Get ready to run realistic ground operations for flights in Airport Sim

If you want to pay a visit to an airport without enduring the endless queues to pass through security and check in, then the new trailer for Airport Sim seen first at the Future Games Show Powered by Mana may have whet your appetite.

Realism is key for Airport Sim, which MS Games are producing in partnership with MK Studios, who are renowned for developing dozens of official add-ons and mods for Microsoft Flight Simulator in addition to providing flight simulation software for professional pilot training. The goal is to harness this extensive experience, in order to produce the best simulator of airport operations.

Although there aren't many details revealed in the trailer, we do get to see two of the airport settings in action. Vágar in the Faroe Islands and Keflavík in Iceland are both surrounded by beautiful scenery, with shimmering lakes and tree-covered plains giving way to cloud-topped mountains in the distance, and all of this rendered in eye-pleasing 4K.

We also witness these locations going through a full day and night cycle, along with a range of weather effects from sunshine to showers to snow. These are bound to affect your airport operations, whether it's keeping the runways clear so planes can land safety or redirecting flights if visibility drops too low.

Towards the end of the trailer we see a baggage train racing along, with unsecured items spilling out everywhere. This is followed by a brief first-person view from the operator's seat, suggesting that players will be able to take control of vehicles and drive them around the airport. If that's the case then you'll need to take care and follow the correct procedures, unless you want to lose everyone's luggage over the sides as shown in the example.

Airport Sim is landing on PC and Xbox Series X / S in 2023, but you can book your ticket in advance by adding Airport Sim to your Steam wishlist.

For more awesome games featured during today's Future Games Show, check out our official steam page.

Iain Wilson
Guides Editor

Iain originally joined Future in 2012 to write guides for CVG, PSM3, and Xbox World, before moving on to join GamesRadar in 2013 as Guides Editor. His words have also appeared in OPM, OXM, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, and SFX. He is better known to many as ‘Mr Trophy’, due to his slightly unhealthy obsession with amassing intangible PlayStation silverware, and he now has over 750 Platinum pots weighing down the shelves of his virtual award cabinet. He does not care for Xbox Achievements.

Read more
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Why Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is a hidden gem in the PC Game Pass library
Best simulator games: a screenshot of a plan at sunset in the game Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Best simulator games to play right now
Big in 2025: inZOI
inZOI's "community simulation" approach to the life sim genre could make it The Sims 4's biggest rival yet
Let's Build a Dungeon
"They will cancel their subscription and your investors will have your head": This management sim about making the perfect MMO is so detailed it lets you play your own game
InZOI screenshot showing friendly Zois hanging out at a beach party
inZOI: Everything we know so far
Two Point Museum screenshot of a dinosaur skeleton on display in a museum next to decorative dinosaur footprints
Two Point Museum review: "The best management sim from Two Point Studios to date"
Latest in Simulation
Stardew Valley Baldur's Gate 3 mod Baldur's Village
Stardew Valley player bringing a bit of Baldur's Gate 3 to ConcernedApe's farming sim, now with Larian's seal of approval, says they've played over 1,500 hours and will improve the mod
A Sim draws a tattoo in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies cheats for small business success
inZOI Character Studio screenshot showing a young woman with short black/pink hair, black cat-like ears, and a black blouse with a bowtie
The creator of upcoming life sim Inzoi says he was "recklessly brave to even think about creating a game of this scale"
Stardew Valley Castle Village mod
Stardew Valley Expanded creator is building an "even more ambitious" mod with a whole new city and "dungeons inspired by The Legend of Zelda"
A shop in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
How to start a small business in The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero expert finally annihilates world record 200% speedrun of the game's hardest song after trying and failing 50,000 times
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
I've found my Assassin's Creed Shadows playstyle, thanks to this clip of Yasuke smashing dudes with a huge club instead of sneaking around
World of Warcraft housing
World of Warcraft's new housing system lets you decorate without the floating hacks I've been using in Final Fantasy 14 for 11 years, and I weep
Gemma Chan in Eternals
Eternals star Gemma Chan is hopeful she'll return to the MCU someday: "There's unfinished business there"
two aliens firing miniguns
4 years after shutting down, this dead sci-fi MMO is being brought back to life, but there's no word on its canceled TV show tie-in
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Netflix wants Daniel Craig to join the cast of Greta Gerwig's Narnia movie – but it's not certain if he'll take it
The Last of Us
The Last of Us season 2 trailer breaks HBO viewing records, becoming the network's most-watched trailer