Non typical airlines or aircraft

[Antoine]

Just wondering if anyone out there has any stories of past/current airlines or aircraft that they used here that were outside the norm .
For instance I once operated TU-154Ms (just about ) economically in Algeria and also a regional airline based in Vanuatu flying EMB120 aircraft just because I wanted a change of play style.

Its fair to say both or these operations differed massively from your normal a320/737 short haul airlines or massive LHR based airlines .

Feel free to share your experiences and how they helped you become a better player !

[Zobelle]

I opened STL as a pure jet operation with no original intent of adding turboprops for smaller demand.

That changed when I entered a bitter battle for marketshare.

[Amelie090904]

What about flying Viscounts 700D from 1960 to 1994 in last GW2? It worked surprisingly well and I managed to bankrupt competitors using DC9. Turned out props are cheaper to operate. 

Moved forward with F70/F100, Q400 and Superjets...

[NovemberCharlie]

This was my original vision when I started playing this game. I finally had a lot of luck with it in the previous gw3.

Fleet
A330NEO
A340-500HGW
F120

A base in all continents except Asia. Had a lot of fun, and learned about various types of operations and I would even say I learned how to thrive on ULH.

Fun fact, my main base, CDG, was not even the most profitable at all times. Some of the islands really had an incredibly high profit margin!

[Antoine]

Now that's impressive ! must have taken awhile

[Cardinal]

Current GW4, I started out as a 19-seater island-hopper in the Caribbean. I still fly a lot of them but the 717/MD90 has become the backbone of the fleet. The 19-seat routes I fly are still profitable.

[Zobelle]

What about flying Viscounts 700D from 1960 to 1994 in last GW2? It worked surprisingly well and I managed to bankrupt competitors using DC9. Turned out props are cheaper to operate. 

Moved forward with F70/F100, Q400 and Superjets...

What you don't spend on fuel you'll spend on MX and addtl staff.
It's helpful that the viscount is considered a medium. If it was "large" you'd have found it harder to do this.

[Tha_Ape]

@ André & Zobelle
Sure, but I think every alliance have one or two players specialized in that kind of moves (or immobility ).
Just like Gazzz specialized into russian steel (or says he is - I don't have enough experience of him to check).
But that's great to see that such uncommon strategies can pay. Makes the game deeper.

Not here since long, so I didn't have time to explore many ways of playing, but I really like the idea of this thread.

[gazzz0x2z]

Just like Gazzz specialized into russian steel (or says he is - I don't have enough experience of him to check).

Well, mainly the A148. I didn't play enough the older ages to qualify as an expert. Though in current GW2, our guy in Iran flies mainly soviet steel. And he reaches roughly the same conclusions as I do.

Which are : if you are cash-starved, brand new cheap crap can be an excellent way to grow faster than opposition. Soviet steel is limiting when you become very big, notably because production rates are low, and replacing a fleet every 16 years(or even 8 for some very crappy airframes like the IL12/14) is limiting compared to replacing every 24 years as you do with western steel. A148 are at the limit : you can push them to 24 years, but they are better on 16 years before scrap.

I toyed also alittle bit with IL12/14, and they saved my life, as they were available NOW. Anything else was months - or years - to come. Plus they were dirt cheap. They didn't do that much money(similar costs to a CV440 that carries double passengers), but at least I was present on the markets, but not much more than the price of slots. When at least my CV440 did arrive, the slots were owned, the route image was high, everything was ready to make good money.

But that's great to see that such uncommon strategies can pay. Makes the game deeper.

Yes. That's why I reacted strongly to the newbie's boycott of A320 & B737 in a recent BW. Paradoxally, they were right to avoid those fleet groups - but wrong to make their decision public. When you do something smart, you don't want opposition to follow you. Dynamic pricing makes indeed the game deeper(A148s would be a waste of money without it).

