dear people,
i am really stressed, i have liquidated my company almost 10 times....
i need some help to guide me into the best direction...
what plane do i start with, how do i know which route will get me more money, how to attract more passengers?
i am in Idlewild world, my hub is in London Heathrow.
thank you
Much of the game is trial-and-error, but there are a few strategies that are repeatedly successful.
Start off small. The temptation to open LHR-JFK is nearly overwhelming (and I did that when I first started playing the game myself), but you'll find that it's too difficult to continue if you do. Build up your route network throughout the UK and Ireland, and continental Western Europe, before you start expanding into long-haul. Maximising potential connections is important, because it increases passengers or cargo on all segments of your route network.
Start off small. The temptation to buy widebody aircraft and become the next Emirates is overwhelming, but you have limited starting capital so you have to make hard decisions. The turboprop and regional jet aircraft are much cheaper to operate than even a 787, and your weekly payments will be a lot less. This means you can purchase or lease more aircraft and build up your feeding network faster. Also, lease your aircraft, as the interest payments when purchasing an aircraft are overwhelming for a new company. People swear by the Bombardier Q400 (DH-4D) because of quick turnarounds and short maintenance periods, however it also has some disadvantages compared to other aircraft.
As you grow your company, change your strategy often. Your fellow players won't be happy with you if you operate hundreds of just turboprop and regional jet aircraft. The game is based on slot availability, every scheduled flight consumes a slot at the departure airport and a slot at the arrival airport, with two more slots taken up by a return trip. Having a monopoly on slots is fun at first, but your angered competitors do have the ability to undercut you and gain more of the market share. Upguage routes that are often full to larger narrowbody aircraft like the Airbus 32X or Boeing 737 series to take advantage of selling more seats.
There is no dedicated route research interface that says "X passengers will fly this segment per week", but opening a route between two airports doesn't cost you anything, and you can see the number of direct flights that your competition operate. The Online Reservation System (ORS) also shows you connecting flights between two airports, and whether those flight segments are full or not. Although, just because their flights are full, it doesn't mean that your flights will automatically be full too. Your competitors can offer better seats or better service than you do.
And do you know about the Tutorial available on Wiki?
On the main AS page (airlinesim.aero) you'll find a link where you can get a loot of information to start with.
i am really stressed, i have liquidated my company almost 10 times....
I would have to say that you are fitting in well with the rest of us, if my own experience is anything to go by. I have stopped counting the number of times that I have restarted. Do not give up yet--it will start to make sense. Be sure to read the forums and the wiki; ask questions if you cannot find the answers you need.
Another suggestion: study what the real airlines do. I use Wikipedia to research the airports that I am considering flying from to see where the real airlines fly. As I understand it, passenger demand in the game is based on real-world passenger demand. While I want my airlines to be unique and have their own feel, it helps to see what is really happening out there. I also study various airlines to see what practices of theirs might work for mine.
Finally, don't be tempted to start in those mega airports. They should be occupied by bigger players that can greatly hinder your growth. Instead, try starting in those less served secondary aiports with 6-7 bars, or ideally, less served closed regions and countries.
Another suggestion: study what the real airlines do. I use Wikipedia to research the airports that I am considering flying from to see where the real airlines fly. As I understand it, passenger demand in the game is based on real-world passenger demand. While I want my airlines to be unique and have their own feel, it helps to see what is really happening out there. I also study various airlines to see what practices of theirs might work for mine.
I also study what real airlines do but at the same time I often experience that the demand in the game is not based on real-world demand. This includes specific routes as well schedules of network-carriers. A real-world scenario would look much different to the scene at the server where I am doing my business.
I also study other airlines and their way of doing business. This is really a good way to compare different approaches of running an airline.
Regards
do you think i should start with Bombardier Q400A or A318 Light? or any advice on which plane to start with
do you think i should start with Bombardier Q400A or A318 Light? or any advice on which plane to start with
What are you starting? And what routes? Quite important :)
i am starting from heathrow and hopefully starting around europe like paris, rome, frankfurt and all european countries.
