What is the best Homebase?

[wbmc1]

Just wondering. What is the best in terms of population and stuff for a beginning home base? Tell me what you think!

[AirbusGuy350]

I would have to say that Atlanta and london are the best home bases. I say Atlanta because it has the highest number passengers and because there are very large airports near by such as chicago and Los Angeles. I would say London Heathrow because it is a very large airport and there are a ton of large to medium airports under 2000nm away from it.

[wbmc1]

I almost always go for Houston Hobby cause there are loads of airports. Small, medium, and Large. I normally do private worlds though. Anyway anyone else?

[pseudoswede]

If you want to be in the top of the rankings, you must base at 350k airports. Zero exceptions.

The case against HOU (besides being too small) is that there is that large black hole called the Gulf of Mexico almost swallowing up two cardinal directions of potential nearby airports--which is also why LHR isn't the greatest of starting airports, either).

[wbmc1]

I know later on you have to go for the bigger airports, but whats your first choice ie Homebase when you first join a world? Mine is actually usually cincinatti

[pseudoswede]

Misread that last post...

In a full public world, I start with ORD because it's central (ATL suffers from being too close to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico). Once I have about 100-150 routes, I open ATL. Repeat for DFW, then LAX, then open JFK/LAS/DEN in no particular order.

[AirbusGuy350]

What about Frankfurt or Paris? they are in the middle of europe and are 350k. I am usually top 15 in the worlds and I am based in paris almost all the time either that or Frankfurt.

[pseudoswede]

While Europe is a decent starting point, the top 7 European airports pale in comparison to the top 7 North American airports.

[RobertCooper]

If you want to be in the top of the rankings, you must base at 350k airports. Zero exceptions.

NOT TRUE!

With some work, you can base at airports between 200K-350K/gate and still climb to the top of the leaderboard. I wouldn't suggest starting at an airport that's already used as another airline as their hub, otherwise, you'd be hard-pressed with some stiff competition. Nor would I suggest starting anywhere less than 200K/gate.

HUBS:
Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP): Main hub ($300,000/gate)
Detroit-Metropolitan Wayne County (DTW): Secondary hub ($300,000/gate)
New York- John F. Kennedy (JFK): Eastern hub ($300,000/gate)
Lambert St. Louis (STL): "Budget" hub, ($200,000/gate)

Whenever I start an airline here, I always pick MSP as my homebase. Why? MSP is rarely picked as a homebase, for reasons still unknown to me. The second-place airline in my scenario picked all of the American 350K airports (except ATL) plus some strategic 300K airports for his bases. He was in first for a while, until I bumped him out of there. Even though I lag behind him in fleet size and passenger volume, my airline's value is still tops.

In a nutshell, it's more about using your bases to their fullest extent. Pick a good hub, and fly to as many airports as you can find. Size up all your destinations and use the most appropriate aircraft for the place (using regional jets to fly to 50K/gate airports, and such).

Not only that, you need to KEEP GROWING. Your value can't grow if your airline doesn't grow. Keep on adding to your fleet and adding more routes as you go along.

Airline Mogul - See my airline

[Virgin Serbia]

Don't listen to them. The best homebase is a small african airport, with max 2 mio pax. More of a challenge, and if you succeed, all the women will want you.

[jayceon]

If you want to be in the top of the rankings, you must base at 350k airports. Zero exceptions.

The case against HOU (besides being too small) is that there is that large black hole called the Gulf of Mexico almost swallowing up two cardinal directions of potential nearby airports--which is also why LHR isn't the greatest of starting airports, either).

Well, I don't really agree with you on the LHR part. Yes, there's a sea on almost every side but it's a very small one. From LHR (island) to CDG (mainland) is just 216nm. And if you know what you're doing you can be #1 with a Europe based airline. I do agree with the 350k airports part. At least when you're in a competitive world with a lot of airlines.

[Shawa]

The best home base is where you want it to be.

[Virgin Serbia]

The best home base is where you want it to be.

Well said! But what if that place already has 50 competing airlines based there?

[Shawa]

Then roll your sleeves up, it's gonna be a rough ride.

[1993matias]

Usually, when I join a new world, before joining, I look in the world stats which airports has most airlines based, and most flights. From that information, I choose which airport i will join in.
That means I join an airport with little competition, allowing me to grow quicker.