FlightBoard: Real-Time VATSIM Flight Information Display System
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A free, open-source tool replicating authentic airport departure and arrival boards with live VATSIM data has launched to strong community reception, attracting over 3,600 unique visitors and 7,500 page views in its first eight days, driven entirely by word of mouth.
What Is FlightBoard?
FlightBoard is a browser-based Flight Information Display System (FIDS) built specifically for VATSIM. It replicates the visual style and functionality of the departure and arrival boards found at real-world international airports, designed for use on a second monitor, tablet, or dedicated vertical screen in a home cockpit setup.
No installation. No account. Just open a browser, enter your ICAO code, and your live VATSIM board loads instantly.
Live app: https://flightboard.simfixr.com
Why It Was Built
As flight simmers, significant time and effort goes into perfecting the virtual cockpit, realistic aircraft, accurate scenery, live weather. FlightBoard extends that realism beyond the flight deck.
The goal was to capture the feeling of a real airport terminal, glancing up at a departure board and seeing your callsign alongside everyone else on the network. Not a basic data table, but an accurate recreation of the visual branding and functionality of the screens found at major international airports.
Core Features
Authentic Airport Themes Major hubs ship with bespoke, true-to-life themes built from the real thing:
- EDDF (Frankfurt) — fully animated Solari split-flap mechanical display with authentic Lufthansa Blue footer and terminal indicators
- EGLL / EGKK / EGSS (London) — classic yellow and black UK airport design
- KJFK (New York) — authentic black and amber theme
- EHAM (Amsterdam Schiphol) — iconic yellow, grey, and green
- RJTT (Tokyo Haneda) — alternating blue rows with green accents
- LSZH / LSGG / LFSB — authentic Swiss and French terminal designs
Any ICAO code generates a high-contrast live board instantly for airports without a custom theme.
Flight Tracking Click any flight row to pin a callsign. FlightBoard monitors flight progress and automatically switches the board to the destination airport once airborne.
Intelligent Status Logic Flight phases are determined automatically, Check-in, Boarding, Pushback, Taxiing, En Route, based on live transponder codes, groundspeed, and altitude. Scheduled departure times are compared against UTC to generate accurate delay warnings.
Live ATC and Weather Widgets The header displays currently online controllers and their frequencies for the selected airport, alongside a real-time METAR-driven weather and temperature widget.
UKCP Stand Integration For UK airports, FlightBoard integrates directly with the VATSIM UK Controller Panel API to display accurate, real-time stand and gate assignments.
VATSIM Events Ticker A scrolling ticker displays active and upcoming VATSIM events at the current airport, sourced from the VATSIM Events API. Hidden automatically when no events are scheduled.
Portrait and Landscape Support On a standard monitor, departures and arrivals display side by side. Flip to portrait and they stack vertically,exactly like real airport pillars. Ideal for a dedicated vertical kiosk display or Raspberry Pi setup.
Traction
Launched with zero marketing budget. All traffic driven organically through the VATSIM community.
- 3,600+ unique visitors in first 8 days
- 7,500+ page views in first 8 days
- Top airports by usage: EGLL, EDDF, LSZH, KJFK, EGKK, EHAM
Roadmap
- Expanded roster of bespoke hub themes
- Additional API integrations based on community feedback
- Raspberry Pi kiosk setup guide
About the Developer
FlightBoard was built by Taz Mattar, a professional audio engineer and IT infrastructure specialist based in Broadstairs, UK, with a long-standing involvement in the VATSIM community.
Live app: https://flightboard.simfixr.com
GitHub: https://github.com/tazmattar/flight-board
Contact: [email protected]