemented. Any future restrictions, or loosening of restrictions will also be implemented. This includes likely fleet reductions regarding leased aircraft in Russia, which are to be returned to their lessor by March 28th. To fully implement these schedule changes may take a few days, and if we miss any do please let us know. This will affect a number of tours, we will be reworking these in the coming days to allow for their completion. If you have any questions regarding this do not hesitate to let us know via a support ticket, on our forum or on Discord.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. Exceeding the listed scheduled flight time for this reason is expected and not an issue. If your flight is given a remark incorrectly please let us know via support ticket.

You can find more information about which airspaces are closed and how the civil aviation situation is developing at this FlightRadar24 page. Please try and adhere to these closures when performing flights on the VA.

Tour updates

We are working on a number of tour updates, along with the aforementioned tours, to keep tours fresh. Currently we expect to retire 1-2 airline tours every month to refresh these, and to refresh our existing themed tours with new ones at the rate of one a month. This month will see the retirement of the WestJet-Delta tour, the Etihad-Saudia Tour, and the Mega Cities tour. If you have any suggestions regarding tours which you would like to see please let us know.

With regards to the implemented restrictions the Europe Tour, Russia Tour, Airbus World Tour, Sukhoi Superjet Tour, and Aeroflot-Rossiya Airlines tour have been updated to allow for their completion. These will currently not be awarded a new badge.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hello Pilots,

First of all happy new year and we wish you all the best in 2022! This news update brings some more airline news and development updates.

Airline News

The IAG group has stated to no longer takeover Air Europa, therefore this airline will remain part of SkyTeam and also this VA. China Southern's joint venture with the Air France-KLM group has come to a close and given the closening ties to American Airlines we are exploring moving this airline to our sister VA Oneworld virtual. Please let us know your thoughts on this in the forum.

Pending other developments Virgin Australia's ties to Delta will move to United Airlines in April 2022, and this airline will be moved to Star Alliance virtual then. Suparna Airlines, partly owned by China Airlines has been added to the VA to provide more varied freight routes around the world. We will as always do our best to mirror real-world developments and things may change in the coming months.

Development Updates

We are working on a rework of the booking page to provide a better, simplified experience when booking flights. This will include a rework of the current booking page, as well as back-end changes that will enable us to more easily switch between summer and winter flying season's. Hopefully lessing the delay in updating routes in the future.

The VAS ACARS native X-Plane support and support for Linux and macOS are currently undergoing testing and we hope to launch these features in the coming weeks.

Tour updates

The monthly tour takes you across the the Eastern seaboard of North America. A number of tours are currently in the process of being reworked and for more updates on retiring tours please check the Event and Tours section on the homepage.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.

Hi Pilots,

This month brings a number of VA updates, which are detailed below.

Airline restructuring

Alitalia's restructuring means that it no longer operates flights; remaining assets have been taken over by successor ITA Airways. ITA Airways has become SkyTeam's latest member and has been added to the VA. Furthermore, China Eastern subsidiary OTT Airlines has also been added to the VA. The Garuda Indonesia group has divested its share of Sriwijaya Air, and as such will be removed this month. We will be migrating to the winter schedule this month; we hope to have most routes updated by mid-November. If you have any suggestions do not hesitate to create a support ticket.

Native SimConnect support in VAS ACARS

The latest version of VAS-ACARS has native SimConnect support. This means it is not required to use FSUIPC anymore if you are using a FSX-based simulator, including Microsoft Flight Simulator. If you encounter any issues using FSUIPC to record or you would like simply like to use one less program in your simulator, you can change to recording using SimConnect.

To switch to SimConnect, open VAS ACARS and click the cog wheel in the top-right hand of VAS-ACARS. Click on Use for SimConnect, the change is applied immediately. The method is also shown in the video below.

The next features we are working on inside VAS ACARS are native X-Plane support and support for Linux and macOS.

Tour updates

This month is the last month in which the Autumn Tour can be completed. The monthly tour takes you across the continental United States.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions please let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/EAKR7Qe.