Airline Tycoon 3

Airline Tycoon 3 is an upcoming Tycoon-Simulation Game for PC and Mac. The game is the third entry in the Airline Tycoon series, like its predecessors the game is focused on a stylized simulation of running an airline where the player has to manage their planes, crew and flights while dealing with their competitors and the cast of characters across the Airport.

Synopsis

Unlike Airline Tycoon 2, the Airlines do not have specific backstories, some information can be inferred by the decorations on each character's office. What is known is that the Airline the player starts is stated to be a new Airline in the first campaign mission although it is suggested that the characters have run successful airlines in the past (likely referencing the first two games).

The Airport itself is known to have been recently constructed when the first campaign mission begins, accordingly due to the failure of funding for the previous airport.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Airline Tycoon 3 is much like the previous games, in that the player needs to manage their airline, booking flights for their planes, organizing a crew and accommodation as well as handling plane repair schedules and alike. The game uses a mouse and keyboard setup with the mouse used to navigate the airport through a point-and-click system where the mouse will be highlighted is something of interest is hovered over. The Keyboard can be used for navigating menus through the arrow keys and the Enter button while various letters on the keyboard serve as shortcuts to access different locations.

Alongside managing their airline, the player is able to perform a variety of tasks in the airport including improving their personal security, making investments at the bank, improving their image to the public, talking to the Airport manager about various topics, gaining information from the in-game guide Rick, instigating sabotage against their competitors and much more. The game also returns the item exchange system from the first game where the player can trade items across the airport, unlocking new areas and improving their character's abilities for that day.

As with the first two games, the ability to customize and create one's own personal plane also returns and has been greatly expanded.

Plane Customization

Plane customization saw an overhaul in Airline Tycoon 3, rather than using the part system of the first two games, the player is instead able to modify their plane's appearance using sliders, nodes and area fills. Planes start out with a base shape with the player can modify by stretching or squashing the mane body, twisting and rotating the wings as well as applying attachments to node points that appear based on the shape and size of particular components (such as the nose of the plane, the wings and tail). The plane's interior shell is also able to be customized with the player able to select how the plane's interior is distributed between; Passenger space, luxury space, cargo space and additional fuel tanks. As the player completes more campaign missions they'll unlock additional options for their plane customization ranging from new node accessories to extending the parameters of stretch and squash allowing for truly bizarre airplane designs.

In addition, interior design from Airline Tycoon 2 also returns where the player is able to customize the interior design of their planes, this has also seen expansion although more so in the variety of options. The Class system from the first game also returns allowing the player to select how many First, Business and Economy class seats their plane will have. The colour scheming system from the second game has also been expanded allowing the player to select any colour and even create advanced colour schemes which can be saved and re-used on other planes with ease, the system also uses material-specific colours for particular sections to make it easier for the player to create an appealing colour scheme.

The Airport

The Airport is the primary location the player can view in the game, regardless of the player's selected Home Airport, the interior layout will be the same with differences being purely aesthetic (the exterior view, carpeting, plants and decorations). The Airport is functionally split into five main areas with travelators being usable to quickly move between less important areas.

As shown in the diagram above, the airport is divided into three main levels, an upper level with the various means of ordering flights, a central level with the player's office as well as the various shops and customization locations and a lower level with all the staff related locations.

Airlines Offices

This is the central location of the Airport, denoted by a large arch with each Airline's offices as well as the Airport Manager's office and a circular ring from which the player can head upstairs or downstairs to the other facilities. Each day the player will arrive here at the Airport Manager's office to receive an update on the progression of the current mission or just a general update on each airline depending on the player's game-mode. The player's office can also be accessed here which serves as the primary location to set flights for planes as well as converse with other characters via the phoneline. The player can also call it a day if they want to finish early from their office.

The player may also compose an email to one of their competitors from their office, these emails can allow for collaboration between the airlines or to target another airline. The Manager's office is also accessible here and allows the player to request expansions to the Airport among other things. The player can also discuss with the manager where they currently stand and can invest in the airport which can raise the player's public image and in turn increase the amount of customers for their flights.

