6 min readUpdated 2026-08-20
Fly a Custom Airport with Friends in MSFS
This whole project started because sharing a home-built airport with friends was miserable: talk them through a scenery install once, then again after every update. Here's how a group gets one custom field - a family strip, a flying club base, a Discord event site - into everyone's sim at once, and keeps it there.
The old way (and why it fails)
MSFS multiplayer renders other players, but scenery stays local: each pilot sees only the packages in their own Community folder. So a shared custom field traditionally means distributing files - one zip per person, reinstalled at every update. In practice someone is always a version behind, parked in a hangar that, on their screen, moved last Tuesday. The group flight becomes tech support.
One link does it
On Project Airports, every published field has a public page - real screenshots, the field's stats and layout, even live traffic. Sharing your airport is sharing that link:
- Friends open the link, install the free companion app, and the airport syncs into their sim automatically.
- Updates flow the same way - edit the field and everyone's next sync delivers it. The group is always on the same layout.
- It scales past friends: Discord servers and content creators pin one link, and every member who installs the app spawns at the same event field. Browse the community directory to see how builders present their fields.
A group flight, step by step
- 1One person builds the fieldClaim a plot and design the base in the browser - or start from an airport someone in the group already published. First claim is free; the first airport walkthrough takes about fifteen minutes.
- 2Drop the link in the group chatEveryone installs the free app, signs in, and selects the region the field is in. The airport (and the rest of the community world) syncs while the sim is closed.
- 3Meet in multiplayerEveryone spawns at the field via Free Flight search - it's a real airport in the sim now. Same pavement, same hangars, same windsock for everyone.
- 4Watch the field from outside the simThe airport's public page shows live traffic, so whoever's grounded that evening can still watch the group work the pattern.
Make it a home base
The fields that stick are the ones that grow. Owners earn Aeros - the in-game currency - from their own flying and from every pilot who visits, and spend them widening the buildable area, paving surfaces, and adding hangars, lighting, and landmarks from the catalog. A strip the group flew once becomes the place the group flies from. That progression is the game; the economy overview explains how it stays honest.
Questions
- Can my friends see my custom airport in MSFS multiplayer?
- Yes, as long as they have the same airport installed. MSFS multiplayer shows other players, but scenery is local - each pilot needs the package. With Project Airports everyone runs the same free companion app, so the whole group has the same airport automatically.
- How do I share a custom airport with someone?
- Every published Project Airports field has a public web page you can link in a Discord, group chat, or video description. From that page they install the free app, and the airport syncs into their sim - no zip files or Community folder work.
- Does everyone need to buy anything to fly a shared airport?
- No. They need Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 itself, plus the free Project Airports companion app and a free account. The airports, the syncing, and flying together are all free.
- What happens when the airport gets updated?
- The owner edits the field, the platform rebuilds it, and everyone's app delivers the new version on their next sync. The whole group stays on the same layout without anyone reinstalling anything.
Free · No SDK · MSFS 2024
Build your airport this afternoon
The live demo opens the real editor on a real community field - no account, no download. If it clicks, your first land claim is free.