So let's say the aircraft can do 5600NM and the route is 5000 but it says that the type of plane can only carry x amount of passengers, is that valid?
The range of an aircraft is shown with zero wind. So depending on your route flown, range might me lower (or higher if you fly with the wind).
Runway length also has an impact on range.
So the passengers it shows that it could carry is the actual number and not the number when I lease my aircraft?
almost. But all aircraft have different weight, engine,fuel tank and winglet options. So when in "route planning" the figure for pax and cargo carried is based on the shortest range aircraft of that type in your fleet. It's only when the route is assigned to an actual aircraft and flown for the first time that you'll see the real numbers. This is why you'll look at EGKK-RCTP for example and see different seats flown each day, for example 250,250,320,250,250,210,210 as the airline has different options flying the 7 day schedule.
Simon
thanks. Just to clarify a bit, can one assume that there is a fairly narrow range of 'actual' results for PAX and freight carried on a particular route pairing. In other words, if an aircraft that is equipped to fly, say 5000NMs, with XXX pax and YYY freight, and is assigned to a route with say, 4000NMS, one should expect to get both the XXX and YYY loads for the most part? Thanks!!
my rule of thumb is over 80% of the stated aircraft range you're going to get a dropoff. So if the plane says it can do 5000nm expect drop off to start at 4000nm. Winds are generally westerly though, so EGLL->KJFK will have a different capacity than KJFK->EGLL for example. If dealing with cargo demand is asymmretical. An extreme example is EGLL-VHHH (Hong Kong) may have 400kg(!) to fly, but VHHH->EGLL may have 1,000,000kg to fly. So techstop only on the way back. Experience playing the game really is the only way to learn what works and what doesn't.
Don't neglect "too small" warnings. Passengers don't like long flights in aircraft that are too small and cramped. So 7 hours in an 737-700ER is torture compared to 7 hours in a 747-400. So expect "too small" warnings when you send planes near their max ranges. See other discussion around the too small issue.
Simon
Thanks very much. Sage advice. Frustrating not knowing capacity until AFTER you've done the planning/scheduling!! Hopefully this is a related thread - on 'combi' aircraft, is the cargo capacity with or without the 'included' seating for PAX? An example would be the MD-11C with 43,800 KG cargo and 210Y and 24C. If the seats are left in, does the 43800 limit reduce?
Thanks again for your guidance!!
the "empty" cargo capacity of combi's and other planes is affected by the seat layout. Even a CRJ145 will have more cargo space if there are fewer seats. Jam it with the max HD seats and watch cargo capacity plummet. I believe AWS is also clever enough that (first) the cargo is filled with passenger bags, then (second) the remainder is used for belly cargo. So the available space and weight varies day by day according to pax load. So I'd expect more space for belly cargo on Saturday's as that's the low spot for pax. But since most airlines have cargo load factors of 20% maximising cargo doesn't matter much.
This difference in projected and actual range (due to winds) will be more pronounced for larger aircraft - generally, where pax is a bigger percentage of total weight and the longer range means more fuel is "wasted" by being carried 12+ hours just for the last hour of the flight. I know you're not talking about turboprops here, but those are much easier to stretch - if you ever try. Something with say 500nm "maximum" range and 50 seats will usually still carry 47 or 48 pax even over 600nm, which is pretty good.
As for not knowing until you actually schedule the aircraft - well that's sorta like real life. The manufacturers will quote a range without wind and it's up to you to see what happens with real world weather. The game can't tell you that until it knows where you intend to fly it. You can usually tell before you actually go ahead and create the route though - you get a much better estimate then, although it's still an estimate.
TIP: to save on wasted slot costs, just create and schedule the route for one day per week first, to see what heppens.