Flight Order Deck

The Flight Order Deck is the main location on the upper floor, it contains seven main buildings which each serve to help the player acquire orders for their planes which they can then carry out to make a profit. The buildings are each listed below;

• Vacation Air - Provides Passenger flights for the player that have deadlines ranging from 1-day to 1-week, they're typically safer to take with low penalties for failure but as a result also have a generally lower profit margin as well.
• Emergency Flights - Provides last-minute flights for the player that have deadlines for the end of the day or 1-day, they have high penalties but also high profit margins, they also will typically go to more varied locations sometimes not even using the home airport as a location. It is more common to see Passenger flights here but Cargo flights also appear from time to time.
• Yggdrasil Connections - Allows the player to bid and purchase branches in other airports across the planet, once a branch has been acquired the player is able to take flights from that branch increasing the total number of flights they have access to, if two or more airlines share a branch however then the flights can be taken in a first-come first-served similar to Vacation Air and Emergency Flights.
• Route Works Co. - Allows the player to acquire Routes for their planes, Routes are special as they do not have a deadline, but rather can be used as many times as the player likes with their profit being determined by the demand, time of day and many other factors. Only one airline is allowed to operate on a Route at a time and must pay weekly rent to maintain the Route, however in some modes the option to have "Open Routes" in which more than one airline can operate a route is permitted. The player can only acquire Routes to Airports that they both have a branch in and already have a Route going to (excluding their home airport).
• One of a Kind - Provides Special Flights which have unique parameters but also allow for a high payout as a result. These flights will always have a specific clause outlined in the flight details. These clauses are usually restrictive meaning certain conditions of a plane need to be met for the flight to be accepted, sometimes these are mechanical to the plane design while other times they're purely aesthetic. Some clauses instead list affects the flight can have on the plane ranging in severity. Special Flights are easily the highest paying relative to their time duration of any flight type although because of their special clauses as well as having destinations anywhere in the world they can be difficult to fulfill.
• Inter-Comm - Provides Commissioned Flights, these are flights given out by other Airlines that need the player to provide the vehicle for, they have the lowest expense cost as the commissioning airline will provide fuel and catering. These flights have a deadline period ranging from the end of the day to 1-week ahead. The amount the player receives from these flights is roughly half that of an equivalent flight from Vacation Air although due to their lower expenses can be more profitable particularly for planes with high fuel consumption.
• Cargo Depot - Provides Cargo flights for the player which have deadlines ranging from the end of the day to 1-week ahead. Unlike Passenger flights, Cargo flights use the plane's cargo capacity as a measure for transportation. They have a lower cost due to not needing to provide entertainment or catering although their profit margin can vary wildly depending on the contents of the cargo.

Staff Deck

The Staff Deck is located on the lower floor of the Airport and is where the player can access all things related to the management of their staff. There are four buildings in this area the player can access, the most important of which is the Staff Management Offices, here the player will be able to hire, fire and adjust the wages of their staff. The player can also change which staff are assigned to which planes which the player can also see whether the staff assigned work well together or not. Unlike the previous games, the amount of staff needed to operate a plane is not the same amount needed in total as staff now require the player to give them vacation, typically necessitating a rotation of crew members as long as the plane is operating each day.

The player can also improve their staff's skills and abilities at the Airline Academy, this is a new building in the game which allows the player to spend money to improve the stats of a staff member as well as allow them to gain new abilities which can improve the quality of a flight, its speed or some other factor. Staff that are being trained at the academy cannot be expected to work while being trained and as such will be listed as unavailable similar to a staff member who's on vacation. Although staff training is beneficial for the player it will temporarily lower the staff member's opinion of the airline and may result in them leaving if they're in training for too long, the amount of opinion lost depends on the staff member's personality.

The Pilot & Air Host's Guild is another important building as it is where the player is able to discuss benefits and vacation times for their crew as a whole. The general opinion of the player's staff towards the airline is affected by these two elements and if it falls too low can lead to the staff conducting a walk-out which will temporarily ground all the player's flights. As such in times of a worker's strike, the player will need to go to the guild and discuss terms with the union leaders. Of the two factors the player can adjust from the guild, vacation times simply refers to the amount of time a pilot or air host will get off each week or fortnight (depending on the player's choice for scheduling), it should be noted that advisors do not have vacation times due to them being "on-call". The other factor, benefits allows various benefits for the crew, this can range from free flights to casual attire and will typically have some impact on the player whether it's an increased cost, impacts their image or something else.

The last building in this area is the Staff Quarters, functionally this building simply allows the player to talk to their staff and get an idea of their staff's opinions on the airline and what needs improving. The quarters themselves can also be improved which can increase the base opinion of the staff towards the airline although this typically requires a large investment of money comparable to buying a new plane or more.

