Pilot Experience Sim has recently released the second version of their Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport (LFBD) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, serving the commune of Mérignac with a yearly average of 7.7 million passengers.

It was built in 1910 to host a major Aviation Week event, making it one of the oldest French airports. 

In the early 1930s, the French Air Force heavily upgraded the airport by constructing many new hangars, surface improvements, and more. A passenger terminal was built in 1935, officially going from an air station to an airport. 

With World War 2 looming, the government invested more money in transforming Bordeaux into a proper military base, adding two runways, which were completed in 1939 and 1940, respectively.

Mérignac’s brand-new runways were quite attractive to the Germans during their invasion of France. The structure was mostly new, and the runways were long and hard, ideal for their operations. They rushed to complete the work on runway two, and soon enough, it became one of their air bases.

It was heavily bombed in 1944, and the German soldiers blew up the last remaining buildings before leaving the area. 

Repairing was carried out right after the war, between 1945 and 1947. Prisoners of war built a terminal, a restaurant, offices, and a control tower. They were meant to be temporary and made of wood, but an actual replacement only happened twelve years later.

In 1959, a new terminal was inaugurated, designed by Raymond Mothe. It was expanded several times, and its capacity maxed out at 2 million passengers annually.

Further expansion occurred in the early 2000s, bringing its passenger handling capabilities to over 6 million a year.

It’s a focus city for easyJet, Ryanair, and Volotea. Aer Lingus, Air France, British Airways, Brussels Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Transavia, Turkish Airlines, and Vueling also serve it.

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The scenery features an accurate rendition of the airport, with an up-to-date ground layout, performance-friendly optimization, 3D people, custom aerial imagery, PBR texturing, custom static aircraft, and more.

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It’s available on the iniBuilds Store for roughly $16.40, requiring at least 4.58 GB of free hard disk space to install.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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