Can't expand into other governed areas?

[Pilot Jeb]

I'm based in Guam and was hoping to expand into Saipan when the Northern Mariana Islands joined the USA; however I can't? I still only have options for Guam and USA.

[Sir William Claud Townson]

At first I found this same thing annoying (circa like 2018). And to be fair it should perhaps be better signposted. But right now I am operating out of Beirut, Lebanon and there will never* be another airport in Lebanon. It's 1959. That's a challenge I chose. It's also... just how it is. I get your concern is based in reality and the real change of borders/regulations. The problem is this, as much as I might like it not to be, is not a geopolitical simulator. I have no doubt that if you had enough cash, or a bank willing to finance, you could grab yourself a second base anywhere; but for me (after having learned this ages ago) it's kinda fun knowing I have (and will never have) nowhere else to go [citation needs to be confirmed]. I have to make it work. As good as Sami et al are, they can't manage every geopolitical boundary. I'd love to be Sir William Claud Townson, operating on behalf of Kate Wyler and the CIA and able to explain away all the regulations but... regulations exist. In a very real sense. Just ask who you should fly with in Australia. Yeah maybe Rex or Virgin but... if you are counting matchsticks like income statements... we're flying QANTAS over here and the government is making sure of it.

This is me (a noob) posting like he knows what he is talking about but I only come around every four years or so, so take all of this with a grain of salt. I would also love to expand beyond my base but it won't happen.

I hope this doesn't discourage you from continuing to play! I know of no other game like this and there are finite resources in the real world and if everything were perfect game mechanics would exist for what you propose. But they don't. And hey! My airline is going bankrupt rn because I turned off auto hire and put on a bunch of new routes and forgot to hire staff and it sucks. But that's the cost of being "Sir William Claud Townson" who is only investing in an airline "for fun". As I hope you are!

You can still make it work! Just, dont be stubborn like me and not ask for help on how (literally everyone who posts on the forums here, I am 99% sure, will absolutely help... I hope because I am about to go post my own SoS)

*p sure

Sir Townson, Esquire (sounds fancy I'm half roleplaying here)

[Cardinal]

For the USA and its territories, if your HQ is in the USA you can open a base in any of its territories. But if your HQ is in one of the territories, you can only base in that territory and the USA.

France and its overseas departments are different. If you HQ in Reunion, you can open a base in mainland France as well as Martinique, for example.

This is because of how France and the USA handle their overseas territories differently in Paris/Washington.

See the very bottom of this page: https://manual.airwaysim.com/simulation-documentation/base-airports