New player questions/When to reset?

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1

Apologies in advance - I'm sure that all these questions have been asked before, somewhere. Despite some searching, however, I'm coming up short on the answers. I'd appreciate any advice.

A quick overview of how badly I've managed to maul things thus far:

 - I've set up in Vanuatu, opened a couple of offices, planned some routes, and generally figured out the controls (kinda).

 - My current fleet (most of it still being delivered) is as follows: 1 Antonov 148-100E, 2 ATR 72-600s, and 2 LET 410s.

 - The original plan, such as it was, was to use the 410s to run domestic routes to the main hub of Port Vila. I've no idea of frequency of passengers or the like, so I set the 410s up to make as many flights to the outlying airports as possible daily. The planes weren't (and still aren't) on site yet, but I figured I could get an idea of bookings and create a more efficient schedule based on those numbers for when they actually service those routes. I've recently learned that you pay cancellation fees, but the numbers are so small that this probably isn't an issue?

 - The ATRs were then to service the regional centres nearby, again using the same idea as the 410s. Offering bookings for flights which I knew couldn't exist, cancelling them once the bookings had leveled off for a few days, and then firming up a proper schedule thereafter.

 - The Antonov was to service some medium-haul destinations in Australia and Papua New Guinea. I had planned on a similar approach with this, but unfortunately it arrived a little early so it's now servicing some of the routes I had originally just planned to get an idea of numbers (so it's a big aircraft with, like, 5 people on it currently.

 - So, now having a better idea of the numbers I'm beginning to think that the Antonov and ATRs are overkill, and I might be better served with the Embraer 135LR. Even if it has to run at reduced capacity on the longer flights, it doesn't appear that the numbers are going to be high enough for that to factor.

Anyway, so that's where things currently stand, and I have a few questions:

The bookings system is a little opaque to me at the moment. I follow that the demand of the airport has something to do with it, and I know that calculations are made per airport at the assigned time. What I'm not certain on is if, when that calculation is made, does it rule out any further bookings to flights already assigned passengers from that airport, or are more bookings made every time the assigned time on that airport comes around? In other words, if 5 people book on flight A from airport A at the time airport A makes its calculations, but another calculation is due for the airport prior to the departure of flight A will more people be added to flight A?

If leased planes are currently being transferred to my hub, can I cancel the contract without issue and immediately seek different planes?

Is there some precondition which must be set before prices can be adjusted? I've tried, almost entirely without success, to alter the prices on some of my routes. So far, only one such change has stuck and I can't figure out how, or why.

What does a reset do, exactly? Is it a complete wipe and you basically start over, or does it sell everything and whatever is left-over is what you get?

At what point is it considered normal/appropriate/the done thing to reset?

Is it possible to make a profitable airline in a place like Vanuatu? I was given advice when starting out to aim for a place where no other airline had set up, and so get a hold on the domestic market. It wasn't until after a bit that I realized the low demand in Vanuata might make development impossible.

Any other thoughts, tips, advice and so on would be appreciated.

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In other words, if 5 people book on flight A from airport A at the time airport A makes its calculations, but another calculation is due for the airport prior to the departure of flight A will more people be added to flight A?

As long as flight A is not fully booked, yes.

 

If leased planes are currently being transferred to my hub, can I cancel the contract without issue and immediately seek different planes?

You can cancel the contract at any time, but the leasing ends when you have to pay the next leasing rate after the cancellation. you won't get your security deposit back before then and you will still have the plane in your fleet for that time, so for one week in your case.

 

Is there some precondition which must be set before prices can be adjusted? I've tried, almost entirely without success, to alter the prices on some of my routes. So far, only one such change has stuck and I can't figure out how, or why.

A price change won't affect flights that are already booked, only the following ones (3 days +). So you haven't done anything wrong here, you just don't see the effect yet. If you are unsure go to the route Management and check for the prices listed under "Flights assigned to this route". These are the valid ones for all new flights that will be added.

 

What does a reset do, exactly? Is it a complete wipe and you basically start over, or does it sell everything and whatever is left-over is what you get?

If you do a reset you will start again at your headquarter with 10M AS$, you won't be able to change your country or headquarter.

If you want to do that you’ll have to delete your company and create a new one.

 

Is it possible to make a profitable airline in a place like Vanuatu? I was given advice when starting out to aim for a place where no other airline had set up, and so get a hold on the domestic market. It wasn't until after a bit that I realized the low demand in Vanuata might make development impossible.

I tried when I was very new in Madagascar and had no success. It's very hard for a beginner, possible? Possibly...

