Airport XML Properties

This page lists most of the different elements and attributes required to generate properly formed XML for an airport. Most of the XML shown, is created for you when you use The Scenery Editor tool - included as part of the Developer Mode toolset within Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. As such, we recommend that you use that tool instead of trying to create your own XML from scratch, and use this page as a reference if you need to edit the files the Scenery Editor creates.

Note that this page covers the XML required for the airport and some of it’s facilities, but other things like runways and approach routes are not included here to keep the information in more manageable blocks. The links below cover the things that are not included on this page, and all of them would be used within the <Airport> container element:

• Runway XML Properties
• Approach XML Properties
• Taxiway XML Properties

Finally, the XML document for an airport must have the following format:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <FSData version="9.0">
        <Airport>
            <!-- Airport Data Elements Here -->
        </Airport>
    </FSData>

<FSData>#

The <FSData> element is the top level container which contains the <Airport> sub-element (and can also contain various other Scenery Editor Object XML elements). It has the following possible attributes:

<Airport>#

The <Airport> element is used to indicate the placement of airport facility information. Airports are placed according to their airport reference point and may contain a large amount of data, with the element containing one or more of the following sub-elements:

• <AirportArchetype>
• <ApronControl>
• <Tower>
• <Services>
• <Com />
• <Runway>
• <RunwayAlias>
• <Ils>
• <Aprons>
• <PaintedElements>
• <DetailPolys>
• <ApronEdgeLights>
• <LightPreset>
• <LightSupport />
• <AirportGroup />
• <Group>
• <TaxiwaySign />
• <TextMarking>
• <Waypoint>
• <Departure>
• <Arrival>
• <Approach>
• <Ndb>
• <Helipad>
• <Start />
• <Jetway>
• <VDGS>
• <ProjectedMesh>
• <VectorPlacement>
• <BlastFence>
• <BoundaryFence>
• <DeleteAirport>
• <HoldingPattern>
• <WasmModule />

The following elements are also used in the creation of airports, and - if used - they must be defined in the given order:

• <TaxiwayPoint />
• <TaxiwayParking />
• <TaxiwayParking />
• <TaxiwayServiceStand />
• <TaxiName />
• <TaxiwayPath>

The airport element has the following attributes:

