Hey all,
I am looking to explore options to run long routes with skinny demands with smaller aircraft type.
i.e. B737-700ER can fly almost 4000 nm, with 120 seats. So options where A to B only shows demand of 130 seats, running a large aircraft (A330 or similar) vs running a single aisle etc..
1) Some times I get a message, "The aircraft may be too small for this route, passenger prefer flying ...."
Is there a rule of thumb, and how does it effect passenger demand for my airline/fleet type if I am the only one flying the route?
2) Is this message connected to aircraft category? (Small, Medium, Large) or generally fleet type i.e. B737-700ER will generate message but A321-200 may not..
Thanks for replies....
"The aircraft may be too small for this route, passenger prefer flying ....". Be aware I am not knowledgeable on the subject, however I remember reading a forum post by an experienced player, for flight distances in excess of about 2000nm, passengers would expect a wide body aircraft to be used.
Hi, thanks for your reply.
At the moment I have started operation skinning down with Turboprops. But in the next phase I am thinking Embraer E175 or similar which has range of up to 2000, its a single aisle medium category aircraft but previous experience shows that I cannot use its range to the maximum, at certain point it starts saying that aircraft may be too small for this operation...
In real life experience, Continental/United Airlines used to fly B757 from EWR to Europe (Scandinavia) which was single aisle about size of B737 cabin, but in the game, it seems like virtual passengers don't like this...
It's a highly tricky activity. Most players with big players avoid it like plague. I do it rather intensively, but it's full of drawbacks. NB : my experience is mainly from 1995 and beyond, I'm not skilled in the previous years.
- Never, never, ever fly above the "too small limit". The penalty might be small today, but it will only be worse. In current GW3, I've got a 737-700ER to Taschkent to replace. When demand was 180, I was doing money there. I'm bleeding hard now. LF went down from 91% to 45%. Time for those A300-900neos to arrive. They won't be full, but they'll bleed less money
- Don't expect income soon. Only at RI 80/90, you'll begin not to lose money.
- Don't expect standard prices to make you money. You'll have to micromanage prices, setting them far higher than standards, to reap benefits
- Know your aiplanes. Fuel consuption is not linear. I toyed a lot with A148, and the E variant is not worth it. The increase in petrol drinking between 1800NM and 2000NM is just killing. 737-700ER are better balanced, but still a complicated option
- Tech stops are usually not worth it. The reduce demand by 40%. Which means, for having enough demand, you need to fill a line with far more demand than your seating..... and you are then plagued by the "too small penalty". See point 1.
- Don't begin with it. because when you begin, you need quick, easy money to grow(point 2) and you don't have yet a good company image, which helps for raising prices(point 3)
- The 737-700ER fits very well the 7-planes, 7-days technique (https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,71633.0.html)
- ...but once conditions are good, you can do it, because it's fun. It can never be your main money maker, but it's really, really fun.