Look for a country that is not in europe and that has no unrestricted market access and no established airlines. If there are one (or a few) small ones - no problem. Ideally you have a hub with 5 or 6 bars demand (or even more if possible) and a few smaller airports (~4 bars) to start with. Currently there is only one very small airline in Peru on Gatow - that could be a good starting spot - I don’t know if it is since I never played there but it seems to be easier than Vanuatu. You’ll find empty markets with a bit more domestic demand than Vanuatu probably on every server, but you have to search for it. Go to “Statistics” and “Enterprises: Passengers/week” and click through the countries to find them.

I don’t know much about the ERJ-135LR but if I put it in the evaluation tool for the port vila - sydney route it seems to be not very profitable. I think that the Antonov is the probably the best aircraft for what you are trying to do, you may want to look out for an interlining partner at your destination to get it full and/or use better seats.

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Thanks for the reply and the answers. They've certainly cleared up a few things.

I only just found the aircraft type evaluation tool, I was checking each aircraft's performance individually and guessing as to costs. Very helpful, cheers!

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I don't know much about the ERJ-135LR but if I put it in the evaluation tool for the port vila - sydney route it seems to be not very profitable. I think that the Antonov is the probably the best aircraft for what you are trying to do, you may want to look out for an interlining partner at your destination to get it full and/or use better seats.

I have to correct myself here as I have overestimated a bit the distances in oceania without checking it.

you may also use the bombardier crj series - they have a small 50 seater, the crj200, which can reach the "best" destinations in eastern australia, papua newguinea and new zealand ... they are less profitable than the antonov or the bigger versions of the crj, but if you won't be able to fill the bigger ones still a good option. Should they become to small you can upgrade to the 700...

The benefit of the Antonov is that you can cover greater distances as with any other RegioJet, so you could also reach some destinations in Malaysia and western australia.

anyway, just play around with the evaluation tool to see what fits best to you...

5

Is it possible to make a profitable airline in a place like Vanuatu?

IMO this is a rather difficult task due to the relatively small market and the huge distances to reach important regions.

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Yeah, I'm toying around with planes in the evaluation tool. It looks like it, no matter which plane I take, if ~50 seats aren't filled on each flight the flight makes a loss. So far it doesn't look like I'll hit that number. If I reduce the frequency of the flights, say from one daily to two or three a week will the fares booked from one place to another be redistributed on the remaining flights going in that direction, or will they scatter to other flights going elsewhere?

 

IMO this is a rather difficult task due to the relatively small market and the huge distances to reach important regions.

 

Do you (or anyone else reading this) reckon it's substantially difficult enough to warrant restarting somewhere else?

7

If I reduce the frequency of the flights, say from one daily to two or three a week will the fares booked from one place to another be redistributed on the remaining flights going in that direction, or will they scatter to other flights going elsewhere?

I don´t know the dynamics in Vanuatu. Hopefully other players are able to give you an advice. Are your an experienced player or a "beginner"? As a beginner, I would recommend to start elsewhere and not Vanuatu, Bhutan, Myanmar etc..

Do you (or anyone else reading this) reckon it's substantially difficult enough to warrant restarting somewhere else?

I won´t give an advice because such a decision really depends on the individual player. My personal opinion is that chances are higher for you to start in a region with better circumstances. These are more demanding regions and I fear that such a region results in disappointments. Everyone wants to have fun and success and Vanuatu is probably not the easiest place to get this feeling. The opposite is a start-up as a small airline in London-Heathrow etc.. This would result in other problems. Take a look at all countries and search for markets which are not well-served but with potential. Don´t start an airline in countries with the ability for foreign airlines to establish airlines with full rights there.

Years ago I established my main airline in Indonesia for example because there was so much potential.

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As suggested, go for Peru in Gatow, also Caracas (Venezuela) is virtually free on Gatow and on Tempelhof. Caracas is actually a great north-south connection point and Venezuela has a substantial domestic market and quite a few 4-bar airports for you to make it worthwhile. You should be able to easily fill several daily 737/A320 frequencies to major domestic markets after some time.

9

Hi,

I agree with MD-80. Some small airport in the middle of nowhere can be an interesting and challenging project, but as a beginner you will probably be happier if your airline has more potential to grow.

Big countries like the USA, China and Europe (open skies agreement) are snake pits because of the huge competition. But if you find a regional airport with enough slots, you could give it a try.

Do not only scan the world for countries with no or small airlines. If you find a country with an existing airline, but the player hasn't been online for weeks, or you see an airline that mostly operates 20 year old planes... give it a try.

Jan