beginners questions

[Sabaku_Luchtvaart]

i have noticed some routes have 20 or 30 or 40 passengers per day demand. i am thinking this is done for a reason.

question 1) why are there routes for 20/30/40 passengers per day?

question 2) what is the best aircraft to service these routes?

i have a count of 30+ destinations within 1000nm of an airport i am looking at. however i am trying to determine the better aircraft to use to sort up these routes.

[forsberc]

Answer 1) Having these routes provides flexibility for expansion and another angle to play the game. Like real-life, there are many of these "micro" demand routes available.

Answer 2) The type of aircraft depends on the operation considerations- it is not as easy to answer as you might guess. However, I would recommend to NOT fly to any airport great than a certain range value. This range value depends on the demand multiplied by 10. For example, if the demand was say 20 passengers/week, then you shouldn't fly to an airport greater than 200 nm away. This rule of thumb helps keep those flights profitable.

Getting back to your aircraft question, I would recommend an aircraft with between 20 and 40 seats. Last summer, I ran an airline based in Bogota, and I used the N262C Fregate for most of my short range routes. They provided me excellent flexibility and increased fleet commonality for me.

However, I would recommend NOT flying routes with less than 40 people unless you are rather established. They take a while to make money and they don't make much money, even with a RI of 100. I don't intend to say they aren't profitable, but if you have the option, fly a higher demand route first.

Hope that helps.

[Sabaku_Luchtvaart]

thanks

i am trying to determine if an aircraft embraer 120 should be used or atr 42 should be used on the routes. only real difference is the number of seats and lease costs. operation costs, speed, are almost same.

i am really not concerned about making billions. i just want to see if it can make a sustained operation throughout the game world. if i ended with lets say 10m after starting with 4m (subtract the 1m loan from start), i would be happy.

i can pm you with what i am trying to do if you like

[forsberc]

This is a graph comparing the two. I assumed the shorter range aircraft and an 80% LF. Y axis is Miles/Pax*Fuel Burn. The X axis is range in NM.

The E120 is cheaper to operate per seat, however, you will need to operate more E120's on a route to match the ATR42's demand. Unless you are pursuing only 40 pax or less demand, I would recommend using ATR42s because they have commonality with ATR72s, which are good for longer/ higher demand routes.

Food for thought.

Cameron

[forsberc]

I made a mistake. The ATR42 is cheaper, however, this graph doesn't account for increased personnel expenses due to the medium vs. small sized aircraft. I'm sure the maintenance costs are higher as well.

Cheers