These two commands are not exactly the same.
The disable_on_airports will do what its name suggest. It will disable GSX at any airport, usually because you want to use another product (for example AES)
The airport_visibility_XXXX should be used, instead, to remove conflicts caused by smaller airports, helipads, seaplane bases, which are either too close to the main airport you want to use or even *inside* of it.
Yes, setting the visibility to 0, will still disable the airport, so the final effect will be the same, but there's a difference:
- If you have a long list of airports you want to disable in GSX, and they don't have ANY smaller very close auxiliary airports that might cause problems, you might find easier to use the disable_on_airports command, because you can include several airports on a single line.
- If, instead, you must disable an airport because it's conflicting with a nearby one, because of its proximity, you must use the airport_visibility_XXXX, which can be set to 0 to entirely disable the smaller airport, but also to a number in nautical miles, if you want to use BOTH, but want to prevent GSX from being confused by the very close distance, and let it switch it automatically between the two.
As an example, let's say you have a large airport, with a separate AFCAD with a different ICAO, for example representing a military base *inside* the airport:
If you set the airport_visibility_XXXX ( XXXX being the ICAO of the military base), to a low number, like 0.5 NM, and assuming the AFCAD of the military base has its center in the middle of the military area, if you are inside this 0.5 NM radius from the military area, GSX will use the parkings from the military base, but it will revert back to the main airport, as soon as you exit from the area.
This, of course, will only work as long as the auxiliary airport can be used by GSX, so it has at least a parking and some taxiways. If, instead, the airport cannot be used by GSX, because it has no parking, or it's a seaplane base with no taxiways, then you'll have to set the visibility to 0, so GSX will ignore it entirely.
