Routes

Routes define the flight network of your Virtual Airline. Each route is a connection between two airports, enriched with a callsign, flight number, schedule, available fleets, load factors, and dispatch configuration. Without routes, pilots cannot book flights.

Accessing Routes

In Orwell, go to Operations → Routes → Routes. You need the Can Manage Routes permission.

Predefined Views

View	Description
Default	All routes with standard columns.
Ending Soon	Routes with an end date within the next 2 weeks. Badge shows count.
Starting Soon	Routes with a start date within the next 2 weeks. Badge shows count.

Route Types

Type	Description	Notes
Scheduled	Standard scheduled passenger flight	Most common route type
Cargo	Cargo-only operation	No passenger loading option at dispatch
Charter	Charter passenger flight	Functions the same as Scheduled
Training	Training flight	No passengers or freight
VFR	Visual Flight Rules	Disables route string processing — allows freeform VFR navigation info like visual landmarks and reporting points
Repositioning	Aircraft ferry/transfer flight	No passengers or freight
Jumpseat	Custom jumpseat route	For creating manual jumpseats when automated jumpseats are disabled. Hides most form fields (callsign, routing, fleet, times, etc.)

Creating a Route

The route creation form is organised into sections. Fields that appear depend on the selected route type — jumpseat routes hide most sections, and repositioning/training routes hide load factor and container sections.

Basic Information

• Departure Airport — search by ICAO, IATA, or airport name. The dropdown shows no results until you type a search term. Cannot be changed after the route is created.

• Arrival Airport — search by ICAO, IATA, or airport name. The dropdown shows no results until you type a search term. Cannot be changed after the route is created.

• Type — the route type (see table above). Changing the type adjusts which form sections are visible.

Dates and Times

• Start Date — when the route becomes available. Leave blank to make the route available immediately.

• End Date — when the route will be removed from availability. Leave blank for no end date.

• Departure Time — scheduled departure time. Entered in UTC unless local timezone mode is enabled. Used by on-time departure scoring rules.

• Arrival Time — scheduled arrival time. Entered in UTC unless local timezone mode is enabled. Used by on-time arrival scoring rules.

Flight Details

• Callsign — ATC callsign in ICAO format (4-7 characters, uppercase letters and digits only). The first 3 characters must match an approved ICAO prefix from your airline parameters. If the prefix is not approved, you will see: "The combination of callsign prefix 'XXX' and flight number prefix 'XX' is not an approved parameter." The fleet selector also depends on this prefix — only fleets linked to the matching airline parameter entry will appear.

• Flight Number — IATA flight number (3-6 characters, uppercase letters and digits only). The first 2 characters must match an approved IATA prefix from your airline parameters — the same entry that the callsign ICAO prefix matches.

• FL / Altitude — planned cruise altitude. Accepts multiple formats: FL380, 360, or 36000 all resolve to 36,000 feet. Can be left empty — when dispatched via SimBrief, an appropriate flight level will be selected.

• Cost Index — cost index for the flight (0-999). Enter a number to set a specific value, or enter AUTO to let SimBrief generate one. When left empty, the value is resolved in order: route → aircraft override → fleet override → SimBrief profile → AUTO. Leaving this empty is usually the best option unless you need a specific override for this route.

• Flight Length — time from takeoff to landing (HH:MM). Optional — if not provided, vAMSYS will calculate an estimate based on route distance. Used in the pilot flight map, filters, tables, and flight length AutoReject rules.

• Flight Distance — route distance in nautical miles. Optional — if not provided, vAMSYS calculates a great circle distance. Used in the pilot flight map, filters, and tables.

• Days of Operation — which days this route operates. Select individual days or leave empty to indicate daily operation. Informational — pilots can filter by operating days in the dispatch table.

Callsign Options

These options control how the callsign is presented and modified during pilot dispatch. New routes are pre-populated from your Route Defaults (configurable at HQ → Settings → Route Defaults).