West Heritage Wing

The West Heritage Wing is the location of local flights (those occurring within the region of the player's home airport), it also serves as the means for interior customization of the player's plane fleet and their general maintenance. The player can also find the Passenger Lounge here which can provide the player with hints on how to improve their airline to increase Economy and Business Class customer counts. The Bistro is a building located next to the Passenger Lounge which allows the player to adjust the catering for their plane, catering has been expanded from the first game after its absence in Airline Tycoon 2, the player now needs to select a combination of three meals and three beverages for their flights. Meals and Beverages have different positives and negatives and their synergy with one another can dictate how appealing they will be to customers. High-Flying Flicks is another important location for customer happiness as it determines the player's in-flight entertainment and is especially important on planes with a dedicated Luxury Section, the player is able to select what entertainment their planes will have which like Catering needs to synergize with each element having positives and negatives, for entertainment the player needs to balance; Video Entertainment, Games, Internet Access, Music and Luxury Entertainment (the last is only applicable in planes with Luxury sections).

Face of Success is Airline Tycoon 3's imaging company, they can help improve the player's image through advertisements. Improving an airline's image is important as it can increase the number of passengers on a flight as well as make Routes more profitable, it also slightly improves the overall luck of the player, allowing for fortunate events to happen on their flights more often as opposed to unfortunate events. The player can also use attack campaigns to damage the image of their competitors although this can have negative ramifications for the player should the Airport Manager find out they were responsible. Interior Deluxe is located next to Face of Success and is the player's interior design hub, allowing them to change the aesthetic of their plane to whatever they want, this not only can improve the flight experience by increasing the comfort, space and accessories of the seating and storage compartments but also allows the player to customize their planes to look more distinct.

Petrol Air returns from the first game, once again serving as a trader in Kerosene. The player is able to purchase from them barrels of fuel at the then market price, this can be useful when the price is low as it heavily reduces the fuel cost for planes especially if the fuel price spikes. The player will typically be able to foresee the price spiking by reading events in the game's newsfeed. The player can also have their Kerosene altered by adding chemicals into the mix, these chemicals can vary in cost with some even lowering the cost of the kerosene itself although also have different effect such as increasing the speed of flights and improving stability or negative effects like damaging the plane engines or increasing turbulence. Lastly in the West Heritage Wing is the Hangar, here the player can adjust their repair scheme with the airport's maintenance crew, although it should be noted that maintenance can be performed at any airport so the planes do not need to return to the home airport to receive maintenance. Maintenance Crews will do general touch-ups by default but the player can also request that they focus on a particular area which can be useful if that section of the plane suffered significant damage for whatever reason. The player can also adjust how much they're willing to pay for repairs which will alter the amount the repair crews can repair (in percentages) each repair session.

East Globe Wing

The East Globe Wing is the most densely packed location in the game featuring ten main points of interest. The wing as a whole serves to handle major monetary transactions, including the purchasing and selling of planes, items for personal use, security and sabotage as well as bank functions. The Duty Free Store appears here, serving its purpose much like in previous games where the player can buy a variety of items from it, these items can range in the duration of their effects some lasting a few in-game hours to the entire day. The player can also get items that can make it easier to perform tasks including being able to call the various Flight Order locations remotely, get information about each location as well as their hotkeys to quick travel and a device to remotely book flights for the player's planes.

The Museum of Aviation is one of two places the player can acquire planes from, in the Museum's case these are used planes, typically needing to be repaired first before being used, although in exchange they have a lower cost than a new plane. The player can also sell planes which depending on their age, condition and design can vary in the amount they can be sold for. On the opposing side is the Makel & Sons Plane Broker, here the player can buy new planes based on models that have been created, these planes will always come in pristine condition although whereas the Museum can provide planes on the day it takes the Broker between 1-3 days to provide the player their new plane. Attached to the Plane Broker is the Plane Designer Studio, this location allows the player to create new plane models through the plane customization system, the custom models can then be bought at the Broker.

Located opposite the Duty Free Store is the Bank & Stock Exchange. This building serves the same function it has in prior games, the player is able to buy and pay off loans at the Bank as well as deal with reposition to buy back planes, items and staff that have yet to be resold due to the player going bankrupt at some point. The Stock Exchange allows the player to buy and sell shares in their airline, their opponent's airlines as well as a number of businesses around the airport, buying stocks can improve the quality of those businesses, sometimes increasing what they have available or reducing the cost for the player. Hidden at the end of the side area is the access hatch to the Sabotage Room, this room allows the player to conduct sabotage on their opponents, targeting either their airport structures, airplanes or the character specifically, sabotage can prove very effective and can effectively eliminate a character from the game if enough damage is done, however it also comes with risks as should the Airport Manager find out you were responsible there are dire consequences.

