I have just loaded this airport in MSFS 2020, and the performance is shockingly bad in DX12 mode. It is a slideshow on my PC. Granted I have a low end system, but I can run other large detailed airports without any problems (IniBuilds EGLL London Heathrow, all of the super detailed Pyreegue airports, Aerosoft EBBR Brussels and EDDF Frankfurt etc).

How much VRAM does this airport need?

13 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

I have just loaded this airport in MSFS 2020, and the performance is shockingly bad in DX12 mode. It is a slideshow on my PC. Granted I have a low end system, but I can run other large detailed airports without any problems (IniBuilds EGLL London Heathrow, all of the super detailed Pyreegue airports, Aerosoft EBBR Brussels and EDDF Frankfurt etc).

How much VRAM does this airport need?

Seeing your specs this Simulators ( MSFS, MSFS2024 ) can`t be played like it should with a Graficcard you use, you should go over for a new one - in my opinion..

I had before this PC i use at now ( see my specs ) one near like you, Intel I7 and a Nvidia 8GB and had more performance problems than good times with the Sim but now i have a complete other world and I can really enjoy my simulator again and concentrate fully on it.

cheers 😉

Edited September 7, 2025Sep 7 by pmplayer

Indeed. What is shockingly bad is your system specs. 😉

UPDATE: I managed to get MSFS 2020 to run in DX11 mode for the first time in weeks, so I tested the airport again. Performance was better during preparation and pushback, but still rather poor. However, when I returned to the airport after the quick circuit, I experienced poor framerates when landing, and then basically unplayable framerates when I returned to the terminal. In fact, they were so poor that the No.1 trigger button on my joystick that I use for manual brakes did not even work!! I would have ended up crashing through the building wall if I had not pressed the parking brake.

In short, this airport needs some serious optimisation work. It is easily the worst performing airport addon that I have (significantly worse than the performance I was getting close to Terminal 1 at Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt before the recent optimisation patch was released).

As for the comments about upgrading, I will be getting a new PC at some point this year. However, did you not even read the part of my opening post where I stated that I can run other large detailed airports without any problems (IniBuilds EGLL London Heathrow, all of the super detailed Pyreegue airports, Aerosoft EBBR Brussels and EDDF Frankfurt etc)?

Edited September 7, 2025Sep 7 by Christopher Low

4 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

In short, this airport needs some serious optimisation work. It is easily the worst performing airport addon that I have (significantly worse than the performance I was getting close to Terminal 1 at Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt before the recent optimisation patch was released).

Is this really fair though, when you've acknowledged that you have a low end system?    Not so long ago I had a pretty medium to low end rig, and I jsut had to accept that high detailed addon airports weren't going to be for me....   

You can't take a Fiat Panda onto the Nurnburgring and complain that the course is just too difficult because the other drivers finished before you.

In isolation, I could agree with you......but I would ask you to read my comments again. Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt (for example) is a larger airport than ELLX Luxembourg, and that performs very well indeed on my system after the recent optimisation patch was installed. In fact, most of the airport was OK prior to that patch, but now performance is acceptable even around Terminal 1. In contrast, performance anywhere near the main terminals at ELLX Luxembourg is atrocious. I would not be surprised if it was 2-3fps when trying to park (yeah, I know.....I should have given up long before that).

EDIT: I am wondering if they have used extremely high resolution textures. I noticed when installing the airport that it takes up nearly 7GB of disk space. That is considerably more than any of my other airports (in comparison, Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt is 3.8GB).

Edited September 7, 2025Sep 7 by Christopher Low

Well then it seems they fell into the modern trap so many developer's fall into: Don't think about VRAM footprint, and clutter up everything with high res textures instead of using more VRAM friendly methods.

 

Nontheless your system is in serious need of upgrading. I would say buy individual components and build it yourself, because that is cheaper, but you won't even be able to keep your GPU with that aging setup.

 

You can keep your drives though. Modern BIOS and Win11 all recognize the correct boot order automatically.

I just witnessed this again after having to involuntarily upgrade after my CPU died on me. Meant I had to replace everything except for my GPU and my drives.

The most tedious part was the wiring but once everything was installed all I had to do was fire up the thing and it took care of the entire rest without me having to tell which of my drives has to be the boot drive or what the lettering of the rest of drives was.

I will be selecting a suitable customised build for the new PC, and then installing the GPU myself. I have had a bit of good fortune in that department recently that has enabled me to think about a better CPU and more RAM than I had anticipated.

By the way, I sent a report to Atelic about the performance problems at this airport on my PC, and I received a very quick response (on a Sunday)! it seems that others with low end systems (although not everyone) are experiencing similar issues, so hopefully they can isolate the source of the problem that is affecting some systems. Since I will be buying a new PC relatively soon, it is probably a moot point for me, but it would be nice to see a fix for others with low end systems.

EDIT: The good part of this little story is that I discovered that MSFS 2020 can be loaded in DX11 mode again. I have no idea why that is the case, but it has done so twice now, so hopefully it will carry on doing so. To be honest, I was hoping that this would have been good enough to sort out the performance issues at ELLX Luxembourg International, but it seems that other factors are in play.

Edited September 7, 2025Sep 7 by Christopher Low

UPDATE: Atelic have apparently identified the cause of the performance problems for some users, and they are working on a fix 👍

Edited September 8, 2025Sep 8 by Christopher Low

I have a medium to high end machine and indeed this airport is terrible. Down to about 5 fps with a 4070 ti super and an i7 14700f.

On 9/7/2025 at 10:40 AM, Christopher Low said:

I have just loaded this airport in MSFS 2020, and the performance is shockingly bad in DX12 mode. It is a slideshow on my PC. Granted I have a low end system, but I can run other large detailed airports without any problems (IniBuilds EGLL London Heathrow, all of the super detailed Pyreegue airports, Aerosoft EBBR Brussels and EDDF Frankfurt etc).

How much VRAM does this airport need?

 6GB Nvidia GTX 980Ti GPU is not good enough for MSFS 2024 its that simple.

compress the textures @Christopher Low  

15 minutes ago, bhx22 said:

 6GB Nvidia GTX 980Ti GPU is not good enough for MSFS 2024 its that simple.

Please read my comments yet again. I stated that I am using MSFS 2020, and that performance at other more complex airports (like Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt and IniBuildsEGLL London Heathrow is generally fine. I also stated above that Atelic have identified the cause of a performance issue for some users, and that a fix is on the way!!

Edited September 10, 2025Sep 10 by Christopher Low

3 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

Please read my comments yet again. I stated that I am using MSFS 2020, and that performance at other more complex airports (like Aerosoft EDDF Frankfurt and IniBuildsEGLL London Heathrow is generally fine. I also stated above that Atelic have identified the cause of a performance issue for some users, and that a fix is on the way!!

yup some scenerys and devs are just rubbish no matter how much people want to sugar coat things with rose tinted glasses. 

Ive got a 5070ti strix and a 9800x3d  and some scenerys (beautiufull model of the world sceneries for example)  will bring it down to 20 frames. 

 

Edited September 10, 2025Sep 10 by fluffyflops