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✈️ ApronLife — Ground Services for AI Traffic

ApronLife version 1.4.7 · MSFS 2024 & MSFS 2020 · FSLTL or AIG · Beyond ATC, SayIntentions, VATSIM (or similar) · GSX Pro optional
🇬🇧 English below · 🇧🇷 Português mais abaixo

🇬🇧 English

🌉 v1.4.7 – multi-jetways for AI, a much smoother apron & GSX-order turnarounds

⚠️ IMPORTANT: after updating, open ApronLife once and then restart MSFS 2024 once (the jet bridge package was updated).

👥 Where are the passengers? Passengers are GSX Pro models. At stands without a bus (marked "no bus" in GSX) they only walk if your GSX profile has a passenger walking path for the stand (Customize walking path). The full checklist is in the changelog.

• 🧩 iniBuilds multi-jetways for AI aircraft (MSFS 2024): at airports with the iniBuilds extra bridges, AI widebodies get two or three bridges docked on their doors, just like your own aircraft.
• ✨ Much smoother: vehicles, people and all animations move far more fluidly – passengers and ground crew walk naturally and nothing skips frames anymore.
• Jet bridges at big payware airports (KORD and others): gates that never got a bridge now do, and every aircraft parked at a bridge stand gets its bridge.
• Inoperative bridge → stairs at the rear door, like a real airport (rear, front or none – your choice in Settings).
• Turnarounds like GSX: catering only after the bags, realistic service times, and vehicles that park cleanly instead of going back and forth.
• Fuel truck at the real refuel point, with a trailer that follows the truck naturally; pushback tug that turns with the nose wheel; patrol cars driving around where you are looking.
• Lots of fixes from your reports: floating ground crew, aircraft jumping after the bridges docked, ApronLife not starting after landing, Community folder not found, antivirus warning on the installer, and more.
• Support & community: new Gumroad button and a Discord button in the app.

🔧 Good to know (simulator limitation): MSFS itself sometimes undoes a docked jet bridge – it shows up retracted or away from the door – when the sim is under heavy load or when the bridge stays out of the camera's view for a while. It even happens to the bridge on your own aircraft, with or without GSX. ApronLife redoes the bridge automatically when it comes back into view; if one still looks wrong, press Re-dock jet bridges.

⚡ v1.4.6 – much smoother, real turnarounds & GSX-style fuelling

⚠️ IMPORTANT: after updating, open ApronLife once and then restart the simulator once – the jet bridge helper package was updated (doors at the right height). Until you restart, the previous helper keeps working.

🚀 Performance – the big one. Measured at a busy EGLL (MSFS 2024, CPU-limited PC), same camera, before → after:

• Average FPS 55 → 72 (+31%) · 1% lows 21 → 36 (+70%) · 0.1% lows 15 → 23 (+48%)
• Sim CPU time per frame 17.9 → 13.7 ms, and no stutters (no frame over 60 ms) once the airport is loaded
• Less than half the data sent to the sim (about 11,900 → 5,300 updates per second): nothing that didn't change is re-sent, patrol cars are driven by the sim itself, people update less often far away – and vehicles move visibly smoother
• Fewer objects at the same time: aircraft start their turnarounds gradually and aircraft re-created by your traffic program no longer get a second set of vehicles

• Real turnaround order: each aircraft follows a real-world sequence (from the Airbus/Boeing airport planning charts) – GPU and bridge/stairs, deboarding and unloading, lavatory, catering, water, fuel, loading, boarding – with different plans for narrowbodies, widebodies and turboprops and its own crew pace. About 60% of the parked aircraft start when ApronLife opens; the rest join over the next minutes, so the apron never goes quiet.
• GSX-style fuelling: the GSX Mercedes Econic tank truck drives in under the right wing, the fueler climbs the platform and raises the hose; widebodies get the hydrant dispenser with its two-man crew, hydrant pit, hose and platform flag.
• GSX GPU with its cable rising to the aircraft socket, cones around parked aircraft (removed one by one before departure), and vehicles at the real service points of the A320 family, 737, 787, 777, A330 and A380 – positions measured in the sim for the A320/A320neo/A321neo, 737/737 MAX, E190, ATR 72, 787-9, A350, 777-300ER and A380.
• Smoother traffic: no more back-and-forth knots, vehicles steer out of tight spots instead of waiting until they disappear, and no more jams when BeyondATC (or another traffic program) re-creates its aircraft.
• Jet bridges: right height on narrowbodies at heavy stands, a bridge that comes undone after moving the camera far away is redone automatically (MSFS 2024), passengers no longer walk with their heads through the bridge roof, and aircraft no longer float after the bridge setup.
• People: smoother walking near you, wingwalkers walk instead of sliding, no more ground crew floating above the airport.

