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We give you 10 tips, straight from the developer, on how to make your fleet a hit
There have been plenty of flight simulators over the years, but very few games have tackled the experience of being the CEO of a burgeoning airline. Pocket Planes does just that, putting mobile gamers in an airline boss's chair, letting them expand their service all over the digital globe.
Pocket Planes is all about time and resource management. You have to know where to expand, when to send out your planes, when to upgrade your fleet, and when to call it a day because all of your airports are snowed in. While some of these strategies might come to you naturally, we decided to go right to the source. Ian Marsh, one of the developers at Nimblebit, was kind enough to offer up 10 tips to running a successful airline. We've supplemented those tips with some handy advice on how best to implement them. With our help, you'll be running the next Pan Am in no time!
Marsh: This may sound obvious, but above starting with a full plane of passengers to drop off along your route, you get a 25% bonus in coins when your plane is full of passengers going to the same destination.
You'll maximize your profits by sending a full plane to the same location. A good way to do this (especially if you're trying to fill a plane with four or more seats) is to leave a half-full plane waiting at an airport. When new jobs come in, the passengers you've already loaded on your plane will remain, and the new jobs are likely to match them. Keep waiting until your plane is full of passengers all going to the same place. Of course, if you'd rather not babysit the game, you can always just send out the plane with a bunch of passengers or cargo going to around the same region. You won't get the 25% bonus, but it's better than nothing.
Marsh: Avoid clumping your cities in small groups, and unlock cities at the edge of the range of your planes.
Having two cities right next to each other is only helpful early in the game, when you're trying to make some extra scratch. Once you start expanding, note the range of your planes (indicated by a green circle whenever you're selecting your route). The idea is to expand to airports that are right on the edge, but still inside, that circle. That'll give you the most bang for your expansion.
3. FLY STRAIGHT!
Marsh: The straighter your route, the more profitable it will be. Avoid routes with large curves or sharp angles.
What did your math teacher always say? The quickest route between two points is a straight line. This remains true in Pocket Planes. If you're constantly sending your planes on routes that have sharp zigzags, you're not maximizing your profit. A good way to ensure this? Only expand to airports that are mostly level with your other airports. That way, all your routes will be mostly straight and you'll save on gas money.
4. START A SISTER AIRLINE
Marsh: If you'd like to participate in an event halfway around the world, you can open up cities that have no connection to the rest of your airline. Just remove a plane or two and re-commission them wherever you like.
Worldwide events let you team up with friends to form a flight crew (might we suggest the #Polygon flight crew?) and send passengers and cargo to the same city over the course of a few days. The chosen city is often well out of the range of any of the airports you've already built. You could try to spend a bunch of money, expanding all the way to the event, but there's an easier way. Just build an airport where the event is going down, and then build one or two airports in the vicinity of that event. You can decommission some of the planes already in service and then re-commission them in the area of the event (for the cost of a few Bux). Once the event ends, you can shutter those airports and move the planes back into your main route, cash in hand.
Marsh: If there is a leg of your route that only bigger planes can take, pool jobs at the endpoints with smaller planes! Unloading a job in a city other than their start city will save them until you can pick them up again.
The only way to make it from Los Angeles to Honolulu is to use a class 2 plane. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't fill up a class 1 plane with passengers or cargo heading to Hawaii! Just fill it up and send them to Los Angeles. Once they land, they'll wait as layovers until you're ready to pick them up with a class 2 plane. Even better, you'll still earn the full value of the flight, not just the value of going from LA to Honolulu.
6. UPGRADE YOUR PLANES
Marsh: Planes can be upgraded in three categories to give them slightly more range or speed, or make them a little cheaper to fly.
Upgrading planes can absolutely make your fleet more profitable, though you should be wary of how you upgrade, since it's liable to cost plenty of Bux. If one of your planes is just out of reach of a major airport, it might be a good idea to expand that plane's range by 5%, giving you that extra hop, skip, and jump. Just remember: Don't get attached to your planes. If you find yourself constantly needing to upgrade your fleet, it might be time for entirely new planes instead.
7. COLLECT PARTS INSTEAD OF BUYING WHOLE PLANES
Marsh: You can save some Bux by collecting the three parts needed for a plane, then building it from the parts menu.
Even though you're given the option to buy whole planes in the market, you should always just buy parts. Buying three parts and putting them all together is always going to cost you fewer Bux than buying the whole plane in one go. Just be patient and keep checking the market, as the stock will change every 10 minutes or so.
Marsh: Sometimes it makes sense to close an existing airport to expand in other regions. Closing an airport gives you back half its cost and frees up construction of another airport.
This is a big one. Not only is it a good idea to expand into other regions, shutting down an airport ensures that no new jobs will request flying there. If you find that you keep sending jobs to Fairbanks but can't seem to get any decent jobs for the flight back, shut it down and expand into a larger airport. Which leads us to ..
9. BUY BIG CITIES
Marsh: Saving up for a blue or red city can really change the game due to the much higher number of jobs available in them.
