Is it planned in the coming patches that players can build terminals with a partner? Or what do you guys think about this feature? Terminal partners can determine the amount they spend for the terminal and can have rights depending the on the money they put. I think this feature can encourage building own terminals with less money which may help small airlines.
While the feature itself is interesting (imagine an alliance wanting to set up a terminal at their hubs, all members could invest this way), I don’t think it’s useful for small/beginning airlines at all. They’d be far better off investing that money in more aircraft to expand their network. Too often do small or new airlines invest in terminals, causing them to spend valuable money without having any discernible effect.
Your point is also right, missed that. What do you think small airlines invest in "already built" terminals? For example airline A has capacity of 195 pax at FRA, going full to his hub and want to increase his ticket price.Airline B has a terminal at FRA with 5000 capacity and fully booked. A offers to pay for the construction of 195 pax extension (which is more less than building the smallest). I think break point of investment will be in acceptable time with the higher ticket price.
Hi,
Tim is right. Even if you could invest in smaller terminals, or a small part of a terminal, the profit margin would be the same.
I did the calculations half a year ago, and I don’t remember the exact numbers (but you can probably find them somewhere on the old forum). Anyway, it is something like: for every 100.000 dollar you invest in a terminal, the weekly profit is 1.000 dollar. For every 100.000 dollar you invest in leasing a plane, the weekly profit is 10.000 dollar.
If you want to grow, lease planes. If you don’t want to grow anymore, build terminals and buy planes. 
Jan
Of course growing is easier by leasing planes, just some idea 
Hm… perhaps it would be easier to decrease the minimum size of a new terminal. That would also make it cheaper to build.
But there is a way around it. You can already own part of a terminal if you find a partner who wants to invest the minimum of 3 million
Find someone who is willing to create a subsidiary. After two weeks he goes public and you buy shares. If that company is only used to build and rent terminals, you help to finance that terminal and you can lease part of it for the agreed price. Your profit: cheaper passenger handling, higher rating and a small weekly divident.
One (possible) problem. You can’t sell terminals, and you loose all the invested money if the legal owner liquidates the subsidiary. Mind you, he also looses his investment. So it would probably only happen if he stops playing.
Jan
What would really make terminals more useful is if their operating costs had less of an impact on the airline operating them. I believe the employee costs and depreciation are fair as they stand, but what isn’t fair is that the building can only earn revenue through contracting PAX services only. If you own the terminal, the larger and more used it is, it should become cheaper to operate (not just from the aspect of spreading employee costs out over a larger pax/revenue base). The bigger the terminal, the more HMS/Starbucks/ ect I can have in there. More pax, means higher rent from the shops occupying the terminal and so on. Those stores and increased rental fees have no effect on the direct weekly costs of operating the building when it comes to heating, cooling, maintenace, and employees. But it does have an effect on the overall profit/loss part of the equation and would make their operation more realistic without adding unnecessary features like the management of said shops and so forth.
Cheers!