Oh for sure! If TFP make one, they'll probably do some work to support it (new blocks & tiles, maybe other stuff). I'm just suggesting that no one who REALLY wants one they can run via RNG has to wait for that. I do think it is fair to ask if we will get one, because TFP are busy, even the POI team (who are only 5-6 people, as far as I can tell, and I don't know if any of them have other work they also do).
Personally, if I wanted one, I would do it as part of a custom map and either do it right on the map using hand-painted roads and some placed POIs or else make 2-3 tiles to use. But everyone's going to have different expectations or standards, you know? Like I don't want aircraft using the current block library because I think it's insufficient, but maybe this isn't as much of a dealbreaker for someone else. If someone wants to make a crappy lil 1-tile airport because they want it that bad, it's no skin of our asses if they do, you know? Let them cook?
I do also think it's valid to talk about scale though. Most buildings and towns are smaller in game than they are in real life, even if the POI team is excellent at obscuring that fact and there's no reason an airport wouldn't be the same. Not even the pimps are gonna make an airport with 2 km runways, I suspect! I would bet almost anything that if we see an official TFP-created airport, any runways will be no more than 4 tiles long and probably no more than 3.
You're right that they aren't likely to make a 2km runway... or a full sized large airport, either. After all, LAX is about 5.2km x 3.6km and JFK is about 5km x 3.5km and DTW (Detroit) is about 5.6km x 5km, which is extremely large when our maps can't be over 16k. It'll likely be a regional airport with a runway that's between 400-600m. That's still much shorter than a typical regional runway, but the runway size would fit with some of the smaller one-hangar, no-terminal airports and would look appropriate on a regional airport. However, I still really like AH64_Jimbo's original airport layout. It was about 2km x 1.5km in size, with most of that the runways. The airport terminal was 2 tiles in size, which meant quests had to be divided between each section, but it still worked. There were many other buildings that were part of the airport as well, making it look and feel like a real airport... and not a regional one. Sure, it took a lot of space and I eventually stopped including it in my maps because it needed so much space and that reduced the number of towns, but I really liked it. It didn't look like some cheap corner cutting version of an airport. If TFP made one on that scale, I think they might have something that looks very similar. Now, yes... the planes are limited due to block limitations, but since we're talking about airport sizes, that part doesn't really matter.
In the end, I don't think TFP should make such a large airport. It's really nice, but it's just too much for the map sizes we're using and it should be something that can work on smaller maps and not just the largest map sizes. So I think a regional airport with parking lot, small terminal, a few hangars, a 400-600m runway (it can even have a secondary runway at an angle like some do), and perhaps some other buildings that would fit a regional airport. That could be done on 1x3 or 1x4 tiles, though a 2x3 or 2x4 layout might look better so there's some more space so that each building and runway don't feel like they are on top of one another. But I'm sure they would do something good one way or another, so I'm not concerned about the exact layout or anything.
Regarding people making 1-tile airports if they want it that bad, I'm absolutely fine with people making their own airports of any size or quality. I've never said, or at least never intended it to be implied, that people couldn't make their own airports of whatever size they wanted. If they want to create a 1-tile version or even just a 100x100 or 150x150 POI version without a tile, there's nothing at all wrong with that. But the discussion seemed to be about TFP making an airport. If they are the ones making the airport, they should make a good one and not what you might find in a mod. And to be clear, custom POI in mods can absolutely look amazing, and can even look better than TFP's POI. But there's also nothing wrong with lower quality custom POI in mods. I just don't think we should settle for TFP making lower quality POI.
The main thing (for me) is that the runway should look like it fits the world. It's fine if the POI are smaller than real buildings. That means the runway can be as well. However, if buildings are roughly 80% of the size of the same building in real life, then a runway should be roughly 80% of the size of one in real life as well. Otherwise, the scale looks wrong if you are familiar with airports. I can't even start to picture an airport with a runway that's only a tile long. A tile is really quite short if you don't have it attached to anything (it looks longer just because you have multiple tiles connected together). That's just too short to look at all correct. You might get away with 2 tiles. That would mean a 300m runway (or somewhat larger at an angle, that exact length would vary based on runway width and available space for placing the buildings and parking lot and stuff). That still short, but if you assume buildings are smaller than normal, then that can be okay if you make the airport look like it's a VERY small airport. Otherwise, I would try to stick to 3-4 tiles for the runway. It would just look far better and really doesn't take that much space. The only real issue is that RWG can't place it (currently).
