Airline Mogul Forum
Airline Mogul => Game Strategy => Topic started by: Agent Orange on November 07, 2011, 02:14:21 am
-
I am looking into doing LongHaul, what aircraft should I be doing it with? I am in the year 2003. I have tried the 747-400, but they took so much fuel, I just scrapped them in favor of 777-200ERs. Should I have gone with Airbus A340s or what?
-
I am going to test if long haul even can make money. Here is what I will do, I just joined a server that just started today. I am spaming my routes and working towards nothing but my first longhaul aircraft. I will then delete all my routes, and sell the aircraft. Make my "Long haul" Routes, and see if I can make any money.
Now how long should a route be to be considered long haul?
It is the year 2000 so all the best aircraft are pretty much available so which one should I choose?
(For aircraft I was thinking 767-200/300 ER, or A340s)
My base is in ATL, any routes you guys can suggest.
-
Don't try the A340. Try the A330-200 or 767-200ER.
-
K, I will try the 767-200ER, should i get one or two before trying my adventure?
-
K, I will try the 767-200ER, should i get one or two before trying my adventure?
Get 5 or more longhaul planes before you shut down the rest of your routes. Each 767 will earn about 200k - 300k if you do it well.
-
I don't want to run both at the same time, because i want to track cost of having the larger aircraft too. So I will wait till I have two, then I will sell my airbuses which will get me close to 3.
-
Then you'll be waiting appox. 150 game days for your next 762ER.... By then, you'll just have to swap since maintenance costs will be sky-high on the other three.
-
I plan on buying all three at the exact same time, forgot to say that. I plan on selling the airbuses at about 7mil under there worth which will still bring 40 mil a piece that is just over what I would need for another 767.
-
Are you in a private world? Then the odds that you'll be selling your planes (at all) are slim to none. It's only marginally better in a public world (they are so unsaturated that everyone makes enough money to buy their own planes).
So when you get your three aircraft, your best-case scenario is that you'll be making 300-350k per aircraft, that leaves you with a DOC of 900k-1.05M. Given that it costs approximately 120M to purchase a new B762ER, you will have to wait 114-133 game days (4.5-5.5 game months) to purchase your next plane. This does not even include the gate rental costs or the (increasing) maintenance fees being paid. So, in reality, it might be 8 game months (9 months if it takes 72 days to receive your plane--I can't remember) before you have your next aircraft.
-
Well we will see how it goes. Any route ideas?
-
Biggest airports to begin with. So from ATL go to London, Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Beijing. Use premium gate search to filter out destinations out of range. Good luck!
-
To maximize profit on these first few planes, you need to do only one TATL, 0.5-freq flight. The use the rest of the hours to fly to large, nearby domestic airports. This could bump your DOC up to 500-700k per plane.
-
But the idea is to run profit entirely from intercontinental routes
-
Biggest airports to begin with. So from ATL go to London, Paris, Madrid, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Beijing. Use premium gate search to filter out destinations out of range. Good luck!
No, not necesarily. Routes to these airports may be extremely competitive, so prices drop. Go for the bigger airports, but avoid heavy competition if possible. Flying JFK-Moscow as the only airline can be much more profitable than flring JFK-Heathrow along with 10 other airlines.
I suggest you fly medium range routes at 0.5 frequency, avoid longer routes. Thus you will be able to fly 2 x 0.5 medium range routes on most planes, maximizing profit. Also, try to earn enough daily profit, so that you pay back the plane after 1, or 1.5 years. On a 767-200ER, I found this to balance at about €150-€200.000 if I'm not mistaken, but you need to make the calculations yourself.
-
Thanks for the help so far guys :), I have 252 million saved up so far so over half way to where I need to be.
-
But the idea is to run profit entirely from intercontinental routes
Honestly, then he needs to save up for an absolute minimum of 10 B762ER if he wants this to be successful. Realistically it should be closer to 40-50, but most players aren't patient.
-
But the idea is to run profit entirely from intercontinental routes
Honestly, then he needs to save up for an absolute minimum of 10 B762ER if he wants this to be successful. Realistically it should be closer to 40-50, but most players aren't patient.
I've done it with 25 planes once. Shut down my mega airline, scrapped a couple of hundred A320s and 737s, and bought 15 A330-200 and 10 Il-96-300. It worked, but it was ultimately extremely boring.
-
But the idea is to run profit entirely from intercontinental routes
Honestly, then he needs to save up for an absolute minimum of 10 B762ER if he wants this to be successful. Realistically it should be closer to 40-50, but most players aren't patient.
The idea is not to see if I can be #1, but see if it is possible to create a airline with as much longhaul as possible, and as little domestic as can be.
-
But the idea is to run profit entirely from intercontinental routes
Honestly, then he needs to save up for an absolute minimum of 10 B762ER if he wants this to be successful. Realistically it should be closer to 40-50, but most players aren't patient.
The idea is not to see if I can be #1, but see if it is possible to create a airline with as much longhaul as possible, and as little domestic as can be.
Thats exactly what Pseudo meant. You need to replace your planes too often, so the actual number just to be in the black is at least 10 if the conditions are good, but usually many more.
-
I ment as little start up as possible
-
I ment as little start up as possible
Yes, but then you should get at least 10 in order to become self-sustainable.
-
@Agent Orange:
Would routes like ATL-LAX be loing haul?
-
@Agent Orange:
Would routes like ATL-LAX be loing haul?
Um, I am not sure would you consider it long haul?
-
They're long, 2500nm+. I think it would be more like a 'medium haul', I was just curious.
-
They're long, 2500nm+. I think it would be more like a 'medium haul', I was just curious.
Ah, the good old question 'Where does a short haul flight end and a long haul one begin?' answer: Barcelona..... <--- I always thought that joke was funny but I've just realised it isn't :roll:
I'd consider long haul anything over 7 hours, although wikipedia defines it as anything over 6.
You can make money just flying longhaul but as others said you would need at least 10, preferably more, aircraft in order to have a solid business model.
The only real airline I can think of that have made just long-haul operations work was PanAm, but they expanded too much during the late 70's and 80's just as the market was starting to shrink and they ended up tripping over their own momentum. The only reason VS is still around is due to Branson's very deep pockets.
-
The only reason VS is still around is due to Branson's very deep pockets.
Virgin makes a profit, and has done sso for most of it's existance. Branson invested a lot in the airline during upstart, but they certainly don't excist today because of Bransons deep pockets.
The only real airline I can think of that have made just long-haul operations work was PanAm
Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, V Australia, Cargolux, Qantas (in the 70s and 80s), Air Tahiti Nui, Sri Lankan, Air Mauritius, Air Transat, Air Caraibes, Air Greenland, World Airways, Air Austral, Air Seychelles and Biman Bangladesh.
To some extent, Qatar Airways, Etihad, Kuwait Airways and Gulf Air should also be included. They operate A32X, but most of them on medium range routes.
By comparison, Pan Am operated most of it's flights on domestic routes within the US with a massive fleet of 100 Boeing 727s, 5 737s, 12 A300s and 19 A310s. They only had 25 747s. They even operated a fleet of ATRs and Dash-7s, and had orders for 50 A320s. Pan Am wasn't a long haul-only airline, not even by a stretch.
-
How's the airline going? :D