What are small planes best at?

Hello,

 

Still getting into the game (less than a week of play time), but I'm trying to better understand, what are the purpose of the smaller planes?  I'm talking about the ones that hold less than 50 passengers.

 

I realize they probably use a lot less fuel.  However, when I've used them, I barely scrape out any profit whatsoever (like, less than $10k per plane).  And, since they require a lot of trips to service the same number of passengers as their bigger counterparts, they use up a lot more slots, which decreases their efficiency quite a bit.

 

Any pointers on this would be greatly appreciated!

Small aircraft are only useful for very small destinations or highly limited runway space. I personally use them for what they are used for IRL, i.e. tiny airports in the Caribbean from short ranges like SXM-EUX with a PC-6.

 

I only recommend using them for such small routes if you have a lot of time to run through the routes and work each one individually. Like you mentioned, they barely scrape a profit, this is totally normal. The best way to make money with them in my experience is to not have IFE on board and to use scam IFS (I hate using scam IFS). They also need to have very, very high utilization to earn a decent profit (keep in mind this is all relative). Each individual type of small aircraft has its economic sweet-spot (routes not to long where fuel is too expensive and not too short where ticket prices are too low) where the route produces the maximum operational profit.

 

In short, you need small airports (large airports have MASSIVE landing fees when compared to individual flight profits), sweet-spot ranges, and patience.

 

Welcome to AE!

Small aircraft are only useful for very small destinations or highly limited runway space. I personally use them for what they are used for IRL, i.e. tiny airports in the Caribbean from short ranges like SXM-EUX with a PC-6.

 

I only recommend using them for such small routes if you have a lot of time to run through the routes and work each one individually. Like you mentioned, they barely scrape a profit, this is totally normal. The best way to make money with them in my experience is to not have IFE on board and to use scam IFS (I hate using scam IFS). They also need to have very, very high utilization to earn a decent profit (keep in mind this is all relative). Each individual type of small aircraft has its economic sweet-spot (routes not to long where fuel is too expensive and not too short where ticket prices are too low) where the route produces the maximum operational profit.

 

In short, you need small airports (large airports have MASSIVE landing fees when compared to individual flight profits), sweet-spot ranges, and patience.

 

Welcome to AE!

Thank you very much for the answer!

 

I had been toying with the idea of having a small plane fleet, where they each fly to many destinations, but only a couple of trips for each route.

Small aircraft are only useful for very small destinations or highly limited runway space. I personally use them for what they are used for IRL, i.e. tiny airports in the Caribbean from short ranges like SXM-EUX with a PC-6.

 

I only recommend using them for such small routes if you have a lot of time to run through the routes and work each one individually. Like you mentioned, they barely scrape a profit, this is totally normal. The best way to make money with them in my experience is to not have IFE on board and to use scam IFS (I hate using scam IFS). They also need to have very, very high utilization to earn a decent profit (keep in mind this is all relative). Each individual type of small aircraft has its economic sweet-spot (routes not to long where fuel is too expensive and not too short where ticket prices are too low) where the route produces the maximum operational profit.

 

In short, you need small airports (large airports have MASSIVE landing fees when compared to individual flight profits), sweet-spot ranges, and patience.

 

Welcome to AE!

 

A very good answer; courteous & respectful. Well said.

 

As the above suggested, best to stick to the way they would be used in the real world. You wont see a real world airline flying an ATR-42 back & forth between LAX & San Francisco all day because the landing fees are too high. You would make less trips with bigger planes. Same in this game with using up slots. However a twice-a-day service to some little regional airport 200 miles out of LAX would definitely be feasible.

 

It depends too on what your overall aim or strategy is for the game. If you're replicating a small regional airline, or just providing a benevolent, convenient service to a small number of imaginary pax with your imaginary local family-owned airline, then have fun! We've all been there & done that.

 

If you want to win a trophy on the other hand, you need to think bigger. Much bigger! And you wont even have time for small planes on small routes.

 

But it doesn't hurt to start small to get the hang of things. Learn what works, ask questions, & most importantly, just have fun.

 

Good luck!

I use small planes for short routes that have a demand of 0 - 5. they can make you good money to if you have the time to place them on routes. it can be very time consuming to place them on routes if you have a large fleet of them. I will spend 4 - 5 hours a day placing them. I say they make good money because you can charge 6 - 8 times the set ticket price which if done right then these small planes like the Bonanza can make 200,000 a month

Again, thanks.

 

Was going to start another question, but maybe this is a good place to put it for now.

 

The world I'm in allows for a second airline by the same player.  Would it make any sense at all to build a small regional airline into the main terminal of my main airline, and form an alliance?  I haven't quite gotten the hang of how alliances benefit the airline.  Also not sure if hubs would be beneficial in that kind of operation.

I use small planes for short routes that have a demand of 0 - 5. they can make you good money to if you have the time to place them on routes. it can be very time consuming to place them on routes if you have a large fleet of them. I will spend 4 - 5 hours a day placing them. I say they make good money because you can charge 6 - 8 times the set ticket price which if done right then these small planes like the Bonanza can make 200,000 a month

When you say placing them on routes, what do you mean?  Like SUS to BLV to MDW to BLV to SUS?

When you say placing them on routes, what do you mean?  Like SUS to BLV to MDW to BLV to SUS?

 

like EUG - ALW. just back and forth routes 

When you say placing them on routes, what do you mean?  Like SUS to BLV to MDW to BLV to SUS?

 

like EUG - ALW. just back and forth routes 

 

Again, thanks.

 

Was going to start another question, but maybe this is a good place to put it for now.

 

The world I'm in allows for a second airline by the same player.  Would it make any sense at all to build a small regional airline into the main terminal of my main airline, and form an alliance?  I haven't quite gotten the hang of how alliances benefit the airline.  Also not sure if hubs would be beneficial in that kind of operation.

 

I have tried this before and aslong as there are HUBs it seems to only benefit the smaller planes from my experience  

Well, in my airline, Midway Airlines, I started with Saab 340 aircraft out of BNA to other destinations with low demand. I was able to replicate the success of that in DCA and CMH also. It made lots of profit, but it took a while for cash to build up, so I used F-100 aircraft on longer routes to make more money. So I guess it depends on how much the landing fees are and if there's competition.