Mobile’s New International Airport Is ‘Virtually’ Open for Business
Mobile’s new international airport is months away from opening, but you’re free to fire up a made-in-Mobile Airbus A220 and land it there if you want to.
The catch: The airport is still being constructed in the real world, but it’s open for business in a virtual one. The Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, including its Airbus Final Assembly Lines and its new international terminal, has come to Microsoft Flight Simulator. So has the A220.
Several companies are involved in this online scenario. First, of course, is Microsoft, whose flight simulator has gone through numerous editions since the early 1980s. It has been played by millions of people, and its two most recent versions – MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 – dominate the flight simulator market.
Among other things, it offers pilots and would-be pilots a meticulously detailed environment that very closely mimics real-life aircraft controls. Fans can build on that with specialized controllers, seats and other accessories to make the experience even more lifelike.
Many of those accessories come from third-party companies, and so do software add-ons that allow pilots to explore aircraft and locations not built into the simulator.
For years now, a company named Synaptic Simulations has been developing a software version of the Airbus A220. At the end of July, working with London-based game studio iniBuilds, the Synaptic A220 hit the market. It’s available on the Flight Simulator marketplace for $64.99.
For the money, says iniBuilds, you get an online version of “one of the world’s most advanced modern aircraft … with a deliberate focus on realism, systems depth and performance.”
Each flight delivers an authentic airline experience, according to promotional material. It features a custom Flight Management System, aircraft-specific autoflight and fly-by-wire logic, realistic PW1500G engine simulation, and in-depth electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, fuel and environmental systems. “Combined with a meticulously modelled cockpit, detailed passenger cabin, immersive sound design and comprehensive maintenance features, the A220 offers one of the most complete regional airliner simulations available,” the company boasts.
Where better to land such a plane than the Brookley Aeroplex, which is one of two places in the world where Airbus assembles them? On Monday, a Polish company called Drzewiecki Design released an add-on that lets users do just that. Titled “KBFM – Mobile International Airport,” it’s available online for $23.49.
Msfsaddons.com, a site dedicated to developments in the MSFS world, said that this is something new for Drzewiecki Design. Until now, every digital airfield it has created has been related to Boeing.
“Mobile is where Airbus assembles A320-family and A220 aircraft on US soil, and it’s an unusual airport in almost every way,” says the site. “Two long runways, a working aerospace campus, cargo and maintenance operations, occasional military traffic, and a two-gate passenger terminal that’s about to be replaced by something far bigger.”
The Mobile Airport Authority is in the process of building a new international terminal at Brookley. Sometime next year, commercial passenger traffic will be shifted from Mobile Regional Airport in west Mobile to the new site.
“Here’s a detail that may raise eyebrows,” said the article at msfsaddons.com. “Mobile is preparing to take over as the city’s principal scheduled passenger airport, and the developer notes that a new terminal of roughly 143,000 square feet is planned to open in spring 2027, with five contact gates, an elevated roadway, rental car facilities and a five-storey parking garage.
“Simmers (flight simulator enthusiasts) get to use a facility that real passengers in Alabama won’t see for another year and a half [sic],” says the article. “It’s an unusual choice for an airport scenery, since these products normally chase the current real-world layout rather than a planned one.”
Adam Hays, acting executive director of the Mobile Airport Authority, said the virtual airport is a sign that the real one is catching the interest of people in the aviation world.
“It’s a fun reminder that the work happening at Brookley Aeroplex has a global audience,” Hays said Tuesday. “Between Airbus, our aerospace partners and the new commercial airport terminal under construction, there’s a lot of interest in what’s happening here, and it’s exciting to see that reflected in something as popular as Microsoft Flight Simulator.
“The developer took some creative liberties, which is part of the fun, but the real Mobile International Airport will feel unmistakably Mobile,” Hays said. “We’ve been very intentional about creating a terminal that reflects the culture, history and hospitality of Mobile, and that’s something you can only experience in person.“
Drzewiecki Design notes the history of the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, which was established as Bates Field, then became Brookley Army Air Field and later Brookley Air Force Base. Its description mentions the field’s importance during World War II as well as other highlights.
“This scenery captures KBFM during one of the most important periods in its history,” says the company. “The operational airfield, Airbus manufacturing campus, maintenance and cargo facilities, surviving Brookley infrastructure and developing passenger-terminal complex combine to offer an exceptional setting for airliner, delivery, cargo, military and general aviation operations.”
There’s no word on whether pilots flying in and out of the virtual Brookley can see Middle Bay Light or buzz USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. But photos released by Drzewiecki include shots of other area landmarks that might catch a pilot’s eye: the Africatown Bridge, the spire of the RSA Tower and the APM Terminals container terminal at the Port of Mobile.
The company says its rendering of Brookley includes an “exceptionally detailed new passenger terminal with a fully modeled interior.”
A few months down the line, when reality has had a chance to catch up, visitors to the new terminal will be able to see whether they got it right.
Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Adam Hays of the Mobile Airport Authority.
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