TaiModels has recently released their rendition of Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (KPHF) for X-Plane 11 and 12, serving the Virginia Peninsula in the United States with a yearly average of 430,000 passengers.

The airport was originally part of a military base from World War 2, Camp Patrick Henry. They got 924 areas of that land, where they built a 1,100-meter-long runway. Scheduled service started shortly after in November 1949 with Piedmont Airlines and Capital Airlines. 

In 1951, the terminal was heavily damaged by a fire, prompting them to rebuild it and upgrade the airport while at it with an upgraded traffic control tower and a longer runway (400 meters longer). The new passenger terminal was inaugurated in 1955.

Williamsburg Airport, then Patrick Henry Airport, was granted international status in 1975, with four airlines serving the airport nonstop: Allegheny, National, Piedmont, and United. The airport could finally handle international traffic (airline and corporate) with a brand-new customs facility.

With the airline deregulation in 1978, the airport lost most of its jet service: National in 1978, Piedmont and Allegheny in 1979, and United in 1981. 

In 1984, with the airport falling deeper and deeper into a massive crisis, they hired a new executive director, who brought a new plan to the table: implementing a business park within the airport to attract air carriers. A year later, it was America’s fastest-growing airport, the success of which was also repeated in 1986. The jets were back.

In September 1990, the airport got its current name: Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport. 

In the early 2000s, they launched another expansion effort, adding new parking lots, opening new passenger concourses, and bringing more airlines. 

For the past decade, the airport has entered a fast decline. It all started with AirTran Airways stopping their operations after its merger with Southwest Airlines, hitting the passenger count significantly. Then, in 2020, Delta suspended their service to Atlanta. In July 2022, there was a glimmer of hope with Avelo Airlines, but they suspended their operations a year later.

The airport is only served by American Eagle (Charlotte) and Netjets (Birmingham, Columbus, Knoxville, Minneapolis, Raleigh-Durham, and Teterboro).

The scenery features an accurate rendition of the airport, with high-detail models, SAM jetways, high-quality PBR textures, performance-friendly optimization, custom autogen around the airport, ground traffic plugins, and weather textures (X-Plane 12 only).

It’s available on SimMarket for roughly $19.91, requiring at least 1.22 GB of free hard disk space to install.

Stay tuned to Threshold for more flight simulation news!

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