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  We are proud to bring you a new Fly UK Official Trailer to our youtube channel. It's been some time since the channel and our Fly UK videos have had some love and attention and we hope this is just the start.  Any budding video creators that would like to be involved in refreshing our content, please feel free to contact the staff team. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this new trailer and look out for more content in the future. 

We've been asked for several years by members if we had any a store for Fly UK branded items, after time to consider and with the emergence of  "Print on demand" providers, we are pleased to launch this new service.  Hosted by the popular and worldwide provider Teespring, we can offer a number of products from T-shirts to beer glasses featuring our bold and vibrant logos and designs. Teesrping takes care of the order and delivery process meaning a burden-free store for the VA staff. That said we'd love to hear feedback from those that choose to use the service in the future. Fly UK wishes to stress that we are a non-profit organisation, and as a result, the prices in the store are set at the minimum the provider will permit to cover the costs and offer the lowest possible price to our members. The launch of this service is purely to satisfy the requests we have had from our members and we hope you will enjoy these choices, but if there are any other suggestions, we'd love to hear them. The store can be found through the "Community" menu on the website or the below link. https://flyuk.creator-spring.com/  

As flight-simulation has evolved over the years, so too have flight-planning tools such as the popular freeware service by SimBrief. Given SimBrief's rise in popularity over the years, and in no small part due to the response to our most recent member survey, the time has come to make this a more streamlined and central experience for all of our members. For clarity, we will not be removing the historical way of dispatching flights using Fly UK's internal systems. If you prefer using this method or don't have a SimBrief account then you may continue to use this if you wish. Who can benefit? Fly UK Operations Staff have regularly voiced the challenges of maintaining a route database as large ours. By leveraging our partnership with SimBrief Fly UK members can now directly contribute to updating and improving our internal database by merely dispatching a flight. Providing a member with an active Navigraph subscription has previously dispatched the same flight on the current AIRAC, even members without a SimBrief account or a Navigraph subscription can benefit as these routes will be saved into our internal database. With a SimBrief free account you will be given access to outdated navigation data. This solution is ideally paired with a Navigraph subscription as this unlocks both monthly AIRAC updates and consolidated access to charts. Limitations of the existing functionality Our current iteration of SimBrief integration is based upon an older version of their API. As such: Fly UK are limited as to what data we can send with the request. Departure Airport Destination Airport Alternate Airport Route & Altitude Aircraft ICAO Code Members wishing to use Fly UK specific aircraft-configurations would need to add Airframe Profiles to their SimBrief account (links for which can be found within Fleet Centre) In addition, clicking on the existing SimBrief icon within "Dispatch" takes members away from the Fly UK website, destroying the overall workflow. Route generation is extremly complex and is forever changing. Agreed airways are subject to change on a montly basis (more commonly referred to as an "AIRAC cycle"). Airways get removed entirely in favour of adopting the concept of "Free Route Airspace". SIDs/STARs and overall route can vary on any given day based on the runways in use, and aircraft-type (in some cases). Optimal altitudes may vary depending on the weather in addition to the load within the aircraft. In some cases, entire regions of airspace may temporarily close on any single day. While the majority of our members are undoubtably just looking at routes that get them from A-B, the utopia is to simultaneously find a way of accomodating our members who may wish to more realistically plan their flights using real-world constraints. Time to change SimBrief's latest API allows us to send Fly UK's aircraft configs to SimBrief directly with each dispatch request, and enables Staff to edit this data far more easily going forward if necessary. This essentially renders our SimBrief Airframe shared links obsolete and will therefore be removed from Fleet Centre going forward. A guide on how the booking process works, and how to link your SimBrief account can be found here We will be rolling this functionality out to everyone in the coming days, so please keep an eye out on the new drop-down arrow next to the Dispatch icon. As always, we welcome your feedback so please feel free to post via any of our Community platforms should you encounter any issues. On behalf of Fly UK Staff and our members, we would like to extend our thanks to our Head of Web Development for implementing this system.

