Pasting a Route String
Copy a route directly from ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, or your flight plan and paste it straight into PlaneWX. Origin, destination, and intermediate waypoints populate automatically.
Watch: Pasting a Route String
Video walkthrough — from copying a route in ForeFlight to a fully resolved waypoint list
How to Paste a Route
- 1
Open the New Trip dialog
Click + New Trip on your dashboard. You don't need to fill in the Origin or Destination fields first.
- 2
Enter your departure and arrival airports
Type at least 3 characters into either the Origin or Destination field — the waypoint input box will appear. Alternatively, skip ahead to step 3 and paste a full route string with the airports included.
- 3
Paste your route string into the waypoint field
Click inside the Waypoints input and paste (⌘V / Ctrl+V). PlaneWX processes the string automatically.
- 4
Review the resolved waypoints
Each waypoint appears as a chip below the input. Airways are stripped automatically. Unresolved identifiers are skipped — use the search box to add them manually if needed.
What the Route String Looks Like
PlaneWX accepts the standard ATC/FMS route string format — the same format used in ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, and printed flight plans.
Example — KROG to MMSD via Mexico
KROG ZORLA WALTO SCABI TAYOL FST J42 AMUKI J42 ELQ J141 CAFIS UJ10 CUL UJ32 SJD MMSD
Kept as waypoints
ZORLA WALTO SCABI TAYOL FST AMUKI ELQ CAFIS CUL SJD
Stripped (airways)
J42 J141 UJ10 UJ32
Auto-filled as airports
KROG → Origin
MMSD → Destination
What counts as a waypoint vs. an airway?
How Origin and Destination Are Filled
When you paste a string that starts and ends with airport identifiers, PlaneWX fills them automatically — including overwriting a pre-filled home airport if needed.
Origin auto-fill rules
- If the first token is a 4-character ICAO and the Origin field is empty, it fills automatically.
- If your home airport is pre-filled but the pasted route starts with a different 4-character ICAO, PlaneWX overwrites your home airport with the route's departure.
- If the pasted string starts with a navaid or fix (not an airport), the Origin field is left unchanged.
Destination auto-fill rules
- If the last token is a 4-character ICAO, PlaneWX fills it as the Destination automatically.
- A pre-filled Destination is overwritten if the last token is a different 4-character ICAO.
Home airport and route paste: If your home airport is set to KABQ and you paste a route that starts with KROG, PlaneWX assumes you mean to depart from KROG and overwrites the pre-filled home airport. You can always change Origin and Destination after pasting.
International Routes
Route pasting works for international flights, including routes across Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean. PlaneWX resolves international VOR/NDB identifiers (2–4 characters) using the AIRAC navaid database.
What resolves internationally
- • ICAO 4-letter airports (MMSD, CYYZ)
- • Mexican VORs (SJD, CUL, MTY)
- • Canadian navaids (YVR, YYZ)
- • Caribbean fixes and VORs
- • 5-letter GPS fixes on international airways
When a navaid doesn't resolve
Some 2–3 letter identifiers are shared between a US navaid and an international one. If PlaneWX resolves the wrong one, remove the chip and search for the correct identifier by name — the search will show coordinates so you can confirm the right fix.
International airways are stripped automatically
Mexican airspace uses airways like UJ10 and UJ32. PlaneWX strips these just like US jet and victor airways — only the named fixes along the airway are kept.
Tips & Troubleshooting
The waypoint box isn't showing
The waypoint input appears once either the Origin or Destination field has at least 3 characters. Type your departure or arrival airport first, then the waypoint box will appear and you can paste your full route.
A waypoint shows as unresolved
Not every identifier in a route string maps to a point PlaneWX can resolve — some are procedure names, airline-specific codes, or database-only fixes. Unresolved identifiers are simply skipped. For the briefing to be accurate, the waypoints that matter most are the ones farthest from the direct path — corner waypoints, significant turning points, and mountain range crossings.
Waypoints reset when I reopen the dialog
The New Trip dialog clears all fields — including waypoints — each time you open it. This is by design to avoid accidentally carrying forward a previous route. Paste your route string after opening the dialog each time.
Adding waypoints manually
You can mix pasting and manual entry. After pasting, type a fix identifier into the waypoint search box to add individual points. Chips can be reordered by dragging and removed by clicking the × on each chip.
Do waypoints affect the briefing?
Yes — significantly. Waypoints define the corridor that PlaneWX uses to filter weather products (G-AIRMETs, SIGMETs, PIREPs, TFRs). A direct-line route between two airports uses a straight corridor; adding waypoints ensures weather is fetched along your actual flight path. For routes that deviate significantly from direct — crossing mountain ranges, avoiding restricted airspace, or routing via Mexico — waypoints make a real difference to what weather is included in your briefing.
Route string compatibility: The paste feature is designed to work with route strings copied directly from ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, SkyVector, and printed ATC flight plans. If your source uses a format that doesn't paste cleanly, try removing SID/STAR procedure names (e.g. SNDRP6) — these are procedure identifiers, not waypoints, and should be omitted.