• Allow Pilots to Change Callsign — lets pilots enter their own callsign or use the callsign generator during dispatch

• Callsign Defaults to Pilot Username — two options. Option 1 uses the airline ICAO prefix plus the numeric portion of the pilot's username (e.g., pilot 1234 on airline BAW → callsign BAW1234). Option 2 uses the ICAO prefix plus the last 2 digits of the username plus the pilot's initials (e.g., pilot 1234 named Lukas Keller on airline BAW → callsign BAW34LK). Both options disable the callsign change toggle.

• Callsign Defaults to Aircraft Registration — auto-populates the callsign from the selected aircraft registration (e.g. G-LUJA becomes GLUJA)

• Callsign Generator — generates up to 4 remaining callsign characters after the prefix using regex-like patterns. Each position accepts patterns like [A-Z], [0-9], [A-Z0-9], [A-C,1-5], or [A,D,G,3,5,9]. A preview shows the total number of possible combinations. Generated suffixes are automatically filtered to avoid ambiguous letters (O, I, Q), endings in 0/5/S, adjacent repeated characters, runway-style codes (e.g. 27L), emergency codes (PAN, SOS, QNH), and confusable letter-digit pairs (B8, D0, G6).

Routing

The routing field accepts a flight plan string of waypoints, airways, and coordinates. The field is smart — it parses the input against current AIRAC data, strips speed/altitude prefixes, removes SID/STAR names, and simplifies the route automatically. For example:

• N0411F230 NIT2Y NIT M748 ERGOM/N0454F330 DCT TEGRI DCT ARTAT UP975 TEPKI/N0454F350 UP975 ERGUN UL124 EVSAS DCT SIDAD P975 SESRU M677 ITBUL Q322 DATOB DATOB5Y → NIT M748 ERGOM DCT TEGRI DCT ARTAT UP975 ERGUN UL124 EVSAS DCT SIDAD P975 SESRU M677 ITBUL Q322 DATOB

• Speed/altitude prefixes like N0466F340 and M085F400 are stripped, SID/STAR names are removed, and DCT is inserted between adjacent waypoints not connected by an airway.

See the AIRAC Validation section in Routings for full details on what gets stripped and what passes through.

For VFR routes, routing processing is disabled — you can enter freeform VFR navigation information like visual landmarks and reporting points.

This field can be left empty. If you use the Routings feature, pilots will be able to select from pre-defined routings during dispatch. If dispatched via SimBrief with no routing, SimBrief will pick an appropriate route.

Notes, Tags and Visibility

• Remarks — shown to pilots on the dispatch page and added to the SimBrief OFP when dispatching. Supports markdown formatting (bold, italic, links, bullet and ordered lists).

• Route Tags — organisation labels that pilots can filter by in the dispatch table (e.g. DOMESTIC, LONG_HAUL). Must be enabled in airline settings.

• Hidden — hides the route from the book flight map and table. Hidden routes can still be booked via Activities — useful for event-only routes.

• Internal Remarks — staff-only notes. Not visible to pilots.

Load Factors and Containers

Load factors and containers set at route level override those set at airport level. For load factors to take effect or containers to be bookable, an appropriate fleet must be assigned to the route — a passenger fleet will not load containers, for example. Hidden for jumpseat, repositioning, and training routes.

Fleets

Select which fleets can operate this route. The fleet selector only appears after entering a callsign, and only shows fleets configured to use that callsign prefix. If no fleets are selected, the route will not be bookable and pilots will see a warning message.

SimBrief Overrides

Override SimBrief dispatch settings at the route level. These take priority over fleet and aircraft-level SimBrief configuration.

• Flight Rules — IFR, VFR, Y (IFR then VFR), or Z (VFR then IFR)

• Flight Type — Scheduled, Non-scheduled, General Aviation, Military, or Training

• Fuel Overrides — MEL, ATC, WXX, Tankering, Extra, Min FOB, and Min FOD with a unit toggle (minutes, kg, or lbs). Overrides values set in fleet or aircraft configuration.