Fly UK Group are pleased to offer our Class D and above members an exclusive 10% VA Discount on all iniBuilds and Xometry products. iniBuilds was originally founded in 2019 by a group of mod makers creating GSX and dynamic lighting profiles for airports in Prepar3D. In 2020 iniBuilds launched their first aircraft for X-Plane 11 the Airbus A300-600, and the A300 Beluga in the following year. iniBuilds were one of the first developers to recognise the market and full potential of Microsoft Flight Simulator. Feburary 2021 saw the launch of London Heathrow (EGLL), with Buffalo Niagra (KBUF), Ibiza (LEIB), San Antonio (KSAT), Los Angeles (KLAX), Detriot (KDTW), Oklahoma City (KOKC), New York's John F. Kennedy (KJFK) and their Airbus A310 following thereafter. From very humble beginnings, iniBuilds have certainly not sat on their laurels and have established themselves among the upper echelons of respected flight sim developers. Members familiar with our Friday Night "Social" group flights will already be aware of the event that we put on a few months back, giving members the opportunity to fly the Airbus A310 and is something we'll likely repeat in the future. We'll similarly be putting on regular events enabling members to discover more of their airports that aren't already in Fly UK's Schedules. We hope that members find this new partnership beneficial.

  A range of livery updates has been released to the Fleet Centre bringing new aircraft, cabin enhancements and fixes. Firstly, ToLiss A320 NEO owners for XP11 and XP12 can now find Fly UK and Topa Sky liveries for this recently released payware product. MSFS users can also enjoy some cabin enhancements, pictured is the Fenix A320 and PMDG 737. Cabin updates have been released for the following aircraft. FENIX A320 (Fly UK, Topa Sky) PMDG 737-700 (Cetan, Aurora) PMDG 737-800 (Fly UK, Fly2) Captain Sim 777-200ER Other updates are as follows FlyByWire A320 - Winglets and Cargo hold hinge texture fixes. LVFR A21N & A319 - FBW Fly UK cockpit textures. We hope you enjoy these latest livery updates.      

Fly UK Group confirms a number of changes for its prop fleet coming in May 2023 with the introduction of the ATR72-600. Highland Connect Additional capacity will be added to the Highland Connect schedules on routes from Edinburgh to England, Wales and the Isle of Man by upgrading half of the existing Saab 340B fleet. The AT76 will operate alongside the existing AT75's.   Topa Sky Topa Sky's AT75 fleet is among some of the oldest in the Fly UK Group and long overdue for a refresh. 10 new ATR72-600's will replace the older airframes from mid-May. Delivery-Retirement Delivery flights will be available from early May. New ATR72-600 will originate via lease direct from ATR Toulouse to Scotland and for those brave enough, multi-leg delivery to Topa Sky in  Australia and New Zealand.  Retirement flights will also be available towards the end of May. Topa ATR's will go to Alice Springs for disposal and the Highland Saab 340's will head to European storage for now. ATR type crossover Upon conclusion of the delivery flights and with both ATR72-500 and ATR72-600 operating alongside each other, we can confirm the types will be classed the same in a single ATR72 category. The two will be interchangeable in the same manner as the A320 CEO and NEO. We hope that our members will enjoy flying these new aircraft and the new possibilities they bring to the Fly UK Group! 

Fly UK enters its last year as an unruly teen as the VA turns 19 this weekend. The Fly UK has come a long way in those 19 years through tough times and good times but the strong community spirit has never faded. We've enjoyed great success and growth as the Flightsim hobby has emerged from its small niche in recent years and that's thanks to the members and staff that make this worthwhile. We have a lot to look forward to as MSFS continues to grow and XP12 develops. For now, make the most of this weekend and celebrate with us on our birthday event and rank restriction-free period.   Saturday 8th April - Birthday Event  Commencing at 18:30z (19:30 UK), join us for a three-leg hop around the UK home nations on the FLy UK FSD server. Details can be found on our events page. Join for all legs, or just a few...its up to you, we'll be happy to see you!   Rank Free Restrictions Rank restrictions are lifted for the weekend which also coincides with Easter. Fly any aircraft on Fly UK Group scheduled services. (not tours). This is available now until 23:59z on Monday 10th April.  

