A turn based airline game · 1945 to 2045
Airline
Challenge
One hundred years of aviation, one airline at a time. Start with a single aircraft on an island route, or run a global network through the arrival of the jets.
Real aircraft, airports and history. Every fact is labelled by how well it is sourced, so you always know what is established and what is still an estimate.
Status
A playable prototype exists. It covers the jet transition, 1958 to 1963, and is the test of whether the economy and the interface work.
38 airports
From Idlewild to a grass strip on the Isles of Scilly, each with runway, capacity and weather.
17 aircraft types
Piston, turboprop and jet, plus light aircraft for the smallest operators.
11 airlines
From a major carrier to an operator with one aircraft. Rivals follow the same rules you do.
Three scenarios
A jet bet, an independent with a restrictive licence, and a sole island link.
All figures in the prototype are estimates and are being verified. See how the data is handled.
Interface
The interface belongs to its era. In 1958 it is a printed timetable. In 1945 it is paper and a typewriter. Each period of the game gets its own look, sound and feel.
Every size
Most airline games are about the big carriers. This one is also about the smallest. A one aircraft operator on an island lifeline route meets weather, subsidy, a ferry rival and the fragility of having nothing in reserve.
The smallest airline in the prototype is modelled on a real kind of operator. Isles of Scilly Skybus flies from Land's End, Newquay and Exeter to St Mary's, and is owned by the company that runs the ferry from Penzance. See the whole spectrum of airlines.
Eras
The century is mapped in fifteen eras of different lengths, divided where the rules, the technology or the economy changed.
- 011945 to 1951Surplus and settlement
Wartime transports flood the market while the rules of international flying are written.Mapped - 021952 to 1957Tourist class and turbine dawn
Cheaper fares open the Atlantic to a wider public as the first turbine airliners arrive.Mapped - 031958 to 1964Jet transition
Long haul jets arrive. Order too early and you carry empty seats and debt. Too late and your rivals take the best passengers.Prototype - 041965 to 1973Widebodies and mass travel
Bigger aircraft, cheaper seats, noise rules and the first security screening.Mapped - 051974 to 1978The old rules end
An oil shock, a supersonic airliner and the end of route and fare control in the United States.Mapped - 061979 to 1986Deregulation and hubs
Free entry, new fare structures and the hub and spoke network.Mapped
Honesty
History games tend to blur what is known and what is guessed. Airline Challenge does not.
Labelled facts
Every record carries its source and a confidence level: exact, estimated or placeholder. The in-game encyclopedia shows them.
Tested economy
The simulation is deterministic and covered by automated tests, strategy runs and a calibration report that states where it misses.
Open roadmap
What is built, what is partly built and what is only planned is stated plainly on the systems page.