November 2023 VA Update

Hello Pilots,

This month's news update will highlight some schedule updates, as well as some VA update news.

Development updates

We are working towards an overhaul of the passenger and payload system used for flight briefings. This will encompass individualized load factors on a by airline basis, with normalized distribution. Further load factors will be split between passenger and cargo load factors to provide more accuracy within the provided flight briefings. This will be rolling out before the end of the year. Further we are looking to rework the tours page to provide better discovery options and improve clarity on legs that have not been flown yet.

Schedule updates

We will be moving to the Northern Winter/ Southern Summer flying season in the coming weeks. We expect to complete this changeover by mid-November. If you notice any irregular flight times and/or missing routes after this time please let us know in the Discord server or in a support ticket.

Tour updates

We have introduced a number of new themed tours, and are working on further expanding our tour selection based on your suggestions on Discord.

The monthly tour takes you across the Pacific and the United States. If you have any suggestions on tours you would like to see please let us know on Discord.

Closed airspaces

Current scheduled flight time durations may need to be amended due to longer flying times on account of closed airspace. We would recommend checking your route prior to departure especially if it crosses and known airspaces with known security warnings. A complete overview can be found here.

Please adhere to these closures when performing flights on the VA.

Event Updates

We are working with the vACEPG initiative to co-host more VATSIM events. Please check the Events page for more details, we hope to see you there! Please let us know via Discord what kind of events you would like to see! If you have other events on online platforms that you feel are a good match to include on the VA please let us know. To receive more frequent updates please subscribe to the Event Announcements notifications on our Discord server.

Closing words

As always if you have any suggestions or questions do not hesitate to let us know.

We would also like to remind you we have a Discord server. To join it, use discord.gg/gUTREjv.