Starting the first focus city?

[Cascade Airlines]

I'm wondering when to do it.  I have one Let-420 and 3 Let-610s (one of which is leased), DOC 1.197M on world 799.  I will be taking delivery of an ATR 72-200 from one of the game brokers tomorrow and with that, I will have saturated SEA at least within a small handful of airports 500 nm or closer (probably not complete saturation, but enough so that any additional aircraft would be underutilized).

I am wondering what is the best way of starting a focus city because gate costs are cutting into profits.  Should I use a very close airport such as PDX and YVR to get more use out of my existing slots, or does this make me vulnerable for me to getting too confined later in the game?  Also I've read that I should upgrade aircraft when my DOC is as low as it is before opening a focus city, but far as I can tell all that would do is depress the fares on my existing routes (like adding frequency) so I am strongly considering getting my focus city, acquiring another ATR or two, and doubling my revenue.  THEN I can worry about upgrading my Lets.  Thoughts?

Also, unrelated question, how bad will the EUR 1 fare wars get and (for future focus cities and worlds I play) what is the best balance between having reasonably busy hubs and avoiding the nasty fare wars?

[Airliner32]

Youre In A Good Situation and you have a good DOC for such a small fleet.

Maybe you should wait untill your ATR Arrives and have an increase in your DOC Because it costs a little. Starting a focus city close to your hub is a good idea because you can use all your slots twice which will make you quite wealthy. Always Start Domestic then international.

[kelvinyeoh]

Youre In A Good Situation and you have a good DOC for such a small fleet.

Maybe you should wait untill your ATR Arrives and have an increase in your DOC Because it costs a little. Starting a focus city close to your hub is a good idea because you can use all your slots twice which will make you quite wealthy. Always Start Domestic then international.

Just started playing at W850, so I am still not very clear on the game mechanics. A couple of questions :

1) Using your slots twice? Does that mean if I have 1 gate = 10slots, I can create 20 routes?

2) Can I create another focus city near to my starting base and create routes to my existing destinations? I'm asking this because I want to maximize the usage of the existing gates, which all have 9 slots left.

Thanks.

[StephenM]

1) Using your slots twice? Does that mean if I have 1 gate = 10slots, I can create 20 routes?

No, there's a maximum of ten flights/frequencies to 10 slots.

2) Can I create another focus city near to my starting base and create routes to my existing destinations? I'm asking this because I want to maximize the usage of the existing gates, which all have 9 slots left.

Yes, thats a very wise decision.

[kelvinyeoh]

1) Using your slots twice? Does that mean if I have 1 gate = 10slots, I can create 20 routes?

No, there's a maximum of ten flights/frequencies to 10 slots.

2) Can I create another focus city near to my starting base and create routes to my existing destinations? I'm asking this because I want to maximize the usage of the existing gates, which all have 9 slots left.

Yes, thats a very wise decision.

Ok, thanks for the answers, Stephen.

[pseudoswede]

I am wondering what is the best way of starting a focus city because gate costs are cutting into profits.  Should I use a very close airport such as PDX and YVR to get more use out of my existing slots, or does this make me vulnerable for me to getting too confined later in the game?  Also I've read that I should upgrade aircraft when my DOC is as low as it is before opening a focus city, but far as I can tell all that would do is depress the fares on my existing routes (like adding frequency) so I am strongly considering getting my focus city, acquiring another ATR or two, and doubling my revenue.  THEN I can worry about upgrading my Lets.  Thoughts?

Basically, you still probably need to build up your DOC from SEA. You would need a minimum of 3 new ATRs and the ability to pay for 3 additional gates plus 15-18M for creating the focus city--preferably all planes would be delivered the same hour you can open your new focus city.

Also, unrelated question, how bad will the EUR 1 fare wars get and (for future focus cities and worlds I play) what is the best balance between having reasonably busy hubs and avoiding the nasty fare wars?

€1 fares affect very few routes. If you are well-positioned financially, you won't care about them. Now that public worlds are capped at (maximum) 1300-1400 players, it has basically eliminated saturation even at the largest airports.