Airside
Last updated 6 September 2026.
Everything on this page is either something Airside does not do, or something the simulator does not let it do. It is here so that you can decide before you buy rather than find out afterwards.
In Options, General Options, Traffic, set Aircraft Traffic Type to Off and Ground Aircraft Density to zero. Airside places the aircraft itself. If the simulator's traffic is also running, two sets of aircraft compete for the same stands and the same runways.
Airside installs for you rather than for the whole machine, so nothing asks for administrator and run normally there is nothing to click past. The installer is not code signed yet, so if you do choose Run as administrator, Windows says the publisher is unknown. The checksum of every release is published beside the download, so you can check the file yourself if you would rather.
Airside reads which parking positions have a jetway from the airport itself, and an aircraft at one of those gates is served by the jetway: no stairs, no buses. What does not happen is the animation. Microsoft Flight Simulator will not take a jetway command for an aircraft another program placed, so the jetway on your screen stays where it is. Every way we know of has been tried, and we have not stopped looking.
Airside does not apply wake turbulence separation between arrivals or departures. The gap you leave behind a heavy is yours to judge.
Where the airport publishes taxiway designators, a taxi clearance reads them out: "taxi to holding point runway two four left via Alpha, Bravo." Some airports publish none at all. There the clearance still names where it ends, and the aircraft still takes a real route, but there are no letters to read.
If Airside's aircraft are too loud or too quiet, the control is in Microsoft Flight Simulator: Options, Sound, AI aircraft. Airside cannot reach it.
Airside is not affiliated with or endorsed by Microsoft. Microsoft Flight Simulator is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.