Hi folks,
i wondered, after having started my airlinesim career, which starting strategy is most successful to generate the most profit for early expansion. any suggestions? i'm trying to maxx out profits of my sukhoi 95LR by operating niche markets & reaching destinations that go to the max of the sukhoi's range...works out very well with an ebt margin of well above 30%....but, any better suggests?
brgds,
nero
works out very well with an ebt margin of well above 30%....but, any better suggests?
Is that your overall margin so far?
Yes
Well, I think that there's room for improvement.
Well, I think that there's room for improvement.
That's not very helpfull to say now is it?
@the_nero, 30% is not a lot in the beginning of a server, you should reach 50% and above quite easily with the correct choices. For A/C choice I always use either the CR7, A321 or AT7/DH4. Off course the 737 familiy and A320 family is a good choice as well, but I found the first easier to maximize. Further you need to start with a few, what I call, "money makers", city pairs on which have a high demand and on which you can start with high yields. From there you build your network further and make sure you have in and outgoing "waves" so that a short transfer is possible. There are more tips off course, but part of the fun is to figure those out your self. These should get you going! Good luck!
That's not very helpfull to say now is it?
There are too many parameters to take into consideration to give specific advice.
As you mentioned, the margin depends a lot on the different combinations of A/C and route. An A/C can rack up lots of money on Route A but only deliver small profits on Route B.
I've seen that some routes are served twice on a daily basis. Unless you have high margins on those routes, I would considered sending the aircraft somewhere else. You could set up new stations in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, etc... . Furthermore you could add several new destinations in countries you already fly to. In Saudi Arabia you could also serve Jeddah. In Egypt Luxor and/or Hurghada might be just interesting enough to fill up your a/c while having nice margins.
It's up to you to check if a route works for you. If you think that the margins are too low, just change the A/C schedule and move to another route.
Edit And of corse: Don't forget to set up your flights in a way that connections will be possible. They might be the missing piece to make a route profitable. I've had a pretty nice route with two connections, where the A/C was fully book just by people wanting to connect to other flights.
@arjen: thank you for your Input. I know there is room for improvement. Mainly because my shorter routes decrease my overall margin. My main - long - routes contribute with mainly 50%+ margin to my p&l. I operate my shorter routes to build up a base network & future expansion. Though still need to work on my hub system, not all routes are aligned to it.
Since I mainly operate sukhois (good cost ratio on my routes) I will switch to larger a/c as soon as I have to up-gauge my routes. I think sukhois are a good a/c to evaluate route development & potential.
There are too many parameters to take into consideration to give specific advice.
As you mentioned, the margin depends a lot on the different combinations of A/C and route. An A/C can rack up lots of money on Route A but only deliver small profits on Route B.
I’ve seen that some routes are served twice on a daily basis. Unless you have high margins on those routes, I would considered sending the aircraft somewhere else. You could set up new stations in Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Afghanistan, etc… . Furthermore you could add several new destinations in countries you already fly to. In Saudi Arabia you could also serve Jeddah. In Egypt Luxor and/or Hurghada might be just interesting enough to fill up your a/c while having nice margins.
It’s up to you to check if a route works for you. If you think that the margins are too low, just change the A/C schedule and move to another route.
Thank you for your advice, good input. On my routes: those served twice or more are either cash cows or essentially contribute to my hub system. Until now I prefer flying long routes to the max range of my a/c to achieve higher margins (since fixed-step costs decline in relation to overall costs, the longer a route is). But as you mentioned flying several destinations in one country is also on my to do list. Thanks for ur advice!!!
Mainly because my shorter routes decrease my overall margin. My main - long - routes contribute with mainly 50%+ margin to my p&l.
Kill the routes that have extremely low margins off. All of the UAE airports are connected by ground network, thus making it possible for a passenger traveling from AUH to XXX to take bus, boat or train to DXB and take your flights. Of course this requires that your connection is attractive to them: Low prices, good service, staff mood, a/c, seats, etc... will influence the customers choice.
While your aircraft is traveling DXB-AUH with low margins, it could've been on its way to a more attractive destination. For the route DXB-AUH, you still have a considerably long Turnaround time. Your flight time will be considerably high for such a short distance. A Superjet needs 01:19 to make the trip to AUH, turn around and be ready for the next flight (for a distance of just 130 km!!!). You could now consider flying to BAH instead of AUH: Despite adding 370 km per trip, it will only take 1h46 for the Superjet to get there and turn around. Overall you would just add 54 minutes for a return trip.
PS: The approximate cost of flying DXB-AUH-DXB ist 4,240. Flying to Bahrain is around 5,480.