🚜 v1.4.5 – pushback tug, installer & VATSIM jet bridges

⚠️ IMPORTANT – moving to the installer (only once, if you use a ZIP version): your settings always come along. To also bring your saved data, before installing open your current ApronLife once, turn on Open with the simulator in Settings and close it – the installed version finds your old folder through it. Then run ApronLife-1.4.5-setup.exe, open ApronLife from the Start Menu and don't open the old ZIP version anymore (delete the old folder once everything works). From now on, updating is just running the new setup – no more copying folders.

• Pushback tug: aircraft that push back without a tug (VATSIM, BeyondATC…) now get one at the nose gear when the beacon comes on at the gate. It stays locked on the nose gear and follows the aircraft back smoothly, with its driver on board, the cradle arms holding the nose wheel and its wheels turning – then lets go and drives off. No impact on FPS. GSX towbarless tug, or the default tug without GSX. On by default (Performance → "Pushback tug").
• Wheels turning: GSX and default vehicles (and their trailers) now roll their wheels while they drive, forwards and in reverse. No impact on FPS.
• Installer: ApronLife is now a real Windows app – no admin rights, Start Menu entry (type "ApronLife" in Windows search), optional desktop shortcut, uninstall in Windows Settings → Apps. The ZIP versions are still available.
• VATSIM jet bridges (MSFS 2024): bridges now reach aircraft that real pilots parked up to about 12 m ahead of or behind the stand spot. Pilots who park way off the line will be spotted by the ApronLife ground crew – that bridge just won't reach them 😄. A badly parked aircraft no longer blocks its stand for the rest of the session.
• More jet bridge fixes: widebodies on medium-size stands now get a bridge, bridges docked at an angle stay docked, lighter stand search, and the FSLTL A380 gets the front main-deck door in MSFS 2024 too.
• Fixes: no more patrol car jams at small airports; "Start automatically" / "Open with the simulator" now wait for the flight to load; the window comes back to the screen if it opened off-screen.
• Support: the log shows which traffic programs are running, and the collision log is on by default.

🌉 v1.4.4 – lighter jet bridges in MSFS 2020

v1.4.3 was an internal test build only, so v1.4.4 includes all of its changes.

• MSFS 2020: lighter jet bridges. Like in MSFS 2024, the bridges now dock on a small invisible helper aircraft instead of a full copy of each AI aircraft, so the sim has less to load at busy airports. The helper package is created in the MSFS 2020 Community folder when ApronLife opens – if MSFS 2020 was already open, restart it once. Bridges also dock at the right door on the FSLTL 777 and A380.
• Calibrated in the sim: the GSX baggage cart stops right where the bags are dropped, and the container dollies are hitched together.
• Remote stands: passengers and crew no longer walk through the passenger barriers.
• Fixes: vehicles no longer show up on the grass next to your aircraft; airports with almost no vehicle roads (e.g. KJAC) are no longer skipped; "GSX vehicles only" falls back to the default vehicles when no GSX vehicle is available; A319/A321 stairs at the right height.
• About tab in the app, with the license and the ApronLife contact.

