Approach
Land them all, lose none. Sequence a stream of arrivals onto a single runway before the fuel runs dry.
How to play
A seeded stream of aircraft enters your sector heading for one runway. You never steer them by heading — you only assign each plane a safe altitude band, send it into a holding pattern or release it, and clear it to land once it is low and the runway is free. Two planes on the same altitude band that get too close is a loss of separation and ends the run. Every plane's fuel ticks down — faster while it holds — so a low-fuel arrival has to jump the queue or it goes down.
- Assign each plane an altitude band so no two share a band too closely
- Hold planes to buy time and open a safe gap; release them to begin the approach
- Clear one plane at a time onto the runway, respecting the spacing
- Prioritize low-fuel aircraft — they can't wait
- Land as many as you can before a separation loss ends the run
Controls
- Click (or tap) a plane or its flight strip to select it
- Assign an altitude band, toggle hold, release, or clear-to-land for the selected plane
- Pause and change speed (1× / 2×) to think under pressure
- Works with mouse or touch on desktop, tablet and phone
Game modes
- Daily — everyone gets the same seeded stream of arrivals each day; compete on the daily board
- Practice — a fresh random stream every run for unlimited play
Tips & strategy
- Separate vertically first: park incoming planes on different bands so they never conflict
- Use holding patterns to build a clean, evenly-spaced line for the runway
- Keep an eye on fuel — a holding plane burns faster, so don't stack a low-fuel arrival
- Feed the runway continuously but never double-book it; wasted gaps cost you landings
- When two planes must share a band, make sure one is well clear before the other arrives
Origins
Approach is inspired by the real discipline of terminal air-traffic control, where a controller merges many aircraft into a single orderly stream for one runway using altitude separation, holding stacks and precise spacing rather than by flying the planes directly. It shares the calm-under-pressure spirit of classic sequencing games, distilled into a quick, deterministic daily challenge where the only real enemies are a lost separation and an empty fuel tank.
About Approach
Approach is an original, free browser simulation game with no download and no sign-up. It is a game, not real air-traffic-control training; the airspace is simplified for fun. Play the shared Daily arrivals to climb the leaderboard, or jump into Practice for endless runs.
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