Given the recent success of the Boeing 737 addition to the Fly UK Cargo fleet,  Fly UK Group has opted to retire the remaining two Boeing 757F's which will be replaced by additional leased 737-800BCF's. Boeing 757 fans, especially those looking forward to the Bluebird/Justflight release need not worry however as the type remains in active service across the Fly2, Aurora and Cetan operations. Retirement flights of the two 757F to Victorville, California for storage will begin on 1 April and will remain available until the end of the transition period on 15 April. The routing for these flights will be via Goose Bay in Canada. Delivery flights of the two newly leased 737-800BCFs from Boeing Renton, Washington to London Stansted will also be availble during the same transitioning period. These will be routed by Iqaluit in Canada.  After this they will begin Domestic and European operations along with our two existing 737-800BCFs. Both the retirement flights and delivery flights will be available under the Ad-Hoc Route Type from 1 April 2023 00:00z until 15 April 2023 23:59z  for those pilots who hold the correct rank to fly the respective aircraft.

Fly UK has five new tours for members to enjoy giving even more choice, challenges and variety to our popular tour program. From the Himalayas to classic journeys across Asia and the Far East to sporting themes in the US and our ever popular F1 Tour, we hope there's something here for all to enjoy. As with last year, our F1 tour will be available as the calender progresses, watch the forums for updates.  

  Four additional liveries are now available for MSFS users to download from our fleet centre, opening up access to fleet types and Fly UK routes previously not covered in the sim. Two of these are for the recently launched Kuro 787-8 Mod. Based on the Asobo 78X (required), this mod brings a new 787-8 model combined with the Heavy Division B78x improvement project. Liveries for Fly2 and Topa Sky are on offer. We also bring liveries for the LatinVFR Airbus series which members requested. Topa Sky A319 and Fly UK A321 Neo are available. It should be noted that these models do have some minor texture mapping issues which we are unable to overcome, however, we hope you will enjoy the end result. For the best experience with these LVFR aircraft, we recommend using the FBW compatibility mod from Flightsim. However, it's not a requirement. We hope you enjoy these latest livery additions.  

It's been a while since we last conducted a members survey and much has changed since. The annual Navigraph survey normally gives some indication as to what the sim community does and seeks, but doesn't cover Fly UK-specific feedback. Whilst we are always listening and looking for trends and requests, it's good to get some views and directions from our members, many of whom have returned since MSFS released. Naturally, we cannot accommodate every request and sometimes they don't fit with Fly UK's aims and ambitions, but we are very keen to ensure the service we provide is strong and caters for as many as possible. So this is your chance to share your thoughts and views as well as help us understand what our members like and dislike. To complete the survey please use the below link. The survey will remain open until January 31st. UPDATE - SURVEY NOW CLOSED, RESULTS TO FOLLOW

Happy New Year A Happy New Year to all members and staff of the Fly UK community.  Many of the community have faced challenging times in 2022 and whilst times ahead may seem unclear, every New Year brings new opportunities and possibilities. 2022 has been a busy year for us at Fly UK and we are all keen to continue improving this community and give all a place to enjoy our flight sim hobby, which continues to grow and holds an exciting future. Thanks to all that take part, join in and contribute to our community and especially to my colleagues in the staff team without whom Fly UK would not be the unique and successful community it is. So on behalf of Fly UK, I wish you all peace, strength and happiness for 2023, Happy New Year to you all! Matt Lewis - CEO

