DarkBlueScenery has recently released their rendition of Lanzhou-Zhongchuan International Airport (ZLLL) for X-Plane 11 & 12, serving Lanzhou in China with a yearly average of 7 million passengers. 

Inaugurated in 1970, Lanzhou Airport is the Chinese airport furthest from the center of the city it serves, at an incredible 71 kilometers away from downtown. Such distance is explained by the area’s geography, which doesn’t offer many options. 

The first expansion project started in 1997, increasing the airport’s passenger handling capabilities to nearly 5 million a year. It held up well until the early 2010s when the operator finally saw the need to expand it again with a brand-new terminal. Terminal 2’s construction began that same year, opening five years later.

With traffic projections nearing the 10 million passenger ballpark shortly, they have decided to expand again with a brand new terminal currently under construction. The work started in 2019, costing 31.69 billion Yuan and a total area three times bigger than both current terminals combined. For such an ambitious goal, they had to demolish an entire town and adjacent villages, totaling up to 10.7 square kilometers of area.

The airport is served by many domestic airlines, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Spring Airlines, and Tianjin Airlines. 

The scenery depicts the current stage of the airport, with Terminal 3 still under construction, featuring custom ground textures, custom models for Terminals 1 and 2, a cargo terminal, custom jetways, and performance-friendly optimization.

It’s available on SimMarket for roughly $14.18, requiring at least 384.43 MB of free hard disk space to install.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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