Asobo Studio released Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on 19 November 2024 as a separate product from the 2020 sim, built around a career mode rather than free flight alone. The Standard Edition ships more than 65 aircraft and the world engine draws on over 500 TIN cities, more than 100,000 square kilometres of countryside photogrammetry, roughly 1.5 billion buildings and close to 3 trillion trees. Career progression runs through more than 20 certifications, each opening specialisations from skydive drops up to heavy cargo.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best builds, equipment worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Career mode with certifications
You start unlicensed and buy your way up through the Private Pilot Licence, Commercial Pilot Licence, Instrument Rating and Airline Transport Pilot Licence, with a separate Jet ATP rating on top. Costs escalate steeply, from around 2,000 credits for the PPL to roughly 100,000 for the jet rating.
Specialisations and mission payouts
Certifications unlock specialisations, each gated behind a career level and a run of well-scored missions. Skydive opens early and pays around 5,000 a job, Charter Service Private arrives near level 16, Search and Rescue near level 20, Aerial Firefighting Initial Attack near level 30 and Medevac near level 35, with Cargo Transport Heavy at the top around level 75.
Aircraft wear and maintenance
Aircraft you own accumulate wear and need mechanics, parts and downtime rather than resetting between flights. Hard landings and abused engines show up as maintenance bills, which is a direct incentive to fly the numbers rather than the scenery.
Rebuilt world engine
Terrain uses enhanced digital elevation data with over 500 photogrammetry-based TIN cities and more than 100,000 square kilometres of countryside coverage, plus procedurally placed vegetation and wildlife. You can set down on unprepared ground rather than only at airports.
Companies and hired pilots
Beyond flying yourself you can found an aviation company, buy aircraft into its fleet and hire AI pilots to run contracts you do not want to fly. Income from those flights continues while you work on your own certifications.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 combat guide.
Builds Overview
| Build | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skydive | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Search and Rescue | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Aerial Firefighting | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Medevac | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Charter Service VIP | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Equipment Guide
| Equipment | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Cessna 172 Skyhawk | The training aircraft the career hands you early and the one every certification exercise assumes. | The unlicensed and PPL phase, and for practising the under-200-feet-per-minute touchdown that earns the landing bonus |
| Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX | A single-engine turboprop that hauls a genuine load into short strips. | Cargo contracts and remote freight into fields the airliners cannot reach |
| Beechcraft King Air 350i | A twin turboprop that covers charter, cargo and medevac work with speed and range that single-engine types cannot match. | Private and VIP charter, medevac runs, and longer cargo legs |
| Air Tractor AT-802 | A new addition in the 2024 Standard Edition, built for agricultural work and firefighting. | Aerial Firefighting Initial Attack and agricultural aviation contracts |
| Airbus H125 | A single-engine helicopter used heavily across the rescue and mountain work in career mode. | Search and Rescue, mountain operations, and confined-area landings |
Cessna 172 Skyhawk: The training aircraft the career hands you early and the one every certification exercise assumes. Slow enough to think in, honest enough that bad technique shows up immediately.
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX: A single-engine turboprop that hauls a genuine load into short strips. It is the workhorse of the cargo path and the aircraft most players use to fund their Instrument Rating.
Beechcraft King Air 350i: A twin turboprop that covers charter, cargo and medevac work with speed and range that single-engine types cannot match. It is the natural aircraft to own once the Turboprop rating is done.
Air Tractor AT-802: A new addition in the 2024 Standard Edition, built for agricultural work and firefighting. Loaded with retardant it handles nothing like an empty airframe, which is the whole challenge of the firefighting specialisation.
Airbus H125: A single-engine helicopter used heavily across the rescue and mountain work in career mode. Power margin at altitude is the limiting factor on the missions that matter most.
Full breakdowns in our Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Courchevel Altiport | Attempt after the PPL, in a light single | Slope landing practice, mountain wind handling, a benchmark for approach accuracy |
| Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla | Intermediate, with turboprop or STOL experience | High-altitude performance practice, one-way runway technique, bush and cargo contract scenery |
| Innsbruck Airport | Intermediate to advanced, best after the Instrument Rating | Circling approach practice, mountain wave and turbulence handling, jet operations into tight terrain |
| Paro International Airport | Advanced, airliner or turboprop | Valley navigation, hand-flown visual arrivals, high terrain awareness practice |
| Gustaf III Airport, Saint Barthelemy | Intermediate, light twin or turboprop | Short-field technique, crosswind landings, charter contracts in island scenery |
Courchevel Altiport: A short sloping strip in the French Alps with no go-around option once committed. It is one of the handcrafted airports carried into the 2024 sim and the standard test of whether your approach discipline is real.
Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla: The Himalayan strip at roughly 2,845 metres elevation, with a pronounced upslope runway and terrain on the approach. Density altitude changes every performance number you thought you knew.
Innsbruck Airport: An Austrian valley airport hemmed in by mountains where the approach requires a curved arrival rather than a straight-in. One of the handcrafted airports and a genuine airline-level challenge in weather.
Paro International Airport: The Bhutanese airport ringed by peaks, reached through a valley approach with manoeuvring all the way to short final. It is regularly listed among the hardest commercial arrivals in the world and it flies that way in the sim.
Gustaf III Airport, Saint Barthelemy: The Caribbean strip with a hill on the threshold and a beach at the far end, giving you a very short usable runway. Crosswinds are common and the approach descends steeply over a road.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Aim for touchdown under 200 feet per minute of vertical speed. That is the threshold for the landing bonus, and anything above 400 feet per minute counts as a hard landing with maintenance consequences.
- Be stabilised by 500 feet above ground level or go around. The career scoring treats a rushed approach and a salvaged landing worse than a clean second attempt.
- Take cargo contracts first if you want capital. Freight is the fastest reliable earner in the early career and the aircraft that fly it, principally the Cessna 208B, are cheap to buy and maintain.
- Never accept a job without 30 to 45 minutes of fuel reserve on top of the planned burn. Weather changes en route and diverting without reserve turns a paid contract into a maintenance bill.
- Keep at least 50 percent of your cash before buying an aircraft. Ownership brings maintenance and parts costs, and a fleet you cannot service sits on the ground earning nothing.
- Hold on to your starter aircraft after you upgrade. Low-paying short contracts still appear and a cheap airframe lets you take them without putting hours on an expensive one.
- Chase the certifications rather than the aircraft. Specialisations are gated behind ratings and career level, so the Instrument Rating at roughly 10,000 credits opens more income than a nicer plane at the same price.
- Score B or better on the qualifying missions for each specialisation. VIP charter needs ten private charter runs at B or above, and firefighting wants A grades, so sloppy jobs delay the unlock rather than just paying less.
- Learn power management before flying the H125 into mountain rescue contracts. Helicopter missions put you into confined areas where the margin between hover power and available power is small.
- Treat the sim as a separate product from Flight Simulator 2020 rather than an update. Aircraft, marketplace content and add-ons do not all carry across, and career mode has no equivalent in the older sim.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Buying an expensive aircraft before the certification that would let you fly profitable contracts with it.
- Landing at 500 or more feet per minute repeatedly and paying for it in maintenance instead of collecting the landing bonus.
- Flying contracts with minimum fuel and diverting on weather, which turns a profitable job into a loss.
- Grinding low-paying missions instead of the specific mission types that qualify you for the next specialisation.
- Expecting 2020 add-ons and marketplace purchases to transfer wholesale into the 2024 sim.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Flight Simulator 2024 different from the 2020 sim?
It is a separate release from 19 November 2024 built around a career mode with certifications, specialisations, aircraft maintenance and companies you can run. The world engine was also rebuilt with over 500 TIN cities and more than 100,000 square kilometres of countryside photogrammetry.
What does career mode actually involve?
You begin unlicensed, buy certifications up through PPL, CPL, Instrument Rating and ATPL, and each one unlocks specialisations gated by career level. Missions range from skydive drops paying around 5,000 up to VIP charter work worth 50,000 to 100,000.
Which specialisation should I aim at first?
Cargo work. It builds cash faster than anything else available early and the aircraft it uses, mainly the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX, stay useful for years of career progression.
How many aircraft are included?
The Standard Edition carries more than 65 aircraft, spanning trainers like the Cessna 172, turboprops, helicopters including the Airbus H125, airliners such as the A320neo and 747, and oddities like the Wright Flyer and the Jetson ONE.
Do I need a joystick or can I fly on keyboard?
Keyboard and controller both work, but the career mode scores landings on vertical speed and approach stability, and hitting under 200 feet per minute consistently is far easier with a yoke or stick that gives fine pitch control.
More Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Guides
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Best Builds
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Tier List
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Walkthrough
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Beginner's Guide
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Tips & Tricks
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Weapons Guide
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Combat Guide
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Boss Guide
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Maps & Locations
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Crafting Guide
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Classes & Characters
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