Test machine specs: MSI X670E, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, AMD Radeon RX 7900XTX, 48gb RAM
Add-ons: BATC, GSX Pro, GFX, Global Shipping '24
DETAIL
Zakynthos is the latest of a number of recent projects undertaken by indie developer Jakub Lukaszewski, under the IniBuilds brand. Having now bought all of these collabs, I can safely say that a number of his custom assets are being reused across his airports, including ops vehicles (although they are still individually branded), taxiway edge lights and perimeter fences. It’s not a big deal but worth a mention as it does strip each of his projects of some of their uniqueness.
The ground textures are superb, across the board. In fact, Jakub’s best yet, I’d say. All ground markings are crisp and their colours muted enough to give the impression of age and exposure to the elements. The apron contains a convincing amount of locally-branded GSE and the sturdy, towering floodlights that illuminate it have been faithfully recreated.
The terminal building is the typical Jakub work of art, inside and out. If you’ve bought any of his previous releases, you’ll quickly relate to what I’m saying here. Weathering is superb (particularly on the old terminal building, which even has tatty whitewashed windows) and the interior of the current terminal comprehensive and detailed. I recall a few weeks back reviewing Lisium’s Heraklion and commenting on how well they’d managed to implement region-specific vegetation across their airfield — Jakub has done likewise here at LGZA, and although it’s not quite as impressive or extensive as Lisium’s job, it certainly helps provide a genuine Greek feel. The spots between the terminal and the apron edge are particularly nice but there’s also been work done in areas adjacent to the runway.
Jakub’s terminal landsides are always top-notch and LGZA is no exception. Plenty of custom vehicles and static people, plus numerous partly-dilapidated car hire offices and other peripheral buildings. The airport’s public road network is entirely custom-modelled and comes complete with custom streetlighting and signage. A few additional assets make it all look rather pleasant.
My only real criticism is that there’s not a lot beyond the perimeter fence, away from the terminal. With the exception of Svalbard — which boasted a few surrounding POIs — all Jakub’s airports have a lack of modelled surroundings. To be fair, the airports he’s so far chosen to model are in more remote locations, but I still think one or two local landmarks, however small, would benefit the overall immersion. Having been to Zakynthos a couple of times IRL, I can attest to there not being much in the vicinity of the airport, but that’s perhaps all the more reason to model what IS there. One thing that must be borne in mind, though, is the typical pricing of Jakub’s airports — at a very reasonable £11.99 each, I don’t think you can expect an abundance of surrounding modelling. However I will double down by saying that one or two additional buildings likely wouldn’t be enough of a burden to warrant a price increase. The RWY34 approach does pass over a fairly busy beach — t’s not right at the runway end by any means but perhaps a bit of eye candy to look down at?
After dark, the airport looks great. The terminal window tint feels well balanced between interior and exterior. The airport’s GSX profile I believe is by RW Profiles (so no worries there) and BATC compatibility seems fine.
PERFORMANCE
Just fine for me, predictably. There’s no photogrammetry for hundreds of miles (closest I think is Croatia!) and LGZA isn’t exactly busy, even at the height of summer. Sure, there’s a very good level of detail but I doubt this airport’s going to trouble even a pretty mediocre system.
VERDICT
Aside from the increasingly obvious reuse of custom assets (gotta be better than obvious reuse of default SDK assets, though, right?!), you’ll not find much to complain about with Jakub’s latest airport. Sure, the lack of surrounding modelling does at times feel like a missed opportunity but it’s arguably what’s inside the perimeter fence that counts — and LGZA has everything you could really wish for. I particularly like the attention paid to getting the local vegetation right — it might only be a small consideration but it’s surprising how such a tiny detail can greatly increase immersion, and the overall authenticity of a place. The excellent weathering effects also add to the environment, because if you’ve ever been to a typical Greek island airport, you’ll know only too well how dilapidated and run down they often look!
Greece is now becoming one of the most complete countries in MSFS, where high-quality airports are concerned (I’d love to see a Greek World Update but that’s for another discussion). Lisium’s recent Heraklion, FSDG’s Kefalonia, Atelic’s Kos, 29Palms’ Chania, Santorini and Mykonos, and of course the country’s main hub, Athens (by FlyTampa, who also offer a decent but ageing Corfu). Add this latest gem — plus a number of reasonable MXI and M’M Sims airports — and Greece really is a fun country to puddle-jump around, with plenty of sub-30-minute flights (some of them operated by A320s!).
The airport is currently on sale for just £9.59 (until 1500UTC tomorrow), and for that price, it really is worth having. If you own either FSDG or Fly X Kefalonia, you can partake in one of Greece’s shortest ATR hops: just 32 miles!
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