Attribute	Description	Type	Required
displayName	The display name for the object in the Scenery Editor.Note: this is only used for ordering in the The Scenery Contents List	String	No
parentGroupID	The ID of the parent group this object belongs to.Note: this is only used for ordering in the The Scenery Contents List	Integer	No
groupIndex	The group index of the object.Note: this is only used for ordering in the The Scenery Contents List	Integer	No
groupID	The group ID of the object.Note: this is only used for ordering in the The Scenery Contents List	Integer	No
groupGenerated	Whether the group has been auto-generated or not.Note: this is only used for ordering in the The Scenery Contents List	Boolean	No
country	This is the name of the country the airport is in. This string can be localised using the TT:<VARIABLE_NAME> format, as explained in the LOC Files (Localization) documentation.	String	No
state	This is the name of the state the airport is in. This string can be localised using the TT:<VARIABLE_NAME> format, as explained in the LOC Files (Localization) documentation.	String	No
city	This is the name of the city that the airport is either in or nearest to. This string can be localised using the TT:<VARIABLE_NAME> format, as explained in the LOC Files (Localization) documentation.	String	No
name	This is the name of the airport itself and will be displayed to the user. This string can be localised using the TT:<VARIABLE_NAME> format, as explained in the LOC Files (Localization) documentation.	String	No
region	The region the airport is in. Generally the region would be one of the following: JapanAsia (China, India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Taiwan, etc…)North America (Canada, USA)Latin America (Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela, Brazil, etc…)Middle East (UAE, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc…)Europe (France, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, etc…)Africa (Tunisia, Chad, Kenya, Madagascar, etc…)	String	No
regionCode	This is the ICAO country code which must be a maximum of two characters. See here(opens in a new tab) for more information.	String	No
lat	Latitude of the airport reference point, in degrees between -90.0° and 90.0°.	Float	Yes
lon	Longitude of the airport reference point, in degrees between -180.0° and 180.0°.	Float	Yes
alt	Altitude of the airport reference point, in meters. You may add the “F” suffix to convert the value to feet, for example: “13.0F”.	Float	Yes
altType	This is used to determine the referential for the alt field.	Enum: GEOIDELLIPSOID	No
magvar	Magnetic variation, the angle difference between the magnetic north and true north. Negative for value to the east and positive for value to the west, measured in degrees between -360.0° and 360.0°.	Float	No
ident	This is the icao code for the Airport being defined, and is used to represent the airport in multiple places. Must be between 3 and 8 characters long, eg: “UUWW”.	String	Yes
airportTestRadius	Airport test radius in meters. You may add the “F” suffix to convert the value to feet, for example: “1300.0F”. This is the distance around the airport reference point (location) that will be tested for airport object elements. Anything that is an airport element that is outside this area may cause build errors.	Float	No
trafficScalar	The volume of AI traffic that is appropriate for this airport. 1.0 would apply to major airports.Note: This is a deprecated feature and the value added for this attribute will have no effect in the simulation.	Float	No
isOnTIN	Used to get a different ground materials behavior in certain area.	Boolean	No
tinColorCorrection	This option applies colour correction to certain airport features - mainly runways and aprons - to eliminate unnatural TIN colours bleeding into them. Mouse over the image below to see an example of the difference this option can make (note that the difference will depend on the location):This is enabled by default.	Boolean	No
onlyAddIfReplace	Only adds the airport if it was already present in another package. Relevant if the data contained within <Airport> is only complementary and not meant to be used on its own.	Boolean	No
applyFlatten	Generate flattening rectangles on the airport based on runways altitude and inclination.	Boolean	No
starAirport	Puts the airport forward on the world map.	Boolean	No
closed	Stop the airport from being accessible or interactive in any interface such as the world map, the instruments or the ATC system. The airport is only going to be rendered in the simulator..	Boolean	No
groundMergingTransfertBright	Ground merging bright setting.	Float	No
groundMergingTransfertDark	Ground merging dark setting.	Float	No
uuid	This is a unique identifier used by some mission parameters.	String	No
transitionAltitude	This defines the transition altitude - the altitude above sea level at which aircraft change from the use of local pressure to the use of standard pressure - for the airport, in ft.	Float	No
transitionLevel	Defines the transition level - the height above sea level that flight level is used instead of feet or meters - for the airport, in ft.	Float	No

<AirportArchetype>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to set the airport archetupe data for different aspects of the airport.

This element has the following attribute:

<ParamOverride />#

This is a self-closing sub-element of <AirportArchetype> and is used to define a single parameter to override and the value to override it with. You may include multiple of these elements to override several of the available properties for any airport, for example:

<AirportArchetype>
    <ParamOverride name="RunwayTireGumOpacity" value="0.0"/>
    <ParamOverride name="RunwayCrackOpacity" value="0.0"/>
    <ParamOverride name="RunwayPatchOpacity" value="0.0"/>
    <ParamOverride name="RunwayGroovingOpacity" value="0.0"/>
    <ParamOverride name="AsphaltDirtOpacity" value="0.000"/>
    <ParamOverride name="TaxiwayTireStainOpacity" value="0.0"/>
</AirportArchetype>

This element has the following attributes:

Override Parameters List#

The table below lists all the parameters that can be used as override parameters in the <ParamOverride /> element:

<ApronControl>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to add one or more Airline Codes for airport services. Each airline code registers a new Apron Control Unit for use at the airport and enables the airport and other objects to request and use the advanced services that can interact with other airport objects and aircraft. If you do not supply an Apron Control airline code, then this will mean that the airport has to use “fallback” services, which aren’t as comprehensive. Note that you can add multiple <ApronControl> elements and each one will create a new apron control unit with the designated airline code. Normally, this is the procedure for airports with multiple gates and aircraft parking spots, as you would want to have one control unit per gate (or cluster of gates).