🛠️ v1.4.2 – smoother apron & jet bridges at the right height

• Jet bridges at the right height (MSFS 2024): on widebodies like the 787 the bridge used to stop about 0.8 m above the door. The helper now comes in versions with the door lower or higher, and ApronLife picks the one that matches each aircraft – restart MSFS 2024 once after the first start of this version.
• Calmer traffic on busy aprons: the number of service vehicles also follows the size of the apron (up to 2.5 per airline/cargo stand), and there are fewer patrol cars in automatic mode (up to 10).
• Fixes: vehicles no longer drive through each other or through people; the forward container loader of widebodies no longer gets stuck next to the engine; A380 bus and stairs clear of the engines; no more marshaller for aircraft pushing back.
• Ko-fi: you can now also support ApronLife on Ko-fi (card or PayPal).

⚡ v1.4.1 – performance: bubble mode & smoother jet bridges

• Bubble mode (Settings, off by default): only aircraft within 500 m of you get vehicles, people and patrol cars; jet bridges only within 200 m. The rest of the airport keeps its turnarounds in memory, and whatever should already be at an aircraft appears in place when you get close. At a full EGLL vs v1.4.0: 46 → 66 FPS (+43%) and 1% lows 16 → 44 FPS (almost 3×) with jet bridges off; 62 FPS / lows 36 keeping bridges near you. Even without bubble mode, 1% lows go from 16 to 26–34 FPS.
• Max distance for jet bridges (default 200 m, 0 = all): only aircraft near you get a bridge – each one costs a heavy search in the sim.
• Lighter jet bridges (MSFS 2024): instead of a full invisible copy of the AI aircraft, the bridge now docks to a tiny helper with no 3D model, lined up door to door with the real aircraft. With every bridge on at a full EGLL: 1% lows +17% and 32% fewer stutters than the old method. The helper package (apronlife-jetway-helper, text files only) is created in your MSFS 2024 Community folder the first time ApronLife opens – restart the sim once.
• Community folders: on first start, ApronLife asks where your MSFS 2024 and 2020 Community folders are (detected automatically).
• Open with the simulator (Settings → General): ApronLife opens by itself when MSFS starts, engine running and window in the tray, and closes with the sim.
• Fixes: no more stutter every 5 seconds; jet bridges no longer redo themselves in a loop; narrowbodies at heavy gates now get a bridge; stands where the scenery's bridge can't reach the door are left without a bridge instead of a crooked one.

🚚 v1.4.0 – freighters, busier widebodies & minimize to tray

• Freighters: cargo aircraft (FedEx, UPS, DHL, Cargolux, "Cargo" liveries, 777F, 747F, A330F…) get a cargo turnaround – no buses, passengers, cabin crew, cleaning crew or jet bridge; just the pilots, ground power, fuel and containers.
• Catering crew: on GSX catering trucks, a caterer pushes a trolley between the raised truck box and the aircraft door while the box is open.
• Widebodies: a second container loader works the forward cargo door, and a second catering truck serves the front right door together with the rear one; widebodies also get more vehicles around them at once.
• Local fuel colours: GSX fuel trucks and hydrant dispensers wear the colours of the local fuel company (BR in Brazil, YPF in Argentina, TOTAL in France, BP/Shell in the UK…).
• "GSX vehicles only" option (Settings): only GSX models for every service, fuel, water, lavatory, GPU and patrol cars included.
• No more sudden empty apron: aircraft that stay parked after their turnaround get a new one after a while. Turnarounds are spread out over time, so the sim no longer handles every aircraft's vehicles starting and ending together – smoother performance.
• Minimize to tray: minimizing the window (or clicking Run in background) sends ApronLife to the system tray and ground services keep running. A window left open on screen costs FPS – keep it in the tray while you fly.
• Settings kept between versions: a copy is saved in %APPDATA%\ApronLife, so a new install in another folder starts with your settings.
• A320 and 737 family: stairs, catering truck, belt loaders, GPU and fuel truck now stop exactly at the doors (measured in the sim).
• Better performance at busy airports: vehicles and people are created a few at a time instead of hundreds at once, so the sim doesn't stutter when ApronLife starts or many aircraft arrive together – and hubs can now have more vehicles on the apron. Patrol cars give way to taxiing aircraft earlier.
• The log shows which model package each AI aircraft uses (FSLTL, AIG, FSTraffic, MSFS default…) and which ones come from GateStaticInjector (GSI), and flags aircraft re-created at the same spot right after their jet bridge docks (the duplicated aircraft seen with VATSIM / GSI).
• Fixes: vehicles no longer freeze on the apron after a long session at a busy airport; vehicles already at an aircraft when ApronLife starts no longer appear shifted from the doors; ground staff no longer float and drivers no longer show up before their vehicle; container loaders have their driver; the rear belt/container loader lines up with the real aft cargo door on the most common FSLTL aircraft.
• MSFS 2020: more aircraft types are recognised (e.g. the Boeing 787 from FSLTL).

