Airport 2000 Volume 3 to ship in March

Wilco Publishing announced today that the third game in its Airport 2000 add-on series for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 will ship in March. Airport 2000 Volume 3 will feature seven new airports, three new aircraft, and 10 new adventures with intermediate and advanced designations.

The airports will include San Francisco International, Denver International, Seattle Tacoma, Paris Orly, Kastrup Copenhagen, Berlin Tegel, and London Gatwick. Each airport will be re-created in detail, including the satellite terminals, actual hangars, office and maintenance buildings, radar towers, and taxiways with corresponding ID signs (CAT I, CAT II/III, and so forth). Other features will include numbered gates; cars, buses, and push-back and service vehicles; constantly moving refueling trucks and monorails; and passengers walking in terminals.

The three new aircraft will include a Boeing 737-800, an Airbus A320, and a Dornier 328 Turbo Prop. Each instrument panel will reproduce its real-life counterpart down to the positions and sizes of the gauges, and details will be more readable than in earlier volumes. Furthermore, each aircraft will have moving flaps and ailerons, rotating fans and propellers, animated retractable gear and flap sequences, detailed 3D gear doors, illuminated landing and navigation lights, and a Flight Management Computer (FMC). The game will also feature transparent windows, 3D pilots, multiple high-resolution day and night textures, and 360-degree cockpit views with front, overhead, and pedestal panels.

Seven of the new adventures will involve flights between the airports in Volume 3, while three others will link airports between the Volume 3 and Volumes 1 and 2. Some of the challenges will be a new ranking system for adventures, new dynamic jetways, and even birds that can swoop dangerously low above runways and near your aircraft.

Airport 2000 Volume 3 has an estimated retail price of $39.