Airport Tycoon 2 - version 1.0

Frequently Asked Questions

10 January 2003

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1. How do I get passenger airline contracts?

There are several things you must first to, to get your airport ready 
for passengers. First, you must build a terminal. Then you must place road 
directly in front of the terminal that runs down the length of the front of 
the terminal. This road must then be connected to the entrance point of your 
bought land.

Next you must build an Airport Maintain, Fire station and Car park. These 
buildings must be surrounded by road and must be connected to the main road. 

Next you must build a plane maintain and turnaround. These buildings should 
be surrounded by apron and must have a clear path to the plane stands on your 
terminal. Note that vehicles from turnarounds and plane maintains can use apron
or taxiway to get to your plane stands, so you really need to make sure that these
vehicles have a clear path to taxiways that lead to various plane stands.

Next you must build a control tower, which should be connected to road. Building
must fully complete on the control tower before you are able to build runways.

Last, you must build a runway. The runway must have a path leading to the plane 
stands on your terminal. It is a good idea to give planes as straight a path as 
possible leading from the runway to the plane stands.

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2. I've built everything I must to get airline contracts, but I'm still not 
getting them?

If you see the Mechanical Breakdown symbol over top of a building, there are a 
few things you need to check to make sure that your buildings are functioning
correctly. 

As a precaution, make sure that all buildings are surrounded by road, taxiway 
or apron, depending upon the building. Make sure that the entrance to your 
airport is connected to terminals with road. Also make sure that planes and vehicles
have clear paths to their destinations, which means, make sure your runway is 
connected to the planestands on your terminal(s).

No matter which location you choose, you should get a decent amount of flights coming 
in, however, dense populations such as Chicago, Tokyo and New York will yield more 
flights, as they are busier 
areas.

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3. How do I get flight contracts?

Once a master airline contract is signed, you should start receiving flight 
contracts. Each plane stand of a terminal can handle up to 8 flights per day. 
Airlines will want to use all of the available plane stands as possible and will 
schedule flights throughout the day. If you find that your airline is filling up, 
you will want to build another terminal to receive more flight contracts.

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4. How do tech levels work?

In order to advance in tech levels, you must build all items in a previous tech
level. This may take you some time, for higher-level buildings cost more money.

The following items are available from the start of the game, or tech level 0, and
are always available. There are no prerequisites to build these items:

	- All terminals
	- 2000m runway
	- Airport Maintain 1
	- Control tower 1
	- Fire station 1
	- Hourly car park
	- Plane maintain 1
	- Turnaround 1
	- Bus stop and taxi rank
	- Road, apron and taxiway
	- All park pieces
	- All hotels and gas stations, as long as you meet contract requirements.
	

Tech level 1 items:
	- Cargo building 1
	- Hangar 1

Tech level 2:
	- Administration 1
	- Short Stay Car Park
	- Turnaround 2

Tech level 3:
	- Airport Maintain 2
	- Cargo building 2
	- Cold Storage 1
	- Plane Maintain 2
	- Police Station 1
	- Post Office

Tech level 4:
	- 3000m Runway
	- Control Tower 2
	- Customs
	- Long Stay Car Park
	- Fire Station 2
	
Tech level 5:
	- Administration 2
	- Airport Maintain 3
	- Infirmary
	- Plane Maintain 3
	- Police Station 2

Tech level 6:
	- Cold Storage 2
	- Control Tower 3
	- Police Station 3
	- Sewage Treatment
	- Turnaround 3

Tech level 7:
	- 3500m Runway
	- Administration 3
	- Fire Station 3
	- Hangar 2	

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5. What do Plane Maintains and Turnarounds do?

Plane maintains fuel the planes and turnarounds provide catering services for 
passengers. If you do not have enough Plane Maintains and Turnarounds, delays will 
occur, because those vehicles have to be able to service planes in a reasonable 
amount of time. Plane maintains and Turnarounds have a set number of fuel suppliers 
and caterers (respectively). The further down the list, the better the supplier or
caterer is. A better supplier or caterer costs you more money, but runs more 
efficiently and has a more positive effect on an airline's attitude toward your 
airport. 

You will want to place turnarounds and plane maintains close to groups of plane
stands, so that there are enough service vehicles to reach groups of plane stands
quickly and easily.

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6. How does Airport Maintenance work?

All buildings have a monthly maintenance cost. An Airport Maintain can keep 
buildings maintained up to a certain combined monthly maintenance cost (i.e.: they 
can only repair and maintain so much each month). The more buildings you have, the 
more maintenance the Airport Maintain can handle. If you overtax your Airport 
Maintain, building conditions will degrade more quickly. It may be necessary to 
build several airport maintains to avoid decaying buildings.

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7. How do I get cargo airline contracts?

Cargo airlines require that you build a hangar connected to the runway 
(using taxiway), and a cargo building connected to the hangar (using apron). Be
sure to place apron around the perimeter of cargo buildings. Cargo buildings have
a capacity. As cargo flights arrive, some of the capacity is used. Additionally,
as some flights leave, they take cargo with them and the capacity is restored. 

