The flight simulation community often sees ambitious projects quietly fade away, but it is rare for a cancelled major hub to make a sudden return to the development pipeline. In an announcement that significantly changes the scenery landscape for Florida flyers, Verticalsim has revealed that their rendition of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (KFLL) is back in active development for 2026.
This announcement marks a sharp turn from the developer’s stance in 2025, when the project was shelved. At the time, the cancellation left an important gap in high-fidelity scenery for the region, forcing pilots to rely on older solutions or default scenery for one of the busiest low-cost carrier hubs in the United States.
The confirmation came via an End of Year statement where the developer detailed a roadmap focused on “consistency and quality.” While the text itself referred to the “return of a previously cancelled destination,” the accompanying wireframe image (shown below) leaves no room for ambiguity. The layout unmistakably depicts the distinct dual-runway configuration and terminal horseshoe of Fort Lauderdale.
The timing of this revival is not coincidental. Verticalsim is currently wrapping up work on West Palm Beach (KPBI). The developer notes that updates on the revived project will begin “once PBI is completed.” This looks to be some kind of strategy of regional dominance, as bringing KFLL online would allow simmers to complete short hops between highly detailed representations of Tampa (KTPA), Southwest Florida, and now Fort Lauderdale, all within the Verticalsim ecosystem.
2026 Roadmap: native MSFS 2024 support and legacy updates
Beyond the headline regarding Fort Lauderdale, the developer’s statement confirms that 2026 will see “FS2024 native versions of airports,” showing that the developer intends to use the simulator’s features rather than relying solely on backward compatibility. But there will also be new destinations, with several undisclosed “brand-new airports” slated to join the lineup this year.
The developer says that these efforts are aimed at refining workflows to meet visual and performance standards “without compromise.” As the community awaits the finalization of West Palm Beach, the prospect of a modern, high-fidelity Fort Lauderdale finally being realized will surely be a talking point for simmers flying the Florida corridor this year.
