airport expansion - what's a CEO to do?

[groundbum2]

So loads of airports are now getting messages about infrastructure construction that will finish in six months. I've read the changelog saying the airport catchment area will grow over a few months after the work is finished.

What will this mean in practical terms? Will passenger numbers grow? Will cargo grow? Cargo move from adjacent airports? Should I be buying aircraft now in anticipation of adding to routes? This is GW2 and GW3. and no doubt others.

Simon

[Andre090904]

So far it will only affect cargo. A bigger catchment area basically means you have a bigger geographical area where you can grab potential demand from. In other words you may steal more demand from airports in the region (if there are any) and you can expect more potential cargo demand as a consequence.

You have decide yourself if the cargo demand is good enough to make it work out. Just check it now and compare it once the expansions are done. Don't order something if you are not sure if you'll ever need it.

[groundbum2]

well EHAM went completed going from infra 4 to 5 6 months ago, and I've been watching the cargo numbers and they've stayed the same! 250K potential, 160K actual, 300K supplied by airlines. So no change at all despite the infra increase!

Simon

[gazzz0x2z]

well EHAM went completed going from infra 4 to 5 6 months ago, and I've been watching the cargo numbers and they've stayed the same! 250K potential, 160K actual, 300K supplied by airlines. So no change at all despite the infra increase!

Simon

I did measure a 3% increase in cargo demand on the HAM-CVG route, in GW3, after HAM's circles extended. I'm expecting a similar growth on this routewhen CVG will follow.

That's not impressive, indeed.

[Sami]

Quick summary:

a) if the airport already catches the big city center and everything else is very much rural, then the larger area doesn't do that much in terms of demand. More hay bales and cows but that's about it. 
b) the demand will increase slowly after the airport expansion (takes several game months)

c) as mentioned the slot numbers are not affected yet (prefer not to mess everything in one big boom)

[JumboShrimp]

well EHAM went completed going from infra 4 to 5 6 months ago, and I've been watching the cargo numbers and they've stayed the same! 250K potential, 160K actual, 300K supplied by airlines. So no change at all despite the infra increase!

Simon

The circle of catchment area does not actually represent the catchment area, it is just an approximation of it.

The actual catchment area is the set of demand squares (rectangles) that overlap sufficiently with this circle, in and On / Off fashion.  Meaning the square is either 100% in or 100% out).

So while the airport expansion may increase the overlap of several demand squares with the circle, but if it does not flip a single square from Off to On, then you will see zero gain from the airport expansion (or from Traffic level change).

We used to be able to see the underlying squares.  Looking at the squares would have given you complete answer to a question like this one.

But, some idiot complained about some "unfairness" of the squares, and Sami decided to just hide them.

Unfortunate result is that the complaining idiot may not even be playing the game any more, but all the rest of us are left in the dark because of his question / complaint.