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Second Norway Lufthavn (ICAO: SLSN or SNO) is a major dual-runway public airport encompassing seven sim regions of the Second Norway Estate - a privately-operated group of sims in the eastern part of the Blake Sea. Since its restructuring in early 2015, the airport has become one of the largest operational airports in Second Life. It´s also home to VCG Cape Kirk Station and SAREMS UK Second Norway Station.

Landing Advisories

  • Elevation advisory: Airport runway elevation 31m (11m above sea level). Minimum recommend approach at 41m.
  • High volume traffic advisory: Periods of high aircraft traffic of various kinds occur throughout the day. Check the region before approaching when possible.
  • Slow rez advisory: Due to the large number of vendors and facilities on location, this airport may take longer to load than many. Pre-landing flyover to cache objects is strongly recommended.
  • No weapons, battle activity or freelance sales at the airport.

Background

First phase construction

Founded in 2012, the original layout of Second Norway Lufthavn featured two asphalt runways arranged in an "L" shape (pointing east/west and north/south). Like its successor, much of the airport's terminal building - including airline check-in desks and main entrance - was located below the surface level, with escalators and an elevator linking it to the terminal building at ground level. A relatively simple building, the terminal was equipped with airline check-in desks (located in the underground lobby), three gates, two helipads and a small ATC tower. In addition, there were fifteen rental hangars of various sizes scattered around the aerodrome.

Second phase reconstruction

In mid-late 2013, the airport underwent major construction work, which saw the bulk of the airport shift one region eastwards. The new layout in 'Airport SNO' and 'Sletta', featured two new parallel runways, one running along the north edge of the facility, the other on the south edge, separated by SNO's new terminal building, apron and hangars in the middle. On the western perimeter of the airport, management constructed the Port of Sletta, a cargo distribution center with large cranes, docks and rail links. The port was home to the GridEx shipping company's primary distribution offices.

Major changes were also made below the surface. Still containing a large underground check-in area, the terminal's lobby level was expanded to incorporate more office space, a café, and new connections to Second Norway's road and monorail network. A further sub-level was added directly below to accommodate fifteen additional aircraft hangars (accessible via a large cargo elevator at surface level). As previously mentioned, the airport's ground-level terminal building was of a completely new design - longer and larger, it was equipped with three passenger gates (two equipped with static jet bridges), an ATC tower, two helipads, and several integrated hanger/retail spaces (with additional offices on the floor above).

Third phase reconstruction

During Fall 2014, the Blake Sea and its connected estates gradually expanded eastwards, with additional regions being created for the Second Norway Estate. By February 2015, Second Norway Lufthavn had gained five newly created regions on its eastern and southern perimeter; bringing the total number owned to seven. The new land was utilized in a major restructuring of the facility's layout - building a new arrival runway, tie-down spaces, numerous hangars and even a second terminal building named "Terminal A".

The airport's new 340m x 30m arrival runway, spanning the freshly-created 'Vestnes' and 'Brinken' sims, is fully lit with VASI approach lights. The 310m x 20m departure runway was left unchanged and is still located along the northern edge of the 'Sletta' and 'Airport SNO' regions (parallel to the original terminal building - now dubbed "Terminal B"). The original arrival runway was demolished in March 2015 and was replaced with nine large tie-down spaces. New aprons have been built to accommodate the runways and the existing network of roads, taxiways and monorail tracks have been extended above and below the surface level.

Effectively replacing the aging Terminal B, SNO's new main terminal building - Terminal A - is a large, three-story building, architecturally reminiscent of a red-timbered Scandinavian longhouse. It is equipped with seven passenger gates, three of which have adjustable jet bridges and VDGS (Visual Docking Guidance System). Alongside the jet bridges are seven small rental hangars. Inside, in the main foyer, there are over a dozen rentable airline check-in counters, numerous office/retail spaces and a monorail subway station located below. At the rear of the building is a secondary entrance with several public and rental docks for mooring seaplanes and boats.

Dire Straits and New Ownership

With the Coronavirus outbreak in Early 2020 causing damage to both the real life and to some extent, the Second Life economy, as well as the falling value of the Norwegian Krone to the US Dollar among other issues, Second Norway and Sailor's Cove were on the precipice of being lost.[1] In what can be considered given the state of affairs of the grid - a miracle - Second Norway was acquired by Luxory Estates, with Ey Ren joining them as a manager for Second Norway. With the change of ownership would come changes to the northern sections of the Estate, whilst Second Norway Lufthavn, the adjacent town of Bryggen and the Second Norway 'Stave Church' would be left relatively unchanged.

Airlines

SNO refuelling ground services (03-15)

SNO ground services refuelling a BSA airliner (March 2015).

The following list includes all airlines who maintain a presence at Second Norway Lufthavn or operate scheduled services to and from the facility as of April 2021. Other non-scheduled charter flights may be available on request. Please contact airlines for more information.

Facilities and services

SNO, Pastry Cafe (12-13)

Pastry Café located in the Terminal B (December 2013).

Pilots' facilities

General facilities

  • Large terminal building (Terminal A) with:
    • x7 public gates (x3 equipped with adjustable jet bridge & VDGS).
    • Passenger waiting area.
    • Rental check-in desks.
    • Rental offices/retail space.
    • Monorail station.
  • Large terminal building (Terminal B) with:
    • x3 public gates.
    • Heliport with x4 public helipads.
    • Passenger waiting area.
    • Rental check-in desks.
    • Rental offices/retail space.
    • Pastry Café.
    • Monorail station.
  • Cargo terminal with pushback system.
  • Shops/vendors.
  • Emergency services (Fire, police departments).
  • Ground services.
  • x40 rental hangars (x15 underground, x25 above ground).
  • Car parking/access (with rental spaces).
  • Access to the Port of Sletta.

Images

References

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