100 replies to this topic

[Royal Airliner]

May I ask what are the profitable planes you've had? Thanks.

[Mr PAG]

The 777-200ER,A318,A320-200.A380

[Chubby Bear]

For me if used correctly planes like the A330, A380, B777 rake in the cash. On a lessor note the A320also does make quite good cash ( the 737 for me tends to be more expensive to operate). But the type of planes that make the most cash you would have to classify according to some sort of ranking system. E.g. Domestic, A320 etc, Regional, International or something like that to see which is best for having th best profit margins for which area of operations.

[Stevphfeniey]

Theoretically, any plane is profitable.

[TNT88]

A330-300, A340-200/300, A319/320/321, A350, A380, B737-400/800, B747-400/8i, B777-200/300, B787.

[Tesla]

For me in regional:

1. Bombardier Q400

2. Airbus A320 series (mainly A319, A320 also)

3.B737NG

 

Long-haul:

1.B787

2.A319-100LR (highly profitable even in low density config(I made profit with 2F 12C 78Y once))

3.A330

4.777 (mainly -200 and -300, no ER or LR variants)

5. A350 (-900R is best for range, better than any others 

[LockheedTristar]

767-300ER is reeeealy profitable and economical, brilliant plane

[Hake.]

Almost all planes are profitable, although the most profitable are Q400NG, A319/20 and A350 or B787 on long haul

[NNR]

NEVER cessnas

[Luft]

Any of the 767s except the -400ER, any of the 787s, any of the A320 family, and the Bombardier Q400 series.

[Superman]

Theoretically, any plane is profitable.

this tbh..

[TheGreatOP]

Theoretically, any plane is profitable.

 

this tbh..

Not the Tu-144s...

 

Also I doubt if the BA609 or CL-415 are profitable, and the Concorde usually barely breaks even

[TNT88]

this tbh..

Not Concorde. Or a very small plane with less than 8 passengers. Even Scam IFS can't save them.

[Tesla]

Not Concorde. Or a very small plane with less than 8 passengers. Even Scam IFS can't save them.

They might if the plane is reasonably efficient (Beech Bonanza)

[TNT88]

They might if the plane is reasonably efficient (Beech Bonanza)

Use that plane, made $20 for a route with SCAM IFS. Not worth it.

[Hake.]

I've made a profit on all aircraft except the Tu-144, which I could if I tried hard enough to. The Cl-415, BA609, Bonanaza, that 4 seat heli are all profitable.

[Randallator]

everything except TU-144 and the (Super) VC-10

[konj1]

ATR 72-500 was a surprise for me, great fuel economy and can make lots of money compared to its price and it's more economical than Q400 until the NextGen, but I guess most players don't care about that and are too lazy to be distracted by regional planes anyway (but not too lazy to send some remaining hours on a 747 or 767 to regional routes and check and crash prices every 20 minutes, and probably wonder why they're not competitive with 3 weekly departures)... 

 

I don't know why some people mention 767, it is not much more economical then A300/A310 or L1011, and it's certainly less economical then A330 and 777 when they appear... But it is a practical model, I like them, but I'm not fascinated by their economy...

 

So what most folks here care about, simple 777-300, about the same fuel economy as A333 and 772 with 25% more capacity, in a lot of situations makes more money then a 747. Since IRL the -300ER was more popular with airlines, I even wonder if the fuel numbers in AE are completely correct...

[CNW]

"profitable" without any qualifiers might net you just about any answer, as evidenced by previous posters. What era do you have in mind, are there any specific requirements (runway, range..)?

 

But there are some rules of thumb that might work (some of them have already been mentioned):

 

Stay away from supersonic aircraft

Stay away from helicopters

Stay away from anything Conway-powered (VC10s, plus the 707-420 - how a different engine model can **** up a plane THIS badly?)

Speaking of VC-10, the Il-62 sucks almost as much

 

+ While you might turn a profit with a <40 pax plane, it is rarely worth your time

[Max Devo]

Il-62 sucks almost as much

I have an airline running seven Il-62Ms and yes, getting them to make decent money is a nightmare. My most profitable 62 makes about $2.3 million a month.