Class 1 airports are the smallest, marked by a black dot. Class 1 airports get the fewest number of jobs, which makes it tough to fill planes. The best use of these small airports, especially once you have a few major airports, is to use them as puddle-jumpers. A single Class 1 airport can connect two major airports (blue or red) across a country, letting smaller planes make the trip while giving them tons of jobs when they finally get there.
10. HIT UP FRIENDS FOR PARTS
Marsh: Plane parts can be sent to friends (at a small cost) making plane crafting that much easier through trades or sheer generosity!
If you happen to have a friend who is considerably farther ahead in the game, they're likely to be sitting on a bunch of planes and parts they don't need. They can break down those planes into parts and then send the parts to you at a relatively small Bux cost, giving you a leg up in your early game. Just don't resort to begging, please.
Here is a list of the top ten planes in Pocket Planes.The Top Ten Best Planes In Pocket Planes
1Aeroeagle-MGreat overall. With a few upgrades on range, it can go all over the world
Fast, efficient, and inexpensive to fly. Also cheap to upgrade. It can make a transatlantic flight upgraded once or twice. Great plane!
Simply the best plane. It is fast, it has good range and capacity, low costs for operation and upgrade, my airline has been really succesful since I got them.. I got 9 and of course I'm going to get more. My profits and my experience have grown with them.
Totally the best. Cheap to buy and operate and can fly to any class 2 or 3 airport in the game. You get them early on they can go across the Atlantic!
2Sequoia-MGreat for anyone with several class 3 airports. Operating costs are low, and it has a very nice range
I like it because it can go across the pond
Four words:Gives lots of money!
Very cheap to buy and run, it has a great range too
3Cyclone-MGood capacity and doesn’t take forever to load like the cloudliner
With some upgrades on weight it can be a real good money maker
It may not carry as much as the cloud liners or as efficient as the sequoia but it is the best overall plane. It can fly across the whole world in straight lines after upgrading max range. I'm level 31 and I have 8 of these!
It is a good look and it has a good amount of passengers, not to much, not to less.
4CloudlinerGreat plane. Loads of space if you have the patience to fill it up. I randomly started with one so I'm level 13 and have a cloud liner circuit! Really changed my money income
Good for transporting lots of things around at once
Best or close to best in ever category
Takes time to fill, but makes so much coins and bux! This will be your Most Valuable Plane!
5ConcordeEasy to earn because all concord events occur at Paris and London so if you start in Europe you are almost 100% certain to get it.
The concorde is fast, good range, and enough seating
Very fast and has decent capacity
Dosn't cost a lot to run.. But first you need to get it
6X10 Mapple ProGood money maker, checks all the boxes for a class one plane. Great value
Very fast with decent range. It can go from Winnipeg to Goose Bay in 25 minutes.
Easy to get right before you explode with money (you all know that point) and still good for events
Perfect for event-flights, lands anywhere and has a big range.
7Kangaroo-MGreat Range for level 15 and under. Will not cross the Atlantic though once you start progressing. Mine make good money still though at level 17 but I'll be ditching the last one soon. I have Kangaroo-P also and it does fine.
I call my fleet of four of these 'Old Reliable' for a reason. With enough upgrades and rest stops, these can easily go Transatlantic.
Very very useful for event delivery.
They also serve to shuttle cargo and people on layover trips after they are landed en masse on a Aeroeagle. Very good plane, super cheap, speed is pretty good, very very reliable.
Has great capacity and range for the person under level 8
Large range good for long flights
8Mohawk-P/CI love them because they are level one therefore you can land them at any airport and are light and fast with good range
Has that good range for the person under level 10
I have 3 and they are all good money makers
Sleek sexy son of a gun.
9Birchcraft-MCastle age corvintheus. Great plane, with 3 upgrades I can fly all over the world, best plane I have 11 of them with a profit of circa 900
Good for when you have a few class 2 airports and maybe some class 3 airports. Great operating costs and range.
I personally don't believe this should be ranked so high because of the weak profits I always got from mine.
This is a must have with all upgrades can do U.S. Coast to Coast and Los Angeles-Honolulu
10Equinox-P/CEasy to make a load, cleans out layovers and delivers FAST. Great range, light (economical) and perfect to compliment larger planes to full in the gap. I have 5 in my 13 plane fleet.
Upgrade it all the way. Highly recommend. It can land anywhere globally except class one airports. And really who needs those!
Nice, fast, economic with great range. And 3 places easy to fill. I recommend buying a fleet of these little money-makers
Good range, operating cost and speed. Good workhorse.
The Contenders
11Fogbuster MA good plane if you can wait to get everyone going to the same place.
4 people and cargo, very fast and far range
12Pearjet-MGood for doing events as it is fast and has a good capacity for a class 2 plane
After 3 upgrades can fly from London to New York
With all upgrades this plane can be used for New York-Tokyo
With a few range upgrades is great
13Wallaby P/CNice plane. Used to be my top earner.
Useful for just getting jobs with bux. Doesn't cost a lot to run
14Mohawk-MVery good can cross atlantic if you go through all of Asia, Africa and South America it takes 1-3 hours
Great plane in my level one airline, basicly zooms everything everywhere
15Bearclaw-PFlies fast and