Along the main area the player will find Rick's Bar a location returning from the first game, here the player will find Rick a former Airline Tycoon himself who can provide the player with tips to improve their airline as a whole, Rick's suggestions are always helpful and usually target areas of weakness in the player's airline at the current time. He can also give hints as to items certain characters around the airport might be interested in. The Executive Lounge is next to Rick's Bar and serves the same function as the Passenger Lounge in the West Heritage Wing, however is for 1st Class Passengers instead, it also offers more insight into how to improve the player's on-board entertainment. Lastly is the Security Office which the player can access to improve the security of their airline and character, it serves primarily to counter Attack Campaigns and Sabotage but also can improve the player's image with the public as they're seen as a safe airline and can reduce the chance of random negative occurrences.

The last building in this wing is the Control Tower, although it does not serve a gameplay purpose, it provides a large holographic globe with all planes from all four airlines visible giving the player an idea of where each of their competitors is operating, it also highlights airports with increased passengers. The Control Tower also lets the player inspect the stats of each airline which can identify profit, image, passenger transport, etc. but also in Campaign missions will show progression for the particular mission goal.

Airlines

Airline	Character	Main Home Airport
Jewelled Airlines	Mohamed Easifamlia	Algiers, Algeria
Frigate Travels	Mary Fjord	St. John's, Antigua & Barbuda
Stormfront Travel	Joaquin Cascadia	Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ferrous Skylines	Benjamin Arkose	Sydney, Australia
Amazon Skyways	Lucas Paraiso	Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Northern Flights	Matthew Brumal	Montreal, Canada
Condor Flights	Payne Cresta	Santiago, Chile
Great Wall Connections	Fei Yunhe	Beijing, China
Pharaoh Airlines	Amun Abu-Alhawl	Cairo, Egypt
Torogoz Airlines	Juan Helecho	San Salvador, El Salvador
Turaco Skies	Zerihun Balali'uu	Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Pyredancer Skylines	Matu Sokolevu	Suva, Fiji
Golden Wings	Louis Soleil	Paris, France
Falcon Lines	Siggi Sorglos	Berlin, Germany
Stoneworker Airlines	Emmanuel Mason	Accra, Ghana
Peacock Royal Airways	Rahul Aatmathee	New Delhi, India
Butterfly Airlines	Evie Sleamhnaigh	Dublin, Ireland
Honey Airlines	Mario Zucchero	Rome, Italy
Fuji Cloud Travel	Ahana Kuraudo	Tokyo, Japan
Twin Tusk Airways	Brian Ulinzi	Nairobi, Kenya
Hornbill Airlines	Nur Menarangit	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lighthouse Travels	Aurelie Lilyden	Port Louis, Mauritius
Eagle Skyways	Gabriela Foso	Guadalajara, Mexico
Pepper Skylines	Salma Altawabil	Rabat, Morocco
Kiwi Air	Samantha Moko	Wellington, New Zealand
Harvest Airlines	Milagros Flotarriba	Lima, Peru
Riveteer Flights	Zofia Huta	Warsaw, Poland
Ring Glade Airways	Laura Septoiles	Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
Phoenix Travel	Igor Tuppolevsky	Moscow, Russia
Jasmine Skylines	Alya Murshid	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Crane Flights	Puleng Wereld	Cape Town, South Africa
Sunshine Airways	Tina Cortez	Madrid, Spain
Farcaster Air	Kristina Sjoman	Stolkholm, Sweden
Inspired Travels	Amphorn Deinthang	Bangkok, Thailand
Stallion Flights	Ahmed Almamaru	Tunis, Tunisia
Bridging Air Travel	Ruzgar Ikideniz	Istanbul, Turkey
Donjon Skies	Maryam Malakiun	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Industrial Skies	Oliver Topper	London, United Kingdom
Lonestar Airways	Austin Dustbowl	Dallas, United States of America
Succour Flights	Van Gio Tay	Hanoi, Vietnam

Characters

There are a wide variety of characters in the Airport for the player to encounter, while each of the Airline operators do not have a specified personality and have very similar lines between one another, the other individuals in the airport are much more colourful in their personalities.

