Scenery add-ons usually run a few years behind the real world. Airports resurface, aprons get redrawn, thresholds shift, and the sim version keeps flying the old layout until someone decides an update is worth the effort. Santorini is a useful case in point. Fraport Greece shut LGSR to regular traffic on 12 January this year for a full runway reconstruction, part of the phased programme that also closed Corfu, Zakynthos, Mykonos and several other regional airports over the past two winters. The airport reopened a week later with new pavement and reconfigured runway safety areas.
29Palms has now released a native Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 version of its Santorini scenery, and the studio says the recreated runway reflects that work, including the relocated runway 15 threshold. According to the developer, the runway now measures 2,340 metres against the 2,197 metres that was there before.
That extension is the thread running through most of the changelog. 29Palms says taxiway A has been extended to the north, with a new taxi link “M” connecting it to the repositioned runway end, and that all runway and taxi lights have been rebuilt and repositioned accordingly. The studio also says it has created RTIL lights for runway 15 and corrected the colour of the first lights on each runway to a more accurate yellowish tone. The airport’s AFCAD has been rebuilt as well, with missing taxiways, taxi links and starting positions added, which should matter for anyone using AI traffic or online networks.
This is the second native MSFS 2024 product from the Greek studio, after Chania International Airport arrived in March.
The original Santorini scenery was released at the end of May 2024. We gave it a favourable write-up shortly after, and the ambition of the package was a large part of the appeal, since it covered the whole island rather than just the airfield.
The 2024 edition keeps that scope. The mesh terrain still covers Santorini, Therasia, Palaia Kameni, Nea Kameni, Aspronisi and Christiana at 3m per pixel resolution. Default buildings across the island have been removed and replaced with custom Cycladic ones, with particular attention to the four caldera-edge villages of Fira, Firostefani, Imerovigli and Oia. Six ports are custom modelled, including Athinios and Ammoudi, and the scenery includes an animated ferry, two smaller boats running the Fira to volcano route, and the working cable car between Fira port and the village above.
What 2024 brings
The bulk of the remaining changes come down to what the newer simulator allows. 29Palms says every light in the scenery has been rebuilt with the MSFS 2024 lighting system, which the studio credits with better visuals and better performance at the same time. The main village lighting has been reworked on the same basis. The terminal interior has been recreated with new objects and textures and retains full walkthrough capability, and the main terminal building has been re-exported with revised LODs.
Pricing and upgrade path
LGSR Santorini Airport & Island for MSFS 2024 is available on Contrail at €22.07. Anyone who already owns the MSFS 2020 version from 29Palms can use the code LGSR-UP24 at checkout for an upgrade price of €5.00.
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