M’M Simulations has recently released their rendition of Vilnius Airport (EYVI) for Microsoft Flight Simulator, the largest airport in Lithuania in terms of passenger volume, with a yearly average of 5 million passengers.

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It opened in 1932 as Wilno-Porubanek, after Vilnius and Porubanek, a former neighboring village now part of the Kirtimai district. It had a brief commercial stint before WW2 with routes to Warsaw, Vaunas (albeit much later, in 1939), and Riga.

Designed by Józefa Mrówkowa-Ochmańska, the first passenger terminal was built between 1934 and 1936 in a modernist style. It included a restaurant, a hotel for passengers, a newspaper kiosk, a customs post, a police station, and a post office. At the time, it was heavily criticized for its overly luxurious interior and proportions, which were a bit too optimistic for the then very small traffic figures.

During World War 2, it was briefly repurposed as a military airfield, with civil airport duties only resuming in mid-1944.

A new terminal was built between 1949 and 1954, featuring a standard Soviet design from the 1950s. It was originally intended for no more than 20 aircraft movements a day. The ever-growing traffic figures led to the construction of a new departure terminal in 1993, which was connected to the old one.

In late 2007, a new 1,000-square-meter terminal building was opened, improving its passenger handling capabilities and complying with Schengen requirements. The total area of the terminals was around 3,462 square meters.

In early 2023, the government financed yet another departure terminal, which will cover 14,400 square meters of land and double the passenger throughput from 1,200 to 2,400 passengers/hour. It’s scheduled to open in early 2025.

It’s a hub for airBaltic and a focus city for GetJet, Ryanair, and Wizz Air. Aegean Airlines, Air Montenegro, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Finnair, flydubai, LOT, Lufthansa, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Scandinavian Airlines, Smartwings, Swiss, and Turkish also serve it.

The scenery features an accurate rendition of the airport, with an up-to-date ground layout, custom parking positions matching real life, custom surroundings, custom shuttle train, custom night lighting, custom terminal interior, PBR materials, and more.

It’s available on the iniBuilds Store for roughly $19.10, requiring at least 5.61 GB of free hard disk space to install.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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