Character	Location	Description
Mr. Caelex	Airport Manager's Office	The Airport Manager, he is a straight-laced and no-nonsense sort of Airport manager and doesn't take kindly to the Airlines messing with his Airport. Gaining his favour doesn't provide any blatant advantages although is a good indicator of whether the player is doing well, each day he has a meeting where he evaluates the status of each Airline. The player must also talk to him about getting expansions for the Airport.
Mr. Muliv	Staff Management Offices	The player's staff scouter, Mr. Muliv will scout for potential staff for the player to hire, he can be instructed on what to look for which will alter the types of employees he presents as potential hires on the following days. Although from the outside Mr. Muliv appears quite friendly and is always so to the player, he does seem to take some carnal pleasure in effectively deciding the future of the airline's employees, this is embodied in his desk which despite him mentioning not being that wealthy is far more lavish than any others in the offices.
Mrs. Betalelse	Staff Management Offices	The player's staff manager, Mrs. Betalelse handles the payment of staff salaries and allows the player to adjust them on an individual, position or whole staff scale, she is also important as the player can fire their current staff by talking to her. Mrs. Betalelse has a very caring and compassionate personality, somewhat of a contrast to her role of governing payrates and firing, according to Mr. Muliv she hand-writes an apology letter to every employee the player fires.
Mr. Myshivost	Airline Academy	The player's staff trainer, Mr. Myshivost is used to improve the skills of the player's staff as well as train them to get abilities. Mr. Myshivost seems to be a bit of a storyteller often talking about events in his past during his time serving in various military operations across the planet, talking to pilots and flight attendants in the Quarters suggests that none of them really get why Mr. Myshivost insists on telling them his stories, he will even tell the player some if they permit it. This also reveals that Mr. Myshivost can often ramble in long-winded diatribes.
Ms. Cordwainer	Pilot & Air Host's Guild	Ms. Cordwainer is the leader of the airport's union, she seeks to ensure all employees have their rights met as well as receive appropriate benefits. The player can discuss with her what benefits they will give their employees, in spite of not having any experience as a pilot or flight attendant she is very passionate about their plight and will often act openly hostile towards the player. She seems to have a personal disdain for the airlines and although the player can soften her opinions by improving the working conditions of their workers she will never fully trust them.
The Gourmet	The Bistro	The Gourmet provides the player with their catering options for their flights, the gourmet is always the opposite sex of the player character. They provide options for what catering to provide as well as can be instructed to research new recipes which can expand the player's options and provide generally better service. They're quite opinionated and will often critique the player on poor combinations as well as what they refer to as "lower food".

Campaign

TBA

Locations

Airline Tycoon 3 boasts over 650 Airports in the game, Airport locations vary greatly with some being super-massive hubs of passenger transport while others are small, isolated locations. Airports have a difficult gradient from one to six with the number determining how difficult it is to maintain a profit at that airport. During Campaign Missions the player's airport is dictated by the mission itself, this is to ensure a balanced difficulty for all players.

More TBA

Trivia

• The game features several secret airports which cannot be selected as home airports, these are wholly fictional locations and only appear occasionally as the destination for Special Flights, as the only flights for these locations are to the secret airport, any empty flights from these locations have a $0 expenses.
  • Atlantis - ATS (Appears on Special Flights transporting "Experimental Human-Fish Hybrids", located in the middle of the North-Atlantic Ocean)
  • Aaru - ARU (appears on Special Flights transporting "Professional Divine Farmers", located randomly on the Nile River)
  • Mt. Olympus - OLY (appears on Special Flights transporting "High Quality Greek Cosplayers", located at the same location as the real life Mt. Olympus)
  • Valhalla - VAL (appears on Special Flights transporting "Thousand Year Old Brew", located either in the Northern Sea or Baltic Sea)
  • Vaitarna River - VTR (appears on Special Flights transporting "Unclean Wicked Ones", located around the Ganges in India)
  • Moving Sands - MVN (appears on Special Flights transporting "Misplaced Scriptures", located in any part of the Gobi Desert within China)
  • Avalon - AVA (appears on Special Flights transporting "Sword-laden Apples", located on the Isle of Mann in the British Isles)
  • El Dorado - EDL (appears on Special Flights transporting "Gold Cleaning Solution", located on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense in Colombia)
  • Fountain of Youth - FOY (appears on Special Flights transporting "Energetic Centennials", located along the Congo River)
  • Shangri-La - SHL (appears on Special Flights transporting "Extraordinarily rare Species", located on the Kunlun Mountains in China)