🛠️ v1.3.1 – MSFS 2020 hotfix

• MSFS 2020: first-time setup no longer stops at "Is MSFS open with a flight loaded?". Detecting the vehicle models now works in MSFS 2020 (before, it only worked if the models had already been detected in MSFS 2024). GSX models are found automatically in your MSFS 2020 Community folder.
• If the vehicle models were detected in MSFS 2020 and you later fly in MSFS 2024, ApronLife reminds you to click Detect models once to use all the MSFS 2024 vehicles.

🆕 What's new in v1.3.0

New features

• 🎉 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is now supported — one of the most requested features! ApronLife detects which simulator is running and adapts automatically: vehicles are swapped for the MSFS 2020 models, aircraft types are recognised from their names, jet bridges dock at the right stands, ground staff and passengers stand correctly on the ground, and airport data is kept separate from MSFS 2024. Tested in MSFS 2020 with BeyondATC traffic and FSLTL models; the traffic setups already confirmed in MSFS 2024 should work the same way. Lavatory and water trucks are not available in MSFS 2020.
• New setting: GSX profiles folder (MSFS 2020), for users who keep a different GSX profiles folder for each simulator (default: the same as MSFS 2024).
• Smart apron traffic: service vehicles plan their route around everything on the apron — parked aircraft (fuselage, engines, wings and tail), jet bridges, the terminal building, other vehicles, baggage carts and people. Tall vehicles (catering, fuel, buses, stairs) no longer drive under the wings; low ones (tugs, GPU, cars) still can, as in real life.
• Spotted a collision or something that does not make sense? Turn on Collision log (diagnostics) in the Log tab, run the same scenario again and send us the file it saves in the logs folder (Discord or here on flightsim.to) — it shows us exactly what happened.
• Jet bridges are real obstacles: vehicles keep clear of the rotunda, wheels and cab, stay out of the area a bridge sweeps when it docks, and only low vehicles pass under the tunnel.
• Right of way by size and position: vehicles queue behind the one in front, the vehicle arriving later waits at crossings and merges, baggage trains have priority, and in tight spots a vehicle backs up or takes another way instead of pushing through.
• Stands being entered by a taxiing aircraft are kept clear: vehicles plan around them and move out of the way before the aircraft arrives.
• Welcome on board: a flight attendant greets passengers at the door while they board through the jet bridge.
• New settings: Vehicles avoid everything (on by default; off restores the previous routes) and, in the Log tab, Collision log (diagnostics) (off by default), which saves a file in the logs folder to help support check contacts and collisions.

Improvements

• Vehicles no longer overlap each other, the aircraft or people: they stop at a safe distance, slow down before tight turns and never pass through anything near you.
• Every vehicle uses its real length and width — buses, fuel trucks and baggage trains keep the right spacing.
• The fuel truck comes around the wingtip and parks ahead of the wing; the de-icing truck works from outside the wingtip; the water truck services behind the wing and backs away diagonally.
• Tight stands: if the usual service spot is taken (a neighbouring aircraft, a jet bridge or another vehicle), the vehicle parks a few metres away or waits for the spot to clear.
• The de-icing truck waits for the fuel truck to leave before approaching.
• Very large airports (e.g. EGLL with more than 100 aircraft) run smoothly: route planning no longer slows the program down.
• Widebodies: catering and the baggage or container train take turns at the rear door and no longer overlap.
• Remote stands: the bus pulls up only after the stairs are in place, and the stairs wait for the bus to pull away before backing off the door.
• Fewer ops and follow-me cars by default (automatic: set by the airport's size, 2 + 1 per 20 stands, up to 16); when stuck in traffic they take another route instead of maneuvering between other vehicles.
• Ground staff no longer stand in the path of arriving vehicles or walk through parked ones, and step aside when a vehicle needs to pass.
• Widebodies: GPU, catering, lavatory and water trucks are positioned according to the fuselage width.
• A vehicle that cannot make progress for a long time gets a new route and, as a last resort, is removed instead of waiting indefinitely.

