Valley International Airport (VIA) (IATA: HRL, ICAO: KHRL, FAA LID: HRL) is owned by the City of Harlingen, in Cameron County, Texas, United States. It is operated by a nine-member airport board appointed by the mayor. HRL is centrally located in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and is referred to as the "Gateway to South Padre Island" with travel amenities and door to door transportation to South Padre Island. With over 2,500 acres (1,000 ha) HRL is the largest airport in the RGV with room for future expansion. HRL has the longest runways in the area with modern aircraft approach systems that minimize chances of delays during bad weather.
Key Feature
Hi-Resolution Modeling stick to reality Valley Intl Airport and PBR Texturing
Animated Passengers
Current as of March 2024 and will be updated as soon as real life goes live
This is my second Fly2 airport and, thankfully, it seems they're improving with each release. While not perfect, Valley seems to correct a number of issues previous airports suffered — but I feel the dev needs to pay more attention to quality control.
The most annoying niggles here are numerous gaps in the perimeter fencing (including around the main terminal), the wig-wags casting their light onto the ground in the wrong direction at night, and the frankly unreadable (i.e. blurry) aircraft type ground markings on stands.
What has been done to a pretty high standard is the general texture work, particularly on the jetways (which seem to very accurately reflect their real-world counterparts) and out on the aprons, taxiways and runways. The new custom ground signage is impressive, too. The terminal landside could do with a bit more life but looks decent. Similarly, the airside ground clutter is slightly sparse but there is at least some, and it is custom-modelled.
I'd really like to see some modelling outside the perimeter fence — an idea this dev currently seems averse to. Since there's no PG in the area, it would be great to have a few POIs to look at while on finals.
This could easily be a four-star airport but, as it is, there are just too many little flaws which collectively kill the immersion. Fly2 simply need to take more time to ensure all issues are ironed out prior to release.