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.
Starting Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a simulation game built around Career mode with certifications and Specialisations and mission payouts. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Build
| Build | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Skydive | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Search and Rescue | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Aerial Firefighting | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Medevac | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Charter Service VIP | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Search and Rescue. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Charter Service VIP as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn 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.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Career mode with certifications works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to 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.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX: it's the most accessible early upgrade. 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.
Step 4: Understand 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.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to 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.
Essential Mechanics Explained
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.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Buying an expensive aircraft before the certification that would let you fly profitable contracts with it
2. Landing at 500 or more feet per minute repeatedly and paying for it in maintenance instead of collecting the landing bonus
3. Flying contracts with minimum fuel and diverting on weather, which turns a profitable job into a loss
4. Grinding low-paying missions instead of the specific mission types that qualify you for the next specialisation
5. Expecting 2020 add-ons and marketplace purchases to transfer wholesale into the 2024 sim
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Career mode with certifications and Specialisations and mission payouts
- Choose Search and Rescue as starting build
- Clear Courchevel Altiport main content
- Acquire Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Tenzing-Hillary Airport, Lukla
- 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.
Tips for New Players
- 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.
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 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Overview
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Best Builds
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Tier List
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Walkthrough
- 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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