Fixes

• Vehicles no longer drive through neighbouring aircraft when leaving a stand or returning to the service road.
• At airports without service roads (e.g. SBPA, SBGR), vehicles following the taxiways no longer cut through parked aircraft.
• Vehicles no longer appear on top of each other behind the aircraft, or drive in circles near it.
• A delayed baggage train no longer appears on top of another train at the aircraft.
• Right after the program starts, the fuel truck no longer parks on top of a retracted jet bridge.
• AI aircraft no longer appear doubled (one inside the other): the invisible copy used to dock the jet bridge is always removed when services stop or pause, and copies left behind by an earlier session are cleaned up automatically.

What was new in v1.2.0

New features

• Performance tab: turn each feature on or off — jet bridges, passengers, crew, ground staff, marshallers, ops cars and every service vehicle. One-click presets: Everything on, Jet bridges only, No people.
• A complete turnaround, in the right order: after the passengers leave, the pilots and flight attendants walk off the aircraft; a cleaning team goes on board between flights; before departure the new crew boards first, and only then do the passengers start boarding. Through the jet bridge or up the stairs.
• Service vehicles and ground staff in the right colours: they use the GSX liveries of the stand's handling and catering companies from your GSX profile or of the aircraft's airline. Stands can list several companies (e.g. AZU,G3,LATAM,SWISSPORT): each airline gets its own livery and the others get the handling company's.
• More people working on the apron: a fueler stands by the fuel truck (or at the hydrant dispenser on widebodies) while the aircraft is refueled, and a ramp agent waits near the front door during the turnaround.
• Helicopters: services keep running while you hover or air-taxi low near the airport (height limit in Settings).
• More from your GSX profiles: belt loaders and stairs drive to the waiting positions saved for the stand before approaching the aircraft; stands with an automatic docking system (SafeDock/VDGS) get no marshaller; hydrant or truck refueling and "no bus" stands follow the profile; ground staff at empty gates walk the profile's walkway.
• Passenger barriers at remote stands, from the stairs toward the bus (colour from your GSX profile).

Improvements

• Ground staff beside the aircraft, at the wingtips, with more natural animations and more variety: wingwalkers, a loadmaster and baggage handlers wearing the handling company's uniform.
• Service vehicles stop for passengers and ground staff, and give way to each other at crossings.
• Smaller aircraft: catering and baggage no longer overlap. The catering truck arrives after the bags are unloaded and leaves before loading starts.
• Marshallers and wingwalkers can be switched off separately.

Fixes

• Airports the simulator doesn't provide (e.g. a third-party KMIA listed as "MIA") no longer make ApronLife get stuck — it moves on to the next airport.
• GSX profile stands with a letter or direction in their name (e.g. "gate d 32", "e parking 611") are now recognized.
• Passengers following a GSX jet bridge path no longer walk with their legs below the bridge floor.
• Bags now appear on the baggage cart the handler is actually using.
• People no longer sink below the ground at airports where the apron is higher than the airport elevation (e.g. SBRJ).

💡 Tip: GSX profiles shared by other users (e.g. on flightsim.to) already bring the passenger paths and vehicle positions if the author set them — just install them in your GSX profiles folder.