December has finally arrived, signalling the end of 2022. Wrapped up in traditional festive spirit is our usual December 2022 Seasonal Operations, operating from the 1st of December until the 2023 New Year. Fly UK at Rovaniemi. Festive Charter FlightsWe have launched our December 2022 Charter Flights for Fly UK and Fly2. These charter flights will operate to a selection of typically festive destinations throughout December to Rovaniemi, Ivalo, Kittila and Oulu from the United Kingdom. These festive charter flights will operate from the 1st of December until the 28th of December.  2022 Christmas Social to Lapland – 18th of December, 13:30z.Fly UK’s annual Lapland social flight has returned. This year, join us as we fly to Santa’s Grotto from Glasgow. The event flight will take place on our private FSD network on Sunday the 18th of December at 13:30z.  Christmas LiveriesSpecial liveries return to our downloads section for some added packages. A320 and 737-800 fleets are covered for PMDG, Fenix, FlyByWire (MSFS) and FSLabs (Pv5). Fly UK Christmas TourThis year our seasonal tour takes place in North America. Starting close to the arctic circle we depart from the nearest airport to the town of "North Pole" in Alaska and run through destinations across Canada and the USA that are scenic in winter or are famous for putting on a big show at Christmas. The penultimate stop is in Bethlehem before winding up in New York City. As is traditional, members can fly any aircraft from the Fly UK fleet on this tour with no rank restrictions.  Xmas 2022 Flying Club Tour Fly UK’s Flying Club proudly announces our annual Xmas 2022 Flying Club tour. This tour, launching on the 1st of December, takes pilots on a picturesque journey from Rome to Rovaniemi, a journey of approximately 2050nm.  Xmas 2022 ‘Biz-Jet’ TourFly UK’s Flying Club are also launching the annual ‘Biz-Jet’ Xmas tour. This annual tour sees pilots departing Italy for Rovaniemi, flying over picturesque scenery throughout. This tour launches officially on the 1st of December.  December’s Featured Destination – RovaniemiDecember’s featured destination takes full advantage of the scheduled tours, events and Lapland charter flights, taking pilots to the official home of Santa. Rovaniemi will serve as Fly UK’s Featured Destination from the 1st of December until the 1st of January 2023.  December’s Screenshot CompetitionFly UK's Screenshot Competition takes a traditionally festive turn for December, with this month's competition theme being "Winter Wonderland". 

MSFS Multiplayer Fly UK announces a new informal series of events aimed at social fun events on a fortnightly basis. As our membership trends continue to shift towards MSFS. we like to give members the opportunity to fly socially within the ranks but on more relaxed and entertaining adventures that MSFS can provide via its multiplayer platform and away from the normal VA operations.  So join us to mark Fridays with some fun flying, a beer (or more) and Fly UK colleagues for a great start to the weekend, Past ad-hoc MSFS events we have hosted included low-level flying challenges, bush adventures, helicopter challenges and much more. Content for these events aims to be diverse and draw from MSFS-included content and freeware to enable access to as many people as possible. Exploring Gliders, Bizjets, classics, challenge flights, bush flights as well as historical aviation anniversary celebrations in planned...the choice is vast but we also want to engage with your ideas for content and suggestions. The first event will take place on November 25th with an Alpine low-level route in fast jets. We hope to see you there and enjoy this variation to the norm. We'll leave you with some images from past MSFS multiplayer events. Las VegasCanyon TouringD-DayAlp Heli Ops

Winter at LOWI Winter approaches for those of us in the Northern hemisphere and the majority of Fly UK group ops. The usual seasonal ops changes can be expected but the new Cetan launch takes centre stage on November 12th. Aside from that, here's the rundown on what to expect for Winter 22/23. Fly UKScheduled services undergo the usual rotation of airframe types to give members who may only operate limited types a little more route choice. This is along with some minor seasonal route adjustments. Bratislava and Islamabad are new destinations from London and Manchester switches from Nashville to Miami to link with the new Cetan Network. CargoThe main change for Cargo is the new Boeing 737-800BCF routes which can be found in domestic and European sectors. Longer haul gets some minor adjustments for some of the multi-leg routes it operates. AuroraWith Cetan due soon, Aurora adjusts its operational focus and returns to its roots in Canada and Alaska. Whilst linked with the wider network, the Denver base transfers to Cetan and Las Vegas closes. A new base opens in Montreal to widen the network north of the US border. NordicKodiak goes into operation replacing the venerable B1900D. It takes over the existing routes with the addition of Stord island. Fly2Fly2 services slow a little in the gap between November and the start of Ski season on December 10th, but all the usual winter sun getaway destinations can be found year-round. Returning after several years are the Egypt destinations for Hurghada and Sharm El Sheik.  With the closure of Doncaster Sheffield airport, Fly2 returns to one of its origin airports, Liverpool. Two 737-800's will operate from EGGP paired with Leeds.  Finally, the winter wet lease to our Canadian cousins will take place as normal from December 1st as they escape the cold in seek of warmth. LaplandYes, Christmas isn't far away and Fly UK will offer the usual December trips to Lapland operated by the Fly2 fleet and Fly UK A320s. These will run from 1st to 28th December. The seasonal special liveries will be available in the fleet centre during that period. Most other services remain unchanged and of course, winter for us means summer for our down-under crew so you can always head to Topa for the season! 

