How the competition works?

[mikk_13]

Hi, I've just started with airway sim. I've played AM before but this is better. I wish this was more comprehensive with airfields and aircraft.

However, I'm not sure how this one works exactly. The thing i don't understand is how the competition works. I started a base is Berlin, and this is all good. But it seems that on most routes I research, there is already more capacity than required. So what I want to know is if i start flying those routes am I going to have no body fly with me. 

Or the other way I guess is that my competition will set their price to $10, and destroy me.

If I have more capacity than the people flying, will I never have more than the researched number of people on the plane. Eg. If it says 25 people want to fly this route per day, will I only ever get 25 people flying no matter what the price?

I am sorry if this has been asked before, however I searched for a bit and couldn't find what i am looking for.

thanks

[TommyC81]

I've been playing a few games but honestly not exactly sure how competition works, I do however know that these factors influence your loadfactors:

CI (Company Image, public view of your company)
RI (Route Image, basically how big a percentage of possible passengers that know about your specific route)
Price
Type of aircraft (Jet vs prop)
Age of aircraft (not sure about this one, don't know what age it starts affecting LF or if it is specific for the individual or just affects CI)
Standard on aircraft (What types of seats you are offering)

Not sure at all about this one:
Time of departure (there are "peak" times, but don't know if they affect your LF or if you only pay more for the slot times..)

The researched numbers are apx., it says somewhere on that screen that the numbers are 80-95% accurate. Update the page a couple of times and you will get some different numbers, they should be about the same anyway. In the top right corner there is a number for weekly demand and daily demand. You might have slighlt more or less passengers than the estimates.

Regarding the competition, there is currently no way to know prices or service levels on competitiors flights (kinda bad if you ask me...)

[Sami]

I do however know that these factors influence your loadfactors:

and:
- flight dep/arr times
- flight duration
- any stopovers?
- flight frequency / week
.. etc.

[mikk_13]

Ok, so if i put an aircraft that has 50 seats on a route that only 25 predicted customers, I will be still able to increase my load factor to more than 50%?

[gandalfi]

Ok, so if i put an aircraft that has 50 seats on a route that only 25 predicted customers, I will be still able to increase my load factor to more than 50%?

Put the price down so you can have more than 50% LF also 100% CI will get more pax flying.

[Sigma]

Ok, so if i put an aircraft that has 50 seats on a route that only 25 predicted customers, I will be still able to increase my load factor to more than 50%?

Potentially, yes.  But you're never going to fill the plane up.  And as a young airline you won't even come close to drawing that many pax.

The absolute most that you can achieve is approximately 150% of the estimated demand.  That's assuming everything is ideal -- the plane is ideal, your flight time is ideal, your CI is perfect, your RI is perfect, and, most importantly, that you're giving away the seats for nearly free.  Generally speaking, unless you're cutting prices a lot, the number it gives you is going to be pretty close, plus or minus about 10%.

Ideally, never bet on getting much more than what it says.  Putting 50 seats on a route that only has 25 demand is highly unlikely to yield you any money.  Planes that only hold 50 people need to be run completely full to even hope to make money, and even then it's the most difficult model you can undertake in this game.  Running one at 50% LF is going to suck your bank account dry quickly.

[Branmuffin]

However, I'm not sure how this one works exactly. The thing i don't understand is how the competition works. I started a base is Berlin, and this is all good. But it seems that on most routes I research, there is already more capacity than required.

Although there is no reason why you can't do well even as a new airline at an airport that already has established airlines, it is much easier to start off at a smaller airport that has a 'lower profile', if you know what I mean.

That being said however, decide what type of airline you want to be and what your business strategy is.  If you start at airport 'X' and there is a huge airline based there already, but they only really fly 747's and A340's, chances are that they only really serve longhaul international routes, meaning that you should have plenty of freedom to expand in the regional or domestic market.  I guess this should probably be common sense, but it doesn't hurt to discuss it

[TommyC81]

and:
- flight dep/arr times
- flight duration
- any stopovers?
- flight frequency / week
.. etc.

Thanks for clarifying! Sounds like everything that I can think of is taken into account, awesome!

[mikk_13]

The problem is that many airlines fly to my base from their base. I am the only one based at my airport. I am finding it hard to find routes that don't have many flights established already. My base is berlin schonefeild.

I have been smashing the routes I have. I reduced all prices by about 30% and I am flying as many flights I can that make any profit. I try to keep the LF at 90% and keep adding flights until it drops slightly.

I am going quite well using this method. I will soon start buying aircraft.