Tenerife North – Ciudad de La Laguna Airport (GCXO/TFN) is the smaller of the two international airports on the island of Tenerife, Spain. The airport serves as an inter-island hub connecting all seven of the main Canary Islands, with connections to the Iberian Peninsula, Europe, North Africa and Caracas, Venezuela.
This rendition of Tenerife North (GCXO) is made with obsessive precision and photorealistic textures to immerse you in an expereince which is as close to real life as possible. The airport has been made from the ground up and optimised for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Features
High-definition PBR textures and objects from photos shot on location
Animated jetways
Animated custom vehicles
Animated objects such as palm trees, flags, windsocks, fans and passengers
Modelled interior
Highly accurate ground textures and elevation
Lifelike custom signs to help you find your way around the airport
Please read before purchasing:
This airport is made in high detail so it might not run smoothly on your system. We have done our best to optimise the experience as much as possible and will continue to listen to community feedback to improve it. However, please make sure that you examine the recommended PC specifications before you purchase this add-on.
Note about VDGS:
VDGS is INOP according to real-world procedures; they haven’t been working at this airport for a while now and you will be guided by the default marshaller. However, the VDGS modules can be removed manually by deleting the folder called 'sceneryairport-gcxo-tenerife-northgcxo-vdgs' and replacing it with a third party add-on such as GSX if you wish.
Requirements
Minimum Recommended PC user specifications:
Microsoft Flight Simulator (i.e. the 2020 Standard, Deluxe or Premium Deluxe edition of Flight Simulator)
Processor: Intel i5-10600K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600
RAM: 8GB
Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 / AMD Radeon 6800 or better
Video memory: 4GB
OS: Windows 10 or higher
6.17GB hard drive space
This add-on is NOT compatible with the Xbox edition of MSFS.
This is an excellent airport, with the potential to be absolutely sublime with a few simple additions.
I'll start with what's currently not so good...
SOME (but not all) of the ground textures, particularly on the taxiways and runway. They're a little lower-res than I'd have liked; however the actual ground markings are fine. The western boundary of the airport hasn't received as much love as the eastern (terminal) side — there are a few prominent bits in this area that could have been added to boost immersion.
Now I've got the flaws out of the way, I can turn my attention to the more positive aspects...
The terminal building is nothing short of fantastic. Among the best I've ever seen, externally and internally. Just Flight have modelled literally everything on the inside: seats, shops, cafes, bars, signs, advertisements, posters, fire alarms... you name it, it's there, mostly in fine detail. There are a lot of custom animations, too, both inside and out on the ramp — people, flags, ground service vehicles, air-con fans... even the palm trees! The overwhelming emphasis has very obviously been put on the terminal building and its airside and landside areas. My only criticism is that the custom-modelled landside fits quite awkwardly into the default photo scenery in places — but this isn't anything major. The landside detail extends a fair way back from the terminal and includes custom parked cars, modelled roads (with full signage), foliage, supermarkets, warehouses and a petrol station.
The quality of the eastern side of the airport is so impressive that I cannot bring myself to deduct a star for the poorer western side and the lacklustre taxiway/runway textures. The detail focus is exactly where it should be — on the areas seen most often at close quarters by pilots — so anything less than five stats I think would be a travesty.
If Just Flight can improve the texture resolution in a small number of places, and add a bit more detail to the western perimeter, this would be right up there with 2024's top payware airports. As is stands, it isn't too far off already.
If you want/need a great representation of GCXO in your sim, this is it!
For those that don’t have much time to read: buy this one, and don’t buy from MK-Studios.
The reasons:
- MK-Studios comes in a bundle when bought from the MSFS in-game marketplace, so you won’t be able to easily use only Tenerife North or South independently.
- The Just Flight version is MUCH more detailed. The interiors of the buildings and surroundings are just amazing. There are even passengers inside the main building.
- Even the colors in the MK-Studios versions are way off from reality.
- Both have the same FPS rates.
- I can’t talk about technical stuff like ILS accuracy, since I don’t have that level of knowledge yet.