Frequently asked questions about the NG ROUTE flight planner
NG ROUTE (ngroute.com) is a free web-based IFR route planner for flight simulation. It builds realistic routes using published airways and waypoints from periodic AIRAC navigation data, adds live METAR weather, fuel and ETA estimates, terrain and wind profiles, and exports simulator-ready files for Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane and Aerofly FS.
Yes. The flight planner, airport and waypoint pages, METAR views, articles, and guides are free to use. Optional Google sign-in lets you save favourite routes to your account at no charge.
No. NG ROUTE is intended for flight simulation only. It is not certified for real-world navigation, dispatch, or operational decision-making. Fuel figures, V-speeds, alternates, and weather summaries are educational approximations for sim sessions — never use this site to plan actual flights.
No. Enter two ICAO airport codes and click "Create flight plan" — no registration required. Sign in with Google only if you want to save routes to "My flight plans" on your profile page.
Enter the 4-letter ICAO codes for departure and arrival (e.g. LGAV and LFPG), choose LOW or HIGH airways, select your aircraft type, then click "Create flight plan". You can also click airports on the map and choose "Set as departure" or "Set as destination", or use the RANDOM buttons for practice routes.
LOW uses Victor, Blue and Low airways (V/B/L) typically below FL245 — suited to regional jets, turboprops and GA. HIGH uses jet and upper airways (J/Q/M/N/T/U) at FL245 and above — best for airliners at cruise altitude. Pick the level that matches how you intend to fly in the simulator.
DCT means "Direct" — a straight-line segment between two fixes that does not follow a published airway. It appears when no suitable airway connects two points, or for the initial hop from the airport to the first airway fix.
Some airport pairs have no connected airway path in the current navigation database, or the chosen airway level (LOW vs HIGH) may not cover that region. Try switching airway level, picking nearby alternates, or editing the route manually on the map by adding intermediate waypoints.
Yes. After planning, click waypoints on the map to add them to the route or click existing route fixes to remove them. Avoid very long direct segments without fixes — especially over mountains — because sim aircraft may not calculate terrain clearance correctly over large gaps.
NG ROUTE exports to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020/2024 (.pln), X-Plane 11/12 (.fms), and Aerofly FS 4 / Aerofly FS Global (custom_missions_user.tmc). Step-by-step import instructions are in the import tutorial and the in-app "? How to import flight plans" guide.
After creating a route, use the export buttons for your platform. X-Plane: place the .fms file in Output/FMS plans. MSFS: save the .pln to the Community or Packages folder and load via the World Map or GPS. Aerofly: append to Documents/Aerofly FS 4/missions/custom_missions_user.tmc and open Custom Missions. See /flightplanhowto.php for exact folder paths.
X-Plane and Aerofly often ship with older AIRAC cycles than NG ROUTE. Skip unrecognized fixes and proceed to the next waypoint in sequence; the aircraft will fly direct between recognized points. X-Plane users can update navdata with a Navigraph subscription; Aerofly currently has no user AIRAC update.
METAR, TAF and SIGMET/AIRMET data are fetched primarily from aviationweather.gov. When live METAR is unavailable, forecast weather may be shown (labelled FCST) from Open-Meteo. MSFS and X-Plane with live weather enabled should closely match displayed conditions; Aerofly does not use live weather — use standard 1013 hPa there.
Based on current METAR wind, NG ROUTE suggests runways with favourable headwind/crosswind components and shows QNH, temperature, flight category (VFR/MVFR/IFR/LIFR), and ILS category where data exists. Verify against conditions in your simulator before departure.
They are estimates for simulation briefing. Trip fuel includes contingency, alternate (200 NM), final reserve, and taxi components using your selected aircraft profile. V1/VR/V2 and flap settings are approximations — treat them as starting points, not performance guarantees.
T/C is Top of Climb — where you reach cruise altitude after departure. T/D is Top of Descent — where you should begin descending toward the destination. Actual points may shift slightly if you fly different SIDs/STARs in the FMS than the airway-only route shown.
Use the layers control on the map to toggle airports (clickable for dep/arr), waypoints at higher zoom, and live weather radar from RainViewer. Below the map you will also see terrain elevation and winds-aloft charts for the planned route.
RANDOM picks departure and/or arrival airports for practice flights. Enable "Random departure airport inside the viewable map area" to limit picks to airports currently visible on the map — useful for exploring a region.
Yes, with Google sign-in. After planning, click "Save to my flight plans" to store the route on your account (/user.php). You can reopen or delete saved plans from your profile. Without signing in, routes exist only in the current browser session and URL.
Yes. Individual airport pages show runways, METAR, nearby routes and links to plan from that field. Waypoint pages show position, connected airways and routes through that fix — useful for browsing the nav database.
Airways, fixes and airport data come from compiled AIRAC cycle files updated periodically on the server. The exact cycle is not always shown in the UI; if a fix was recently decommissioned in the real world it may still appear until the next data refresh.
The planner works without personal data. Optional Google login stores your saved flight plans and basic profile info from Google. Theme and map preferences may live in your browser localStorage. Standard server logs are kept briefly for security. See the privacy policy for full details.
Start with the user guide (/guide.php) for a full walkthrough. Browse articles and tutorials (/articles) for simulator-specific tips, aircraft guides, and route spotlights. The about page summarises all features.
Visit the contact page (/contact.php) and complete the short verification puzzle to reveal our email address. We welcome feedback and bug reports but cannot provide real-world operational or dispatch advice.
Still have questions? Read the user guide, browse articles, or contact us.