how to make profitable routes.

[cowman]

I just started the game a few days ago and i cant seem to understand which routes are good to pick. I make new routes and then they come back saying that they are only barely making money and having 50% passenger load and even worse cargo load. how do i make profitable routes.

[Sami]

First things first - patience. It takes time to grow a new route.

Use the Easy Start to get the good first aircraft and starting routes, and observe from them, and start building based on that.

[gazzz0x2z]

in the beginner's world, there should be some routes with less demand. My experience is that even at zero of route image (i.e. you did just set up the route, and noone is aware of the route's existence), if you fill less than 1/3 of available demand, then you'll be at 50% of load factor on day one. For example, you put a 50 seater on a 150-demand unserved route, you'll have 25 pax on day one. And most 50 seaters - especially props - are doing small but real profit at 50% load factor. Then route image slowly grows, and you do excellent money, and you can add more flights on the same routes (or a bigger plane - which is less obvious than it seems).

With a caveat : you have to use your planes a lot. Leasing a plane and paying the staff is a fixed cost. To offset this, you have to fly them as much as possible. you can read my full tutorial here : https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,71633.0.html - or just try to find ways to fly your aircraft as much as possible during the week. If you fly, let's say turboprops, you should have an aircraft use above 12 hours per day. If you fly single aisle aircraft, you should aim for more, like 14 hours. Exact numbers may vary depending on your airport's location.

[cowman]

Thanks so much. I thought I was going to be getting full aircraft from day one but i see now why that is not the case. I have all my planes flying from around 7.00 am to around 23.00 now so they should be making some profit, and i know now to be patient in the future with new routes. thanks again.

[gazzz0x2z]

ideally, you should consider flying from 0500 to 2355. Of course, depending on where you play, it's not always possible. And yes, once Route image is full, it's better.

Note that route marketing is cheaper when you're small. As soon as you've got 7-8 planes, it's worth only for big long routes(and not even always). Route marketing helps route image getting up quicker.

[knobbygb]

Ideally, you should be flying all Large and V.Large aircraft overnight!  Even 05:00 to 23:59 on, for example, a 737 with three routes will only give you around 16hrs utilisation. Not bad, but could be a lot better and using those extra hours is basically "free" in terms of fixed costs as the lease and maintenance won't change and the game will hire crew as if the a/c is used for 24hrs.  Fuel, slots, nav fees etc. will be your only additional costs meaning even a marginal overnight route can make some extra profit.