I think it’s fair to say that the perception of Airbus aircraft products from Aerosoft is currently not great. Following on from their A330 CEO release last year, the reputation of quality has been pretty tainted. Therefore, it’s understandable that perhaps there is a little bit of trepidation about how the A340-600 would be.
But let me be clear: this product is worlds apart from Aerosoft’s previous line-up of Airbus aircraft.
Why? Simply because Aerosoft is working with ToLiss to bring the A340-600 to Microsoft Flight Simulator. ToLiss, for those unaware, is known for its high-fidelity simulation and system depth of Airbus aircraft on the X-Plane platform. But the area where ToLiss always had its biggest critique was its modelling and texturing. The complete opposite could be said about Aerosoft, as their modelling and texturing was always really good.
So, when the two companies announced that they were working on the Airbus long-hauler together, this was simply a match made in heaven. And based on my limited time with the aircraft at FSConference, I already feel that this is a relationship I never want to see end. Let me explain why.
Before I even sat down, I was asked which of the four missions I wanted to try. These missions were not simply “land at the airport,” or “after 2 minutes, I will turn off the engine and you continue landing.” No, instead, these were fully simulated, in-depth and challenging missions. What was even more impressive was how these challenges were activated in the simulator without any additional input from Aerosoft’s representatives once they were loaded in the sim (more on that in a second). Immediately, this set up a high level of expectation that this was not going to be your typical Aerosoft Airbus product.
I chose one of the more simplistic missions to start. I wanted to get a feel of the plane before trying anything more challenging. Not only that, but I just wanted to ask questions and learn about the plane as I was flying. My mission saw me a few thousand feet above Quito Airport (SEQM) and required a right-hand turn before completing the short final approach onto the runway. I was told that at some point, the speed indicators would mismatch on the displays and that I would then have to manually complete the landing without any autopilot assistance.
When everything was ready, I was quickly told to look at the speed tapes on both the PFDs. The speed indicated was the same, but after a few moments, the right-hand display became out of sync and indicated a completely incorrect speed. I then turned off the ADRs, as per the checklist, and soon the autopilot tripped out. Now it was down to me to hand-fly the approach, with much less information than before. Whilst I’m sure there was more to the checklist for me to complete, I felt that the focus should be on hand-flying the jet to the runway since we were just a few miles out.
This gave me a great chance to hand-fly the aircraft. Turning the aircraft around in a right-hand turn, trying to keep it on track, was pretty fun. It required a good feeling of movement on the joystick to initiate the turn, and because I was now in direct law, the plane felt a bit more sluggish and heavy than normal.
Continuing the approach, I opted to control the speed manually. The engines spooled up and down as I delicately adjusted the thrust. What I did notice was how responsive the displays were. They were fast at refreshing the data, and each engine was displaying its own data with variations in temperature, vibration, and EPR. This is the level of detail ToLiss is known for and has spoken about during their various interviews with Aerosoft.
I touched down (hard…) and saw the autobrake kick in as I added some reverse thrust to slow the plane down. I was told, “turn on the taxi cam,” to which I was a bit taken aback! (To be clear, I had not watched the most recent interviews speaking about the Taxi Cam prior to flying the plane.) So I activated it and the PFD changed to display a taxi cam. This felt like sorcery, and turning the tight turns on the taxiway was made so much easier. In essence, Aerosoft/ToLiss has taken satellite imagery and added a faux model of the landing gear to give the impression of a 3D perspective on the taxi cam. To be clear, the ground layout is not like-for-like with what you see in the simulator. It is lower-resolution imagery (which may not be accurate if the imagery is outdated), but it does a good enough job to provide you with the opportunity to have an in-sim taxi cam. Until Microsoft is able to provide a better solution, this is actually very functional with absolutely no impact on performance.
Speaking of performance, I was absolutely impressed with how silky smooth it all ran. With the amount of system simulation happening in the background, and the impressive artwork and modelling, the aircraft was running extremely well. We were in a remote part of the world in Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020), and everything ran smoothly. It will take more testing to get a good feel for it, but so far, so good. And it’s worth noting that this is a pre-release build, and there’s still time for optimisations to happen.
Whilst I did not get to operate or spend much time with the EFB itself, it was clear that it will be a powerful tool for simmers once the plane comes out. As mentioned, the four missions were all pre-programmed, and upon selection, the plane would immediately move to that location and then be usable for the user. As my mission had failures, those failures were also programmed to happen at their given time. This opens up a whole range of possibilities for simulation practice and scenarios that go far beyond anything I’ve seen from an aircraft product in the past. I am excited to see how this is used in the future and maybe even see some way for the community to create their own missions and share them for others to try. Aerosoft had 4 missions in total on display, so even if there isn’t the ability to add via the community, I hope many are packaged in.
The EFB is completely custom-made by ToLiss specifically for this product. There will be fuel and balance loading, Navigraph support, performance calculations, failure input, and much more. X-Plane users familiar with how in-depth ToLiss goes will be fully aware, but those new to ToLiss products will be pleased with how much depth there is with this EFB.
As an aside to the MSFS version, X-Plane users should not fret either. Any advances in technology or improvements to systems will also be brought to the X-Plane version. This is because the technology works irrespective of simulator. Of course, tweaks are required to make it fully compatible, but Torsten from ToLiss has said on multiple occasions that there’s very little to differentiate the plane between the platforms.
I’ve spoken a lot about the ToLiss work with the Aerosoft A340-600, but what about Aerosoft’s contribution to the modelling and artwork? Well, I’m pleased to say that, having their focus squarely on that one element, what I saw inside the cockpit looked great. Visually, it felt clean and crisp, with lots of attention to detail. I wasn’t able to spend too much time looking into every element of the modelling, but first impressions felt very positive. There is still work to be done on some animations and texturing, but the plane is so far in a good place.
The only thing I was sorely missing was the external view. Aerosoft had this locked down, so I wasn’t able to change the view in order to see it. A shame as the A340-600 is such a beast of a plane — it would be great to see it from the outside. That said, Aerosoft genuinely has a solid reputation for modelling, so I have faith that they will do a good job. Time will tell, and I hope I’m not proven wrong in this regard.
As for when, Aerosoft told me that the hope is still by the end of the year. There are only a few weeks left before the calendar flips to 2026, so there is a chance. That said, they were clear that this is a release they are not going to rush to market. They acknowledged to me that there is a sour taste from the A330 CEO and want to prove that the A340-600 is very much in a class of its own, and want to make sure it is in the best state possible before releasing it.
So, should we be excited? So far, I would argue that we very much should be. If you’ve ever tried a ToLiss aircraft in X-Plane, you will know that this comes from a developer that is highly talented and has a very, very strong knowledge of Airbus systems. All that knowledge and experience is coming together to create the A340-600 for Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020 and 2024). From the very, very, VERY small taster I have so far had, I am left feeling extremely positive that we are going to experience a product that could even rival other high-fidelity aircraft in the market.
The partnership makes so much sense on paper, so let’s hope the Aerosoft A340-600 fulfils that expectation.
Disclosure: Aerosoft provided FSElite with accommodation to be present at FSConference 2025 to provide coverage of the event, but did not influence or ask for specific content to be made. All of our work is independent.
