Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Flight Plan (.pln)
A .pln file from Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is an XML flight plan — a named route made of ATC waypoints, each carrying a position and, for airports, an ICAO identifier.
At a glance
| Extension | .pln |
| Encoding | xml |
| Invented | 2020 |
| By | Asobo Studio |
History
Microsoft Flight Simulator (the 2020 reboot of the series) was developed by Asobo Studio and published by Xbox Game Studios, released for Windows on 18 August 2020 and for Xbox Series X|S on 27 July 2021. Its .pln flight plan format is specific to this 2020 generation, distinct from the older FSX-era .pln format.
Where it is used
Flight plans are created and loaded inside Microsoft Flight Simulator's own world map and flight-planning screens, and are also produced or consumed by third-party flight-planning tools and add-ons built for the 2020 simulator.
Structure
The file is XML rooted at SimBaseDocument, containing a FlightPlanFlightPlan element (with a title and description) that lists an ordered sequence of ATCWaypoint elements. Each waypoint has an Id, an ATCWaypointType (airports default to Airport), a WorldPosition — latitude and longitude in degrees-minutes-seconds plus an elevation in a fixed decimal format — and, for airports, an ICAO/ICAOIdent block.
How widespread
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is the current mainline release of the series (superseded at the top end by Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, a separate product); its .pln format is the one in active use by the simulator and its add-on ecosystem today.
RouteConverter support
| Reads | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Flight Plan |
| Writes | Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Flight Plan |
RouteConverter reads and writes .pln flight plans directly, without GPSBabel.