Another strategy I did push a lot has been transatlantic 737s. Not always 737-700ER(those are really special), but often some 737-700 can go up to 3400NM, and Cardiff has a surprisingly high number of destinations on the East coast between 120 & 200 demand, in the late ages. It gets even better with MAX7. It's dangerous, because from 220 demand, the too small penalty just kills you. But if you are careful, it expands your operations nicely. It's just not for beginners, or for nw operations with low CI.

[Antoine]

The 737 on transatlantic routes are fun to play with. 
Although I'm currently in the jet age using the Heron 2 aircraft based in Tahiti.  Challenge accepted

[Tha_Ape]

Any experience of a rather small airline in Africa (NOT talking about Johannesburg or Algiers)?
Or anywhere else in the world.
I'm curious about how small planes perform. I know their economy is not fantastic, but still...
Recall a team mate that had small bases with just a handful of planes, but he said they were so cheap (the small bases) that even that low number of planes made them profitable.

[gazzz0x2z]

Long ago, I played SW3s in Europe. But that's Europe, not a sparse market. I had plenty of destinations, and it was way cool. The last version flies 1200NM, and can even fly red eyes above 1100NM. Which allows for crazy scheduling. 5 daily flights including a loooong night flight. Makes money. But most of the money is done on nearby destinations, though, the ones below the "too small" limit(280NM for international, 350NM for domestic, around 30 demand).

In the same GW, a guy played 10 years in Vanuatu with only Pilatus - we speak about 9-seaters there. He had the best profit margin of the game. Then he BK's probably out of boredom. IIRC, he flew 26 of them and owned half of them.

So it's possible. But it's another rythme of play. Margin is good, but overall profit is small. You are not annoyed by opposition, but you risk losing interest in the game by lack of destinations.

[Antoine]

I once had an airline based out of Kenya but there wasn't much demand under 1000nm so I needed to  stretch out to the longer distance markets 1500nm plus. It's do able but very limited demand kinda ruins it

[Amelie090904]

This was my original vision when I started playing this game. I finally had a lot of luck with it in the previous gw3.

Fleet
A330NEO
A340-500HGW
F120

A base in all continents except Asia. Had a lot of fun, and learned about various types of operations and I would even say I learned how to thrive on ULH.

Fun fact, my main base, CDG, was not even the most profitable at all times. Some of the islands really had an incredibly high profit margin!

Speaking of "having bases in all continents" I really enjoyed those "Challenge game worlds". This right here was the result of the last "Longhaul Challenge" using A310, 767 and A340. When can we expect the next "challenge"?

[Wreck]

A long time ago ran an operation based in France only using E120s, over 600 of them.
Currently attempting to get to 2035 with Argosy & Britannias, no idea if it will work. 

[MenyBethTerry]

I currently run an airline with all premium seat and it work very well in UAE and I think it boost my airline score too (currently in 2nd and was in 1st for a couple years)

[Cardinal]

I currently run an airline with all premium seat and it work very well in UAE and I think it boost my airline score too (currently in 2nd and was in 1st for a couple years)

This isn't supposed to be possible. Years ago the coding was changed to nerf so-called "magic carpets" by limiting the percentage of premium demand any one flight can attract, even if C/F demand was very high.

https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,69514.msg402316.html#msg402316

[MenyBethTerry]

This isn't supposed to be possible. Years ago the coding was changed to nerf so-called "magic carpets" by limiting the percentage of premium demand any one flight can attract, even if C/F demand was very high.

https://www.airwaysim.com/forum/index.php/topic,69514.msg402316.html#msg402316

I mean "premium seat config"

[Cardinal]

I mean "premium seat config"

Aha. That makes more sense.

[mp81]

Im not much into duking it out with the big dogs in major airports so I'll post up somewhere low-key and then branch out. I've built multi-billion dollar carriers out of places like Little Rock (KLIT) and Piedmont (KGSO) with wholly-owned fleets of 70+ A319s, F100s, SSJs and what not. Not massive but still successful.