For more information on the advanced setup of Apron Services, please see here:

• Apron Services

This element has the following attribute:

<Tower>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to place an air traffic control tower location at an airport. This element must contain a single <SceneryObject> element, and has the following attributes:

<Services>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and has no attributes, It is used as a container for the self-closing <Fuel /> element

<Fuel />#

This is a sub-element of <Services> and is used to define the type of fuel that may be available (or unavailable) at an airport. It has the following attributes:

<Com />#

This a sub-element of both the <Airport> and <Boundary> elements and is used to add one or more COM (communication) frequencies to an airport or a boundary. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<RunwayAlias>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used when replacing components inside of an airport (like taxiways), but the intent is not to replace the actual runways. This element serves as a note to the compiler that the old runway definition is to be preserved. This is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<Ils>#

This element is used to add one or more ILS beacons to either an <Airport> element or a <Runway> element. If assigned to an airport, the runway will need to use the <IlsReference /> sub-element to reference them, but if used on a runway, this is not required. This element may contain <GlideSlope />, <Dme /> and <VisualModel> sub-elements.

The element may also have the following attributes:

<GlideSlope />#

Set the glideslope sub-element for the <Ils> beacon. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<Dme />#

Set the DME values for the <Ils> beacon. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<Aprons>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to add aprons to an airport. The element has no attributes but can contain one or more <apron> sub-element, explained below.

<Apron>#

This element is used to add an apron to the <Aprons> list of an airport. This element usually contains multiple <Vertex /> sub-elements and can also contain a <Coloration /> element. It has the following attributes:

<PaintedElements>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and permits you to define the different painted lines and other things that are on the airport ground. It has no attributes and can contain the following sub-elements:

• <PaintedPolygon>
• <PaintedLine>
• <PaintedHatchedArea>

<PaintedPolygon>#

This element is a sub-element of <PaintedElements> and is used to paint a polygon area within an airport, and as such uses the <Vertex /> sub-element to define the area being painted (minimum required is three vertices). It has the following attributes to define the color that is to be used:

<PaintedLine>#

This element is a sub-element of <PaintedElements> and is used to paint a line, and as such it requires at least two <Vertex /> sub-elements to define the start and end points of the line, although you can define more vertices if required between those points. It has the following attributes to define the type of line to be painted:

<PaintedHatchedArea>#

This element is a sub-element of <PaintedElements> and is used to paint a cross hatched polygon, and as such uses the <Vertex /> sub-element to define the area being painted (minimum required is three vertices). It has the following attributes to define the area that is to be used:

<DetailPolys>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is a container element for one or more detail polygon in the scene. It has no attributes, and requires one or more <DetailPoly> sub-element.

<DetailPoly>#

This a sub-element of the <DetailPolys> element and is used to define the detail polygon shape. It has no attributes and requires at least three <Vertex /> sub-elements to define the polygon shape.

<ApronEdgeLights>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to define the edge lights to the apron of an airport. Note that this element is defined under the main <Airport> element, and not as part of the <Apron> sub-element, and it usually contains multiple <EdgeLights> sub-elements and has no attributes.

<EdgeLights>#

This element is used to add edge lights to the <ApronEdgeLights> list of an airport (this is the LightRow Object in the Scenery Editor). This will contain multiple <Vertex /> sub-elements - where each vertex corresponds to a position between which lights will be drawn - and has the following attributes:

<LightPreset>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to define a single light preset to be used by the airport, and you can have multiple sub-elements of this type to define multiple different light presets. The element requires one <Light /> sub-element and has the following properties:

<Light />#

This a self-closing sub-element of the <LightPreset> element and is used to define the properties of each individual light that will be used by the preset. It has the following attributes:

<LightSupport />#

This is a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is for adding a rectangular surface (sloped or flat) that will determine the altitude of all lights within the defined rectangle. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<AirportGroup />#

This is a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is only used by the Scenery Editor for visual organisiation. It is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<Group>#

This is a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is only used by the Scenery Editor for visual organisation of Scenery Objects. It is a container for one or more <SceneryObject> elements and has the following attributes:

<TaxiwaySign />#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to define a taxiway sign. It is a self-closing element with the following attributes:

<TextMarking>#

This element is a sub-element of the <Airport> element, and is used to add a text object to the airport facility. This element can contain the following sub-elements:

• <ColorText /> (required)
• <ColorBackground />
• <ColorOutline />

The element has the following attributes:

Label Contents#

The contents of the label attribute can can be any upper or lower case letter (A - Z, a - z), any numerical digit (0 - 9), or any one of the following characters:

Character	Symbol Description	Example
*	The next letter will be half height.For example: AB*CD
**	All subsequent letters will be half height until ** is used again, or a new line is created.For example: A**BCD
[,[[,[[[	Roman numerals for 1, 2, and 3.
<	Left Arrow
^	Up Arrow
>	Right Arrow
!	Down Arrow
^<	Up-Left Arrow
^>	Up-Right Arrow
!<	Down-Left Arrow
!>	Down-Right Arrow
/\.,-'#	Special Characters
$	New line.

