New vs used aircrafts

[Luperco]

Which are the advantages and disadvantages of new and used aircraft?

For what I see, the difference in leasing costs is higher that the difference in maintenance cost between new and old aircraft. So the used planes are cheaper. At least for a 10/12 year old machine.

I know that not always you can find the desired bird on the used market, on the other hand, it may takes years to get a new aircraft (like the Constellation).

Are there some "hidden" advantages in preferring a new aircraft?

Thanks

[Cardinal]

For startups and young airlines, used is definitely the way to go.

For established airlines, it all depends on what your business strategy is. If you need planes quickly to take advantage of an opportunity (competitor goes bk, airport transitions such as DAL->DFW, etc) you'll get them quicker from the used market.

If you plan on using a particular subfleet for at least 10 years, buying new is better because as they approach 20 years old the maintenance costs grow exponentially. By 24 years, that 3rd D-check is going to cost more than you would get from the junk dealer for scrapping the plane. (Using my own experience with the 737-200Adv.)

If you plan on leasing planes and never buying them, used used used! New-plane leases can easily kill an airline.

If you have a fleet of rust buckets that needs to be replaced all at once, and can afford to buy new planes, then you can go for the newest, most fuel-efficient plane or the one that best suits your needs and projected future needs, instead of gambling on whether enough useful planes will show up on the used market.

[Cardinal]

...or follow the Delta model: Buy hundreds of used planes really cheap, as a bridge to the order you made for the latest and greatest that doesn't deliver for another 8 years.

[LemonButt]

Which are the advantages and disadvantages of new and used aircraft?

For what I see, the difference in leasing costs is higher that the difference in maintenance cost between new and old aircraft. So the used planes are cheaper. At least for a 10/12 year old machine.

I know that not always you can find the desired bird on the used market, on the other hand, it may takes years to get a new aircraft (like the Constellation).

Are there some "hidden" advantages in preferring a new aircraft?

Thanks

Used aircraft have zero lead time--you can get them in 2 weeks instead of months or years.
Used aircraft have zero delivery fees--new aircraft you have to pay 1 month's lease as a delivery fee.

New aircraft have lowest operating costs and newer models are more fuel efficient (usually).
New aircraft have 8 years until D-check, which is better than nearly every used aircraft on the market.
New aircraft are available on a fixed schedule, whereas the used market you are at the mercy of what the game decides to make available.
New aircraft has zero reconfig costs, but requires the delivery fee.  If you are reconfiguring used aircraft, this is usually a wash.

Starting out, used is usually the way to go.  Deeper in the game, you'll have to take new aircraft orders and use the used market to bridge the gaps and/or rapidly expand into the next stage of growth.  The easy rule of thumb is always go for used aircraft and later replace them with new.  You can then take the used aircraft and cancel the lease for a 1:1 replacement or keep the used aircraft for opening new routes and growing.

[meiru]

Calculate the cost of ownership. This includes the price to buy the aircraft and the scrapping value (or the selling price, if you speculate on that) ... if you do that, you can easily find out what's bether for you... sometimes it's good to buy older planes, sometimes not... depends on the price and availability. I did buy used aircrafts in one game world and it worked for me... in an other I did only buy new aircrafts. Use Excel and find out 

[Luperco]

Thank you for the answers.

Anyway, now I'm more confused than before 

I cannot afford to buy new planes with direct purchase. I'm growing but slowly. The operationg revenue is costantly growing but the profit stay at about 200K per week. As soon as I add new routes, the expenses raise about the same amount of the revenue. So could buy a new Constellation, for example, every 5/6 months. Too slow for my expansionist goals.

I suppose I'll go for use aircraft to expand and replace them ones I'll have the money.