🛬 What you will see

• Complete turnarounds for AI aircraft: GPU, fuel truck (hydrant dispenser on widebodies), catering (the box rises to the door), lavatory and water trucks, belt loader with the baggage handler, tug with baggage carts (bags actually go from the belt to the cart), forward/aft holds. Widebodies get a container loader with dollies carrying LD3 containers. Vehicles and staff wear the GSX liveries of the stand's handling and catering companies (from your GSX profile) or of the aircraft's airline.
• Remote stands: stairs at the L1 door, buses shuttling passengers, passengers walking between bus and stairs (deboarding first, then boarding), with GSX passenger barriers.
• Crew and cleaning, in the right order: after the passengers leave, the pilots and flight attendants walk off; the cleaning team goes on board between flights; before departure the new crew boards first, and only then do the passengers start boarding.
• Jet bridges for AI traffic: bridges dock to AI aircraft at gates that have them. Beyond ATC has already announced jet bridge interaction for its AI traffic — until that feature is released, ApronLife makes it happen without interfering with how Beyond ATC works: it doesn't change BATC's flight plans, ATC or aircraft behaviour; it only adds an invisible helper aircraft for the bridge to dock to. When BATC's own feature arrives, just switch Jet bridges off in ApronLife's settings.
• Passengers inside the jet bridges once the bridge is docked — following the path you drew in GSX, when there is one.
• Ground staff: wingwalkers, a loadmaster and baggage handlers beside the aircraft at the wingtips, a fueler at the fuel truck or hydrant during refueling, a ramp agent near the front door, and staff at empty gates (walking the GSX profile's walkway when there is one).
• Marshallers with signal wands guide AI aircraft taxiing into their stand (and leave once it has parked; no marshaller at stands with SafeDock/VDGS), and take position at the wingtips when an aircraft turns its beacon on, walking alongside during pushback.
• Airport ops cars and follow-me cars driving around the aprons near you.
• Time of day and weather: quieter aprons late at night, marshaller outfits for rain, cold or heat, and de-icing before departure in cold weather.
• Every aircraft in a different phase: when you load in, most aircraft already have their service running (some deboarding, some boarding and loading bags), others have vehicles arriving, a few start later. Nothing happens all at once.
• Arrivals are served: an AI aircraft that lands, taxis in and parks gets its GPU and stairs within about 10 seconds, then the rest of the turnaround.
• Departures: beacon on → vehicles retract and leave, bridge pulls back, marshallers take position at the wingtips.
• Vehicles drive on the airport's service roads (or taxiways as a fallback) and plan their route around parked aircraft, jet bridges, the terminal, other vehicles and people. They queue, give way by size and position, back up in tight spots, stop for taxiing aircraft and keep clear of stands an aircraft is entering. On smaller aircraft, catering and baggage take turns so they don't overlap.
• The sim's own static service vehicles (belt loaders, carts, stairs that never move) can be hidden.

🧠 Smart behaviour

• Works automatically at the nearest airport to your aircraft; switches when you move to another airport. Heliports and small strips next to big airports are skipped.
• Helicopters: services keep running while you hover or air-taxi low near the airport.
• Uses your GSX profiles: passenger paths in the jet bridges, waiting positions of belt loaders and stairs, parking systems, hydrant or truck refueling, "no bus" stands, barrier colour and the handling/catering liveries of each stand.
• Starts only after your aircraft has been on the ground for 10 s (no load during your landing), removes everything when you take off, and stops completely when you return to the main menu.
• Loads gate by gate, nearest first, and preloads each vehicle model so new vehicles pop in fast.

🖥️ The app

• Simple window (opens as a desktop app in Edge, Chrome, Brave or Vivaldi, or in your default browser) with Start / Stop, live status (aircraft served, vehicles, cars, crew, passengers, docked bridges) and a Re-dock bridges button.
• Settings for everything that affects performance, with Light / Medium / Full presets:

  • Aircraft served at once, maximum vehicles, vehicles per aircraft

  • Ops cars (automatic or fixed number) and their radius around you
  • Service radius, vehicle spawn distance, model preload
  • Hide the sim's own service vehicles, vehicles avoid everything (smart routing), forward belt loader, containers on widebodies
  • De-icing, time of day and weather, simple service beyond a distance
  • Ground crew on/off and maximum, passengers walking at once, passengers per flight, passengers in the jet bridge, default jet bridge path, GSX profiles folder
  • Jet bridges on/off, free the stand during bridge search, use neighbouring stand bridge, remote stand mode (automatic / all / none)
  • Use GSX models on/off, turnaround length, delay after landing, open with the simulator, start the engine when ApronLife opens, Community folders
• Performance tab: turn each feature on or off (jet bridges, passengers, crew and cleaning, ground staff, marshallers, ops cars, each service vehicle), with presets Everything on, Jet bridges only and No people.
• Every change is saved automatically (language included); Apply restarts the engine to use it right away.
• Languages: English, Português, Español, Français.
• Log tab, a log file per day in the logs folder, and a Create support package button.
• New version notice in the status bar when an update is published.
• Built-in Guide with requirements, installation, performance tips and troubleshooting.
• Portable: unzip anywhere. Settings, data and logs stay in the program folder. To uninstall, delete the folder.

✅ Requirements

1. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 or 2020 (ApronLife detects which one is running; MSFS 2020 tested with BeyondATC and FSLTL models).
2. An AI traffic injector that parks airliners at gates — Beyond ATC (tested), SayIntentions and VATSIM traffic (working, reported by users) or similar. ApronLife does not create traffic; it serves the traffic that is already parked.
3. FSLTL or AIG models — the realistic airliner models/liveries used for AI traffic (door positions are read from the model).
4. GSX Pro (FSDreamTeam) — optional, but recommended. Without GSX, ApronLife uses the simulator's own vehicles: GPU, fuel, catering, lavatory and water trucks, belt loader, baggage tug, de-icing, patrol cars and the jet bridges. With GSX you also get stairs and buses at remote stands, passengers, ground crew and marshallers, baggage carts with bags, container loaders, hydrant dispensers and the liveries from your GSX profiles. Nothing from GSX is redistributed.
5. Windows 10/11 and a web browser for the settings window (Edge, Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi or your default browser).

📦 Installation

Three downloads, same program — pick one:

• ApronLife-x.y.z-setup.exe (recommended) — installs ApronLife for your Windows user, no admin rights: Start Menu entry (type "ApronLife" in Windows search), optional desktop shortcut, uninstall in Windows Settings → Apps. Updating is just running the next setup.
• ApronLife-x.y.z-exe.zip — a single ApronLife.exe. Some antivirus programs (including Windows Defender) may wrongly flag it — a false positive common to apps built this way.
• ApronLife-x.y.z-portable.zip — the ApronLife folder with ApronLife.cmd, the official, signed Node.js runtime (unmodified runtime\node.exe) and the program. Use it if your antivirus blocks the .exe. Start it with ApronLife.cmd (a black window may flash for a moment).

1. Run ApronLife-x.y.z-setup.exe (or unzip a ZIP version to any folder, e.g. C:\Addons\ApronLife).
2. Start MSFS (2024 or 2020) and load a flight at an airport with traffic, with your aircraft on the ground.
3. Open ApronLife from the Start Menu (ZIP versions: ApronLife.exe, or ApronLife.cmd in the portable one). On the first run it shows what's new, asks where your Community folders are and creates the small jet bridge helper package (if Windows blocks it, run ApronLife as administrator); then it reads the available vehicle models from the sim (takes a few seconds). Run Detect vehicles again after installing or updating GSX.
4. Press Start.

Updating: installed version – just run the new setup (it closes ApronLife and keeps your settings and data). Moving from a ZIP version to the installer: see the ⚠️ IMPORTANT note in v1.4.5 above. Staying on a ZIP version: close ApronLife and replace only ApronLife.exe (portable version: the runtime and app folders and ApronLife.cmd). README and CHANGELOG are optional. Keep config.json and the dados and logs folders: your settings and the saved airports stay; new options start with their default values.

Windows SmartScreen may warn because the program is not code-signed: click More info → Run anyway.

⚡ Performance tips

• Turn off the sim's own apron vehicles and workers: in MSFS, Options → General → Traffic, set Airport Vehicle Density and Worker Density to 0. ApronLife takes care of the apron, and the sim stops creating dozens of objects that ApronLife would otherwise have to hide.
• Try Bubble mode (Settings) at big hubs: the biggest FPS gain.
• Big hubs (Paris-CDG, Heathrow, Frankfurt…) can have 100+ parked aircraft. Start with the Light or Medium preset, or limit Aircraft served at once and Maximum vehicles.
• Service radius (e.g. 2000 m) keeps the activity around you and saves the most performance.
• The first minute at a big airport is the heaviest (hundreds of objects being created). After that it settles.

