Some real-world bad news, although possibly with a silver lining; The Aviodrome Aviation Theme Park in Lelystad, Netherlands, has filed for protection from creditors (the equivalent of bankruptcy protection elsewhere in the world), citing falling visitor numbers, a fall in event bookings and lack of availability of increased sponsorship.
Aviodrome is well known to flight simmers as the home to possibly the best simulation show in the world, so clearly this does affect us directly.
For those unfamiliar with the procedures, the idea behind the protection is to prevent a creditor winding up the company that runs Aviodrome while efforts are underway to sell it as a going concern.
This is, indeed, where the cloud may have a silver lining. According to this forum post sent to us by Bert Groner of FSMagazin, The Libéma group may consider taking over the park once the debt situation is resolved. In the meantime, Aviodrome is still open and operating so, if you were considering a visit, now’s the time to go!