Phuket has been on my wishlist for quite a while. Years ago, way before our beloved Dreamliner was released by a well-known developer, my plan was to take a Norwegian 787 to Phuket as my first ever flight on the type. The only issue with the idea was the lack of decent scenery for this popular holiday destination. As a result, my intro flight had to be diverted to Orlando, but never mind. Disneyland will do, and I can only hope my passengers thought the same. But hey, there are new winds blowing since then! Here we are, it's April 2020, and we've got quite a long queue of holidaymakers excitedly waiting at the gate of Justsim's Moscow's Vnukovo (also available on Simmarket), to leave the long Russian winter behind and board their flights to Phuket, Thailand, thanks to the talented developer behind A_A Sceneries!

After a long cruise in our 757-200, pushed to the limits of its range, over Russia, Kazakhstan, a bit of China and a number of other Asian countries, I found myself overlooking the Malacca Strait and shooting the approach over the Andaman Sea into VTSP. As the airport came into view, I knew I am up for a memorable encounter. Even from afar one can already see that no effort was spared making the area nicely blend into the surroundings. Very smartly placed trees give the immediate vicinity a pleasant and authentic look. Vacating RWY 09, I immediately started to observe the surroundings. After giving way to animated traffic, I taxied to the SODE-powered gate and my virtual passengers were free to go.

I am very pleasantly surprised by the high quality of this scenery in every possible aspect! It is a very decent representation of the airport that finally fills the existing gap, giving us virtual pilots the opportunity to provide passenger service to another popular destination.

A_A Sceneries got it perfectly right. It is incredibly well put together, you just feel that everything is in the right place, in the right amount.

The entire scenery is packed with stunning little details. The developer certainly did not forget about any of the essential goodies either. Although I arrived in broad daylight (well, shame on you, Active Sky, you gave me grey overcast skies on my first arrival!), I was curious about what A_A Sceneries managed to achieve regarding night lighting. Let me tell you, the results are nothing short of incredible! Night lighting is, once again, a careful balance, of colour and brightness and common sense. Not too harsh unlike is the case with several scenery products, but not too faint either. It is exactly what it should be, without washing out textures and making it over the top. Delicious work indeed!

The general textures, by the way, are also superb. Sharp, but not fake-looking, again, an ideal balance comes to mind. Animated traffic is present in the form of a hard-working purple passenger bus that runs around the airport unceasingly, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I sincerely hope that A_A Sceneries pays the driver accordingly for his outstanding work!

How about performance? Let me tell you, this scenery will beat any of your already established performance-kings. Not only will it not tax your FPS, but it will literally soar. The experience, the knowledge of the developer clearly shows here, this piece of scenery is the ultimate definition of smoothness. Perfectly optimized, day and night alike.

Phuket is well-populated with clutter. But do not think of some rushed ugly objects thrown around the airport in a random fashion! All that you get to see is nicely crafted and is placed exactly where it has to go. Again, healthy balance comes to mind, it's just the right amount to make the airport feel like a living, breathing place. The immersion is real!

It's awesome that A_A Sceneries decided to redo Phuket, a must-have destination to anyone who loves holiday flights, be it long or short. I am looking forward to future stuff from this developer and this scenery makes me consider their flagship product, Beijing (ZBAA) which you can also pick up from Simmarket!

A_A Sceneries' VTSP is well worth the money, I can only recommend it.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is gonna be your 5-star holiday in Thailand, without any doubt! Hesitate no more!