Starting from Heathrow is very ambitious. You will face a lot of tough competition. But for those short routes DashQ400 is highly recommended. If I were you, I would focus on smaller airports. In UK (if you want to operate there), start with a airport like Glasgow, Edinburgh or maybe something slightly bigger. In that way you can build an airline without too much competition :)
ok one last question, in cabin configurations would you recommend standard seats or economy? and plus if i started lets say in edinburgh, it seems like in aircraft evaluation it says i would get more money from luton to Europe destinations, so should i like make a flight lets say from edinburgh to rome connecting with luton in between?
Never use standard seats. You'll lose the second you face competition. Use at least economy.
Dont use via flights, with a stop in Luton (or anywhere else). Dosent pay off.
For flights too long for the Dash, use Boing 737-700 BGW. 
one thing, from small airports like edinburgh, flights in europe and out does not get me as much profits as other big airports like heathrow and luton?
one thing, from small airports like edinburgh, flights in europe and out does not get me as much profits as other big airports like heathrow and luton?
The passengers and cargo that you fly fall into two categories: O&D (Origination and Destination) or connecting. London airports will have more O&D passengers, but they'll also have far more people trying to obtain slots. Other airports within the country will have fewer O&D passengers, but you can make up the difference in bookings through connecting traffic. Simply having a route from LHR doesn't mean that you'll automatically have full flights. (In fact, when I first started the game and made my LHR-JFK prestige route, I think I had four passengers total after three days of bookings. Needless to say, the route got closed down fast because I didn't have the supporting network to feed my flight with connecting passengers.)
Smaller airports also have fewer people operating into them, meaning it's easier to schedule your aircraft, which means you can build up a connection network easily. The suggested airports like GLA, EDI, MAN, etc are smaller than LHR, but they're still quite large with plenty of demand. Because they aren't London airports, they also have fewer people flying to them, so you can easily schedule for connecting traffic. They also have a lower Minimum Transfer Time, so its easier to schedule connections. (1hr vs 1.5hr, conveniently the turnaround time for a 737 or 32X is also an hour.)
ok i know i am a bit anoying with the questions... but if i wanted to schedule a flight lets say from edinburgh to rome connecting via luton, how can i assign 2 aircrafts to do it so an atr42 takes the route from edinburgh to luton and q400a takes the luton to rome? + should i order new leased aircrafts or should i buy them used from aircraft market?
Starting from Heathrow is very ambitious.
I would call it impossible, simply because there are almost no slots left.
if i wanted to schedule a flight lets say from edinburgh to rome connecting via luton, how can i assign 2 aircrafts to do it so an atr42 takes the route from edinburgh to luton and q400a takes the luton to rome? + should i order new leased aircrafts or should i buy them used from aircraft market?
To answer in reverse order: Since you've opted for aircraft that are still produced, then check the used aircraft market first for fairly new aircraft that are cheaper than leasing a brand new aircraft. Using the used aircraft market means you skip the manufacturing time, and you can often find planes cheaper than new. Why pay more for the same thing?
For the first question, An ATR42-600 has a scheduled flight time of 01:18 and turnaround time of 00:30. Minimum connection time at LTN is 01:00. For a passenger to transfer EDI-LTN-FCO, the LTN-FCO segment must depart at least one hour after the EDI-LTN segment arrives. Assuming you schedule the ATR's next segment as soon as possible, your timeline will look like this:
00:00 AT5 departs EDI (flight time: 01:18)
XX:XX Q400 arrives LTN (anytime up to 01:48)
01:18 AT5 arrives LTN (turnaround time is 00:30)
01:48 AT5 departs LTN
02:18 Q400 departs LTN (flight time is 03:00)
05:18 Q400 arrives FCO (Turnaround time is 00:45)
06:03 Q400 departs FCO
The minimum connection time only applies to passengers who change aircraft for their next segment. If the Q400 did the entire EDI-LTN-FCO trip, then their total trip time could have been a half-hour less.
should i start my own terminal?