⚠️ Known limitations

• Jet bridges depend on the scenery. They work great at airports with standard gate definitions (e.g. KLAX: all bridges docking). Some add-on sceneries have gates the sim never assigns to AI (stands named "NONE", duplicated stands like 507/507L). Those aircraft get no bridge. The "neighbouring stand" option can help but may stretch a bridge or cross another one.
• A docked jet bridge sometimes comes undone (retracted or away from the door). This is MSFS itself: it happens when the sim is under heavy load or when the bridge stays out of the camera's view for a while – even to your own aircraft's bridge, with or without GSX. ApronLife redoes it automatically when it comes back into view, or press Re-dock jet bridges.
• Jet bridges dock to an invisible helper aircraft (an ATC aircraft at the same spot – in MSFS 2024 a tiny one with no 3D model; in MSFS 2020 a copy of the AI aircraft). You won't see it, but other tools that list AI traffic may. While choosing a bridge, ApronLife may move the BATC aircraft off its stand for a split second (only when you are far from it) — turn off Free the stand during bridge search if you prefer.
• Large airports take time to fill up and the sim may stutter briefly while many objects are created. If the sim freezes for several seconds, ApronLife now waits instead of clearing everything.
• Vehicles far from you appear and disappear (they spawn and despawn out of your view whenever possible).
• An AI aircraft may blink for a moment when its jet bridge is being set up (the invisible helper aircraft is created on top of it and the stand is briefly freed). It happens once per aircraft, usually right after you arrive at the airport.
• Small object reloads: vehicles, people or a jet bridge may flicker or reload for an instant — mostly when many objects are being created at once, or when you move the camera far away and come back (the sim reloads what is out of view). It fixes itself in a few seconds.
• The simulator doesn't provide buildings, poles or fences: the terminal is estimated from the jet bridge positions and vehicles only drive on the scenery's service roads, taxiways and stands. At very tight stands a vehicle may park a few metres from its usual spot, or leave if it can't get through.
• Door positions come from the aircraft model; with some models the stairs, belt loader or catering may be slightly off.
• Passengers in the jet bridge without a GSX path use a path calculated from the bridge: depending on the bridge model they may look like they float or show their feet below the tunnel. Draw the path in GSX for that stand, or turn Default jet bridge path off.
• Aircraft with their own airstairs (ATR): the bus comes and goes, but no passengers are shown walking, since the aircraft's built-in stairs can't be animated.
• AI aircraft doors stay closed during the turnaround: FSLTL and AIG models have no animated passenger doors (the door is part of the fixed 3D model), so no tool can open them.
• Only the airport nearest to you is served.
• Liveries follow your GSX profile for AI traffic only; for your own aircraft, GSX chooses them.
• MSFS 2020: tested with BeyondATC traffic and FSLTL models. Lavatory and water trucks don't exist in MSFS 2020, so those services are left out.

🛠️ Support / bug reports

If something goes wrong, open the Log tab → Create support package and send the zip it creates (in the suporte folder), with the airport and what happened.

💬 Discord: questions, airport reports, suggestions and news about new versions — https://discord.gg/8vpKv2RRg3

📧 Contact: partnerships, permission requests and other matters — apronlifeofficial@gmail.com

ApronLife is an independent project, not affiliated with FSDreamTeam (GSX), FSLTL or Beyond ATC. It uses the models you have installed.

☕ Enjoying ApronLife?

ApronLife is free and made in my spare time. If it made your airports feel alive and you'd like to support new features and fixes, feel free to buy me a coffee — it's completely optional and hugely appreciated. Thank you!

• ☕ Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/nikitinha
• 🛒 Gumroad: apronlife.gumroad.com/l/apronlife
• 💙 Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/nikitinha
• 💬 Discord: discord.gg/8vpKv2RRg3 – be the first to know about the big things coming soon