Airports in Africa

[thepilot]

Hi FSDT,

I wonder if you have ever considered making an airport in Western/Southern Africa?
I've lately been busy myself with doing some research on this topic, and in my opinion, it's definitely worth to take a look at.
To the best of my knowledge, high quality airports for this continent are still to be seen, please correct me if I'm wrong.
There are various reasons that make flying in this area an interesting and sometimes nerve-racking experience, e.g. the poor lighting and runway conditions along with bad weather.
Beyond that, there's often a lot of vegetation across the airfields, and the aprons are stuffed with old planes which can only seldom be seen in Europe or North America, combined with modern B737NG and Airbus aircraft.
The lack of information about these aerodromes may be deterrent, but this doesn't seem to apply for every airfield in Africa.
For starters, Lagos (LOS/DNMM) is an aspiring airport in Nigeria, last but not least due to Arik Air that operates a state-of-the-art western aircraft fleet and growing international service.

I hope you will be able to look into this after completing FLL/DFW.

If somebody else wants to comment here, just go ahead.

Best regards.

[#1-Stunna]

I'm sure they'd love to but I doubt it would sell. A Caribbean airport would probably sell more, like Jamaica.

[thepilot]

That's what I can't quite understand... how can one tell if it sells good or not when no one has ever attempted creating an airport in Africa/the Caribbean (besides SXM, SJU, NAS, and some airfields from Tropicalsim).
I'd imagine people would buy it because it's something entirely different and new.
A suitable criterion would be good international connections. Lagos-London for example is a ~6 hour flight. That's not too long.

[virtuali]

This has been answered countless of times: people say "this airport might be interesting" but, when it comes the time to spend the hard earned money, it always the most obvious destinations that prevail, which means that people buys where they fly the most, which is usually on their own area, at least their continent, because not many people have the time to fly for many hours, the average it's usually 1.5-2 hours flights.

Which means, we'll concentrate on US and Europe for the foreseeable future. This is also related to availaibility of documentation. Not just charts and aerial shots, but 3d representation of buildings from all sides, which are not usually available outside US and Europe. This is not a small part of the decision what to do: it's basically the most important one, we just can't model anything without precise information.

For example, an airport like KFLL, although not being a mega-hub, it's a very convenient destination, because it's located in an area were hundreds of important places are within easy reach. The same for Zurich, O'Hare, JFK and KLAS.

However, we are working on something else right now, which is not an airport scenery and it's not an airplane, and this is our main task right now.

The next airport that will start as soon as KFLL (but probably after the Summer, because sometimes even our people gets vacations...), will be another mid-sized airport like KFLL. There are several likely candidates, and all of them have been requested many times here so, I'm sure that, whatever we'll decide to do, it will please many people. It's more likely to be in the US, though.

About KDFW, is still scheduled to be done, but we need to complete the "other" project first, which has been started for a while, and has to be released. KDFW hasn't started yet, BTW.  We know how important it is, that's why we need to be absolutely sure we can afford to do it right, and giving it the time it deserves.

This doesn't have anything to do with the release of KFLL and the next one because, as we said already, we have two set of people working in parallel and the LZSH-KORD-KFJK-KLAS team is busy right now and I don't think it will be available before September to begin KDFW, while the LSGG-KFLL team will be doing the next airport.

[JFKpilot]

Thank you for the update Umberto. I'm really excited about stuff on the horizon for this year and beyond.

However, we are working on something else right now, which is not an airport scenery and it's not an airplane, and this is our main task right now.

Hopefully it'll be something that promotes fsx as the better sim. That's what you guys always try to tell everyone right? 

The next airport that will start as soon as KFLL (but probably after the Summer, because sometimes even our people gets vacations...), will be another mid-sized airport like KFLL. There are several likely candidates, and all of them have been requested many times here so, I'm sure that, whatever we'll decide to do, it will please many people. It's more likely to be in the US, though.

A midsize airport in the US would be a hit for sure. IMO something like KFLL would be the right size airport for a number of reasons.
Enjoy the summer, you guys certainly deserve it…

About KDFW, is still scheduled to be done, but we need to complete the "other" project first, which has been started for a while, and has to be released. KDFW hasn't started yet, BTW.  We know how important it is, that's why we need to be absolutely sure we can afford to do it right, and giving it the time it deserves.

This doesn't have anything to do with the release of KFLL and the next one because, as we said already, we have two set of people working in parallel and the LZSH-KORD-KFJK-KLAS team is busy right now and I don't think it will be available before September to begin KDFW, while the LSGG-KFLL team will be doing the next airport.

As an AA fan I'm somewhat irritated DFW keeps getting pushed back but I'm sure it'll turn out great in the end. The quality of your work has never disappointed me in any way.

[cmpbllsjc]

The next airport that will start as soon as KFLL (but probably after the Summer, because sometimes even our people gets vacations...), will be another mid-sized airport like KFLL. There are several likely candidates, and all of them have been requested many times here so, I'm sure that, whatever we'll decide to do, it will please many people. It's more likely to be in the US, though.

I sure hope its either KONT, KABQ, KTUS, KTPA, or KPDX

[Silverbird]

Very interesting information Umberto we now have in idea of what you have planned so far. other midsized airport sounds really great. also will be busting my head trying to figure out that secret project you guys are working.

[TWA Pilot]

I have been flying FS since it came out in 1998.....I have been to Africa....ONCE, maybe twice. The only reason I was there is I ws flying around the world. It was okay, but nothing I'd come back to. Personally, I'd rather see the major US ports done. How about Hawaii? Major market; I'm not trying to get into another "how about project" but my point is that Africa is okay, but I'd go after other airports before I'd go after an African airprort.

Doug

[thepilot]

Hi virtuali,

thanks for your reply. I realize that an airfield in Africa does not earn you as much money as a European/North American airport would, which is probably the reason why no one ever made one.
Having flown in virtual Europe for years, I find flying in Africa is a very interesting affair, because it's totally different mainly due to the above-mentioned motives.
Although doubtful, I hope one day there will be a demand for them or a change of attitude from the developers that come along with more available information on the internet.
Hopefully the FIFA world cup 2010 in South Africa will attract developers' attention to make some airports (Capetown, Jo'burg...) there.

Best regards.

[CX 747-400]

Cape Town or Joh-berg would be great additions. They both take alot of international flights daily. From the middle east, Europe and I think Delta goes to Cape Town from Atlanta. I would love to make the flights from London, Paris or any other major hub to South Africa.

[JamesChams]

Here are some nice VFR Airports in Africa ...

Enjoy!