Note that Cargo level 1 and Hangar level 1 are not available from the start of the
game and are part of the next tech level.

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8. How do I get intercontinental airline contracts?

You must build the Customs building and attach it to road before you can sign an 
intercontinental contract. Depending upon how many potential intercontinental 
contracts you have, you may need to build more Customs buildings to satisfy 
contractual needs.

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9. How does dedicating buildings work?

Before you can dedicate buildings to a particular airline, you must first build an 
Admin building. Depending upon the level of a building, you may have to build a 
higher level Admin building to dedicate it. Additionally, depending upon the number 
of contracts, you may have to build more Admin buildings. You can only dedicate
so many buildlings per Admin building, therefore, it is also necessary to build
more Admin buildings if you find you can no longer dedicate any buildings.

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10. How do I get better passenger and cargo airline contracts?

Naturally, the better an airline is, the higher requirements it has. You will have 
to be able to build higher-level buildings of all types in order to receive higher 
end airlines. This includes needing a higher-level police station or fire station, 
in addition to buildings like higher-level plane maintains and turnarounds. 
Additionally, you may need to dedicate more buildings to these airlines before 
being able to get their business. It is very likely it will take several years 
before you are able to land higher end contracts. 

Additionally, new tech levels open up as you build all buildings of existing tech 
levels. Remember this when you don't want to build that higher end car park. You 
will need to in order to advance the tech tree.  

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11. How do I get hotel, gas station and car rental contracts?

Hotels, gas stations and car rental companies require that your airport has a 
certain amount of daily traffic (people, not cars) before agreeing to establish 
themselves at your airport. When you accept one of these contracts, the building 
appears under the Public Services category in the Build Menu. These buildings are 
free, in that building costs are handled completely by the business; however, you 
are still required to handle monthly maintenance costs for these buildings.

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12. How do I get business contracts?

Similar to hotel, gas station and car rental contracts, businesses (retail and 
restaurants) require a certain amount of daily traffic before they agree to come 
to open up shop at your airport. A low-end business will have a lower daily traffic 
requirement than a high-end establishment. 

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13. Why do I keep seeing the Mechanical Breakdown icon over my building(s)?

Mechanical breakdown indicates 2 things. First, it appears if a building is below 
50% condition. Additionally, if a building is not set up correctly (for instance, 
road, taxiway or apron is not place correctly around the building) the icon will 
also appear. Essentially, the Mechanical Breakdown icon will appear whenever 
something hinders the building from functioning the way it should. Additionally, 
if your buildings are not connected to the Main Entrance to the airport land, the 
mechanical breakdown icon would appear.

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14. Why do the airlines fine me?

Airlines will want to constantly send planes through your airport, so it is 
necessary to have available plane stands. If your plane stands are fully scheduled 
and your airport cannot handle any more flights, airlines will typically get 
annoyed that they can no longer schedule flights through your airport. You should 
build around 4 or 5 cargo buildings per airline contract.

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15. Why are my flights getting delayed/cancelled?

Weather is the main inhibitor to smooth flight traffic. Generally, when there is a
major disaster or extremely bad weather, flights will be delayed (or possibly 
cancelled) but will return to their normal.

Additionally, you will see delays if you do not have enough turnarounds and plane 
maintains to adequately handle the number of flights your airport is receiving.
Build more to 

If vehicles, planes, etc. cannot reach their destinations, flights may be
delayed or cancelled. Be sure that planes have a clear simple path from the runway
to the terminal plane stands, and make sure that all cargo, turnaround, and plane 
maintain vehicles can reach all hangars / plane stands. 

Be careful of which buildings you demolish. You may demolish a building that is 
necessary for the airport to run.

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16. How do items work inside of the terminal?

Just as in the outside world, inside terminal objects have a build cost and monthly
upkeep cost. Additionally, inside terminal objects affect your ratings. Remember 
the following when placing inside terminal objects:

	a. Retail items add to customer satisfaction, but detract from security, 
	since 	there is a higher chance for crime with more retail shops and rest-
	aurants to rob.

	b. Security items often add to security ratings, but detract from customer
	satisfaction. The satisfaction hit comes from the inherent lack of patience
	most customers have (such as that comes from waiting in lines or being 
	personally searched).

	c. Baggage carousels add to customer satisfaction, since they help in
	getting customers out of the airport and on their ways much quicker.

	d. Check in items add mostly to satisfaction, however there is a slight
	boost to the safety rating, since Check Ins handle stored luggage.

	e. Public items affect ratings differently. In general, public items 
	affect satisfaction the most, since many public items exist for the 
	comfort and convenience of the airport customers. However, there are a few
	items that either detract from satisfaction, or give a hit or bonus to 
	other ratings. The security rating will take a hit from ATMs, for example, 
	since there is a greater chance of robbery with all that extra money 
	floating around.

Overall, be sure to see how your ratings are affected as you place items.

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