iniBuilds has recently released their rendition of Southampton Airport (EGHI) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, serving Hampshire with a yearly average of 631,458 passengers.

The airport’s history dates back to 1910, when its meadows were used as a take-off and landing spot for monoplanes, then known as Eastleigh Airfield. It was then transformed into an aircraft acceptance base for the Royal Flying Corps during World War 1. 

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During the interwar period, the site served as a transit camp for refugees who wished to sail to America. Hangars were converted into dormitories for them. 

Southampton Corporation purchased the site in 1932, naming it Southampton Municipal Airport, with part of it being utilized by the RAF after 1935. 

Supermarine, a former British aircraft manufacturer, opened a test flight facility there and built a shed. Cunliffe-Owen Aircraft followed suit, later being bought out by Ford and utilized to manufacture Ford Transit vans until its closure in 2013.

During World War 2, the airport was transferred to naval command and renamed HMS Raven, spending most of it as a ground and air training facility. It was handed back to civilian ownership soon after, in 1946.

Thirteen years later, it was purchased by a racing pilot and began its transformation into a proper regional airport, with a concrete runway in 1963 and a railway station right beside it. 

It’s served by Aer Lingus, Aurigny, Blue Islands, British Airways (seasonally), Eastern Airways, easyJet, KLM, and Loganair.

The scenery features an accurate rendition of the airport, with hand-crafted ground textures, a true-to-life landside recreation, highly detailed models of all airport buildings, an up-to-date layout, fully modeled local points of interest, and more.

It’s available on the iniBuilds Store for roughly $15.85, requiring at least 2.47 GB of free hard disk space to install.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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