<ColorText />#

This is a self-closing sub-element of <TextMarking> and is used to set the colour of the text within the text marking object. This element must be included to set the text colour, and has the following attributes:

<ColorBackground />#

This is an optional, self-closing, sub-element of <TextMarking> and is used to set the colour of the text marking background. The element has the following attributes:

<ColorOutline />#

This is an optional, self-closing, sub-element of <TextMarking> and is used to set the colour of the text marking outline. The element has the following attributes:

<Waypoint>#

This a sub-element of both the <Airport> and <FSData> elements and is used to add a waypoint to the airport facility database or to the world.

This element may contain the optional sub-element <Route>, but if it has no sub-elements it can be self-closing. The element has the following attributes:

<Route>#

This sub-element of <Waypoint> is used to add a route designation to a waypoint. The element has two sub-elements - <Previous /> and <Next /> - and has the following attributes:

<Previous />#

This is a sub-element of <Route> and adds the previous waypoint data to the route. This is a self-closing element with the following attributes:

<Next />#

This is a sub-element of <Route> and adds the next waypoint data to the route. This is a self-closing element with the following attributes:

<Helipad>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and can be used to define one or more helipads within an airport facility.

This element can have the <Coloration /> sub-element, otherwise it is self-closing and has the following attributes:

<Start />#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to designate one or more helipads in the airport to be used as possible start locations for a flight. Note there should be at least one <Start> element defined for each <Helipad> element.

This is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<Jetway>#

Jetway elements are part of an <Airport> element, and must contain a single <SceneryObject> element. One jetway can service at most one parking spot. A jetway will be animated and will usually come in to the main exit on the left side of the aircraft. AI controlled aircraft will also trigger the animation of the jetway. To replace jetways at an airport, use the <DeleteAirport> element with the <deleteAllJetways> field set to “TRUE”, then enter the new jetway elements. Note that all parking spots do not require jetways.

The available attributes for jetways are as follows:

<VDGS>#

A VDGS object is part of an <Airport> element, and is used to add a Visual Docking Guidance System(opens in a new tab) to a stand at an airport. This element requires the <SceneryObject> sub-element to define the scenery object to use as the VDGS, and also requires the following attributes:

<BlastFence>#

<BoundaryFence>#

These are both sub-elements of the <Airport> element and are used to define a blast and boundary fences. Both elements require at least two <Vertex /> sub-elements to define the points between which instances of the given model will be placed, as well as a <Model /> sub-element to define the model that is used.

They also have the following attributes:

<DeleteAirport>#

This a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to remove certain features from the area the airport occupies. Since most of the airports that are going to be edited are preexisting airports within the simulator, it is important to understand the behavior behind the <DeleteAirport> structure: when loading two packages that cover the same airport, the simulator will load both versions of the airport from each package, adding the data from each package together, rather than overriding one package with another. In the case that this is not what you want, you need to use this element to remove features from any previously loaded airport (including those that are defined as part of the base sim).

This element can have the following attributes:

In addition to these attributes, there exists the following sub-elements which can be contained within the <DeleteAirport> structure in order to have a more refined deletion of certain objects.

• <DeleteRunway />
• <DeleteStart />
• <DeleteFrequency />

<DeleteRunway />#

The purpose of the <DeleteRunway /> element is to delete a specific runway from an airport. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<DeleteStart />#

The purpose of the <DeleteStart /> element is to delete a start location from an airport. This element is available but rarely required. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<DeleteFrequency />#

The purpose of the <DeleteFrequency /> element is to delete specific navigation data related to the airport. Note that this is a self-closing element and has the following attributes:

<HoldingPattern>#

This is a sub-element of the <Airport> element, and is used to define a holding pattern. It has no sub-elements and takes the following attributes:

<WasmModule />#

This is a sub-element of the <Airport> element and is used to add a Web Assembly module (WASM) to an airport. This is a self closing element and has the following attribute:

For more information please see the following section:

• Creating WASM Airports