• PAX and Bag Weight — override passenger and baggage weight assumptions (in lbs)

• Enroute Alternate — ICAO code of an enroute alternate airport

• Contingency and Reserve — contingency percentage and reserve fuel rules

• Fixed Alternates — takeoff alternate plus up to 4 landing alternates

Turbo Mode

A toggle in the top-right corner of the create/edit form switches between Normal and Turbo mode. Turbo mode replaces dropdowns and pickers with text inputs for faster data entry — airports accept ICAO/IATA codes directly, fleets and load factors accept names, and date/time fields use simple text inputs. The data entered is the same; Turbo mode just reduces clicks for experienced users.

Save Options

When creating a route, four save options are available:

• Create — saves the route and opens it in the edit page

• Create & Start New — saves the route and opens a blank create form

• Create & Start Same — saves the route and opens a new create form with the departure airport, type, and callsign generator pre-populated

• Create & Start Return — saves the route and opens a new create form with departure and arrival airports swapped, carrying over the type, dates, callsign, flight number, fleet, and callsign generator. When local timezone mode is enabled, departure and arrival times are also swapped.

Editing Routes

Editing uses the same form as creation, with departure and arrival airports locked. The row action menu also offers Copy Route (duplicates all fields into a new route) and Create Return (creates a new route with departure and arrival swapped).

Relationship Tables

At the bottom of the route edit page, three tabs show related data:

• Routings — Routings stored for this airport pair. You can create new routings directly from this tab.

• Bookings — all bookings made for this route

• PIREPs — all PIREPs filed using this route

Bulk Route Editing

Select routes using the table checkboxes and choose Bulk Full Edit from the bulk actions menu (maximum 20 routes per batch). This opens a sequential editor that presents the full edit form for each selected route one at a time. After saving one route, the editor automatically advances to the next. The page scrolls to the top on each transition. You cannot skip routes or go back to a previous one.

Route Changes

Route Changes is an optional Phoenix module that lets pilots see upcoming and recent route changes. Enable it at Settings → vAMSYS Modules → Enable Route Changelist. When enabled, a Route Changes page appears in Phoenix → Flight Centre.

The page shows four tables, each covering a 14-day window:

• Ending Routes — routes with an end date within the next 14 days

• Starting Routes — routes with a start date within the next 14 days

• Ended Routes — routes that ended within the last 14 days

• Started Routes — routes that started within the last 14 days

Each table shows the callsign, departure, arrival, flight number, and the relevant date. Tables are searchable and paginated.

Row Actions

Action	Effect
Edit	Opens the route edit page
Copy Route	Opens the create form pre-populated with all fields from this route
Create Return	Opens the create form with departure and arrival airports swapped
End Route	Available for live routes (already started). Sets the end date to now, gracefully removing the route from availability.
Delete	Available for future routes (not yet started). Shows a confirmation suggesting you set an end date instead for graceful removal.

Bulk Actions

Action	Description
Set Start Date	Sets a new start date for all selected routes. Can also set to now.
Set End Date	Sets a new end date for all selected routes.
End/Delete Now	For active routes, sets end date to now. For routes that haven't started yet, deletes them entirely.
Set Hidden	Hides all selected routes from the pilot dispatch table and map.
Set Unhidden	Makes all selected routes visible to pilots.
Bulk Full Edit	Opens the sequential route editor for up to 20 selected routes.

Table Columns

Default columns: Departure, Arrival, Callsign (with flight number), Type, Fleets, Hidden status.

Additional columns: Route ID, Start Date, End Date, Lifespan, Flight Length, Flight Distance, Tags, Remarks, Internal Remarks, Route string.

Filtering

The table supports advanced filtering by:

• Departure / Arrival — filter by airport

• Flight Number — text search

• Fleets — filter by assigned fleet

• Start Date / End Date — date range filters

• Route — search the routing string

• Flight Distance — numeric filter with comparison operators

• Hidden — filter by visibility status

Related

• Routings — pre-defined flight plan strings shared across routes on the same airport pair

• Bookings — flight bookings created from routes

• Fleet — aircraft type definitions assigned to routes

• Airports — airport management and airport manager assignments

• Load Factors — passenger and cargo load configurations

• Route Import/Export — bulk route management via CSV