Airline business simulator
Run an established airline at its real size — 6 million passengers on day one — year by year for eight years, before you bet the real one.
Routes, load factors and a price war you cannot afford. This one opens as Skylark Air: An airline flying passengers on routes between countries, from the low-cost end to business class. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own airline and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady airline ends up with
Played steadily for all eight years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady airline here ends its last year on $6.3bn of revenue and $592m of profit, with 10.4 million passengers and 23% of the market (#2 of 7).
It opens as it stands today: 6 million passengers, 5,000 staff and $400m in the bank.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $6.3bn
Profit in the last year: $592m
Passengers at the end: 10.4 million
Share of the market: From nothing to 23%
Where it finishes: #2 of 7
Years and decisions: 8 years, yearly
What you'll decide each year
Each year you set prices, brand and sales spend route by route, decide capacity and headcount, choose where to expand next, and how much to borrow or pay back.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your passengers are
At this size the market barely grows, so every point of share is taken from somebody, route by route — and the leader fights back.
40 million passengers in all, across Domestic, Short-haul Europe, Transatlantic, Middle East and Asia.
Low-fare leisure: Millions of them, loyal to the price and nothing else. About 20 million of them, worth $364 a year each.
Families: They buy the brand they trust and switch when it lets them down. About 12.8 million of them, worth $572 a year each.
Business class: They pay for the best and expect it to feel that way. About 4.8 million of them, worth $1.2k a year each.
Corporate contracts: Contracts, volume discounts and a procurement team. About 2.4 million of them, worth $2.1k a year each.
Who you're up against
You start as one of the big names, with four rivals around you and every one of them after your passengers. They play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do.
The flag carrier: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 30% of the market.
The low-cost giant: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 22% of the market.
The alliance partner: Hasn't changed in years and is living off the customers it already has. Holds about 14% of the market.
The new long-haul upstart: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 8% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of passenger, four rivals and five routes.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your airline in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady airline ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it year by year for eight years.
Also for
aviation · flights · routes · carrier · travel
How much does the airline business simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this airline market, change anything in it and see what a steady airline ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own airline?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the passengers and what they pay, the rivals, the routes, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your airline in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers.
Are the numbers realistic for an airline?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year eight turning over between $2bn and $6bn, with between 3.5 million and 11.5 million passengers. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test an airline business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward year by year, and see whether the money lasts, how many passengers you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
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