Oh, I see... so the answer is GREED.
I am also having fun, but my motivation is to try to create a realistic airline, using a fleet mix and routing structure that makes sense for my carrier and ultimate purpose, to bring people to my sunny Paradise. That is why operating a Concorde from Barbados to Beijing, China just because I can isn't quite appealing to me.
Nevertheless I press on with my idealistic dribble.
islandflyer
For me in World 9, those long-haul routes, although not the most profitable due to the outrageously high maintenance expenses, were great because of the lack of competition. Additionally, since the marketing research cost is so high on long-haul flights, players are less likely to adjust their prices, which gave me sort of a route that wasn't likely to change too much. There are only so many profitable international routes, so we end up having to reach across both the Pacific and the Atlantic. Also, those aircraft are expensive... so we try to save money by operating the cheapest aircraft that'll do the job... and then get killed by maintenance even more, as I learned. -.-
Its also fun -- by the time you are 10 years old, you will probably have filled up all of your domestic hubs and are probably operating every profitable route available from that hub... and updating routes and replacing your fleet isn't really that exciting...