October 12th is recognised in the United States as Indigenous Peoples Day, in honour of America's first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive today. It is a fitting day therefore to announce a new Airline Division joining the Fly UK Group soon! Based within the United States, our new Airline Division Cetan will link with our Fly UK, Topa Sky and Aurora operations, providing the perfect American adventure for Fly UK pilots.   The Cetan Brand Cetan (the Spirit of the Hawk) originates from Native American Mythology and inspires our American division. To the Native American tribes, the hawk is sacred and Cetan symbolises poise, confidence and speed. Keeping in spirit with the influences behind our Topa Sky brand, we recognize this rich local history and take these values to the skies with a bold livery inspired by Native American art. A unique feel to this new division and its place in the Fly UK Group operations' success. Cetan will operate with CET code and Skyhawk callsign. 777-300 ER at Miami Launch DateWe will launch CETAN on the 12th of November 2022, with delivery flights scheduled to commence on the 26th of October 2022. Bases & FleetAt launch, Cetan will operate from San Francisco, Denver and Miami, with each airport serving as our West Coast, Central and East Coast bases respectively providing flights across the continental USA with links to the central and south Americas, far east and interconnectivity with other Fly UK Divisions. There has never been a better way to see the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave!   Cetan’s fleet will consist of a mixture of short-haul and long-haul aircraft with each base operating a different selection of airframes. Liveries for all main available aircraft products will be available at launch for MSFS, XP11/12 and P3D/FSX. Boeing 737-700Cetan’s short-haul fleet will consist of the reliable Boeing 737-700. A popular airframe with other US-based operators, Cetan’s Boeing 737-700 fleet will operate from all three of Cetan’s bases.Delivery flights for the Boeing 737-700 will commence from storage at Victorville to Cetan’s bases in San Francisco, Denver and Miami. The Boeing 737-700 will be available as a Class D aircraft.  Boeing 777-300ERA fan favourite and a highly requested addition to the Fly UK Group, Cetan will operate the Boeing 777-300ER (B77W). As an extremely capable airframe, Cetan’s Boeing 777-300ER will operate long-haul flights from Cetan’s West Coast base in San Francisco and Cetan’s central base in Denver. Delivery flights for the B77W will commence from Alice Springs to San Francisco and Denver bases.The B77W will be available as a Class A aircraft. ·Boeing 757-200Another fan favourite, the Boeing 757-200 will join Cetan’s fleet. The B752s will be based at Cetan’s Denver and Miami bases. Delivery flights for the B752s will commence from storage at Victorville to Denver and Miami.The B752 will be available to pilots as a Class C aircraft.  ·Airbus A330-342The A330 family returns to the Fly UK Group in the form of the A330-300. Cetan’s A330-342 will operate a selection of long-haul flights from Denver and Miami.Delivery flights for the A330-342 will commence from storage at Victorville to our Central and East coast bases in Denver and Miami.The A333 will be available as a Class B aircraft. Airbus A330-972neoAlongside the A330-342, Cetan will also operate the new Airbus A330-972neo. The A330-972neo will operate exclusively out of Cetan’s East coast base, Miami.Delivery flights for the A330-972neo will commence from the Airbus factory at Toulouse in France to the aircraft’s home base in Miami. The A330-972neo will be available as a Class B aircraft.  The addition of a new airline division to the Fly UK Group is always an exciting time and thanks to all the team behind this project. We've been looking forward to sharing this with you for some time...many a teaser and hidden image has been dropped in recent weeks, especially on Discord...maybe some of you picked up on it ;) So welcome to the family Cetan, complementing our Canada and Alaskan Aurora operations, we hope our pilots will enjoy flying new operations throughout the United States and beyond with Cetan. Cetan Boeing 737 Cetan Boeing 77W Cetan A330-900

. The long-running Codeshare agreement between Fly UK and Metroair will end on November 31st 2022. The partnership which has been one of the most unique and long-running in the Flight sim VA space has brought many benefits and enjoyment to members on both sides over its duration. However, we find ourselves at the crossroads of a very exciting time for flight simulation and the path each VA takes to embrace these times has diverged, so it's been agreed on both sides that now is the right time to conclude the codeshare, allowing both parties freedom to expand their virtual universe and network for their own member's interests. Statements from both CEO's on the decision are as follows Matt Lewis - Fly UK "I'd like to thank William, his team and the MetroAir members for all his hard work during the time I've been CEO of Fly UK, Both communities and VA's have benefited greatly from the collaboration. Personally, this culminated with our joint cross the pond event we held together during the height of Covid and lockdown, an event that many joined and enabled us to share our joint passion for virtual aviation as well as bring two communities together for some laughter and discussion at a much needed time in the world.  Its been a pleasure working with MetroAir and I wish them all the success in this new era of flight simulation" William Hogarth - MetroAir "It has been an honour to be affiliated with Fly UK and I believe we did set a precedent as being the first two well-established airlines to strike up a partnership in the virtual world. I do wish you all well and hope that the airlines can stay friends as we end our codeshare agreement. " Both MetroAir and Fly UK can confirm that anyone with memberships at both VAs will not be affected by this move subject to standard policies and activity with each airline's requirements. Fly UK members who enjoy their stateside adventures fear not, Aurora services continue in the Pacific Northwest and Canada area and we'll have more news in the near future.

The upcoming changeover to our winter schedules fast approaches and this year, our winter schedule will be host to a selection of big fleet changes to a few of our airline divisions. Nordic Sky and Fly UK Cargo will both undergo a selection of fleet changes for their respective winter operations, with new and highly requested airframes being added. Nordic SkyNordic Sky’s winter schedule sees the introduction of the Daher Kodiak 100 Series II, a small single-engine turboprop aircraft. Delivery flights for the Kodiak 100 will commence from the 1st of October from Sandpoint Airport (KSZT) to Bergen (ENBR). These delivery flights will provide a unique challenge for pilots wishing to deliver the Kodiak to Bergen due to the transatlantic crossing required; a first for the Fly UK Group.  Scheduled operations will then commence with the changeover to Nordic Sky’s winter schedule on the 1st of November.     The Kodiak 100 Series will be available as a Class E airframe.  As a result of the Kodiak 100 Series being introduced to Nordic Sky, the Beechcraft B1900D is scheduled to be retired from scheduled operations. Retirement flights to Kemble will commence on the 1st of November.   Nordic Sky's new Kodiak 100 Series II Fly UK CargoFly UK Cargo’s winter schedule sees the introduction of the Boeing 737-800BCF, converted from Fly2’s stored Boeing 737-800’s in Kemble. Ferry flights for the Fly2 737-800's will commence on the 1st of October, with flights from storage at Kemble to the Boeing MRO facility at London Gatwick. From the 15th of October 737-800BCFs ferry flights onwards to the type’s base at London Stansted will become available. Scheduled operations will commence fully with Fly UK Cargo’s winter schedule change on the 1st of November.  The Boeing 737-800BCF’s will be available as a Class D airframe, opening up Cargo operations to lower ranks whilst also providing a lot more flexibility for European operations.  With the addition of the B738F’s to the fleet, two of Cargo’s Boeing 757-200PF airframes will be retired from scheduled operations. Retirement flights to Victorville will commence on the 1st of November. The remaining two 757-200PF’s will remain in Cargo’s fleet however and will continue to fly scheduled operations alongside the new B738F’s. Fly UK Cargo's new Boeing 737-800BCF We hope that our members will enjoy flying both these new aircraft and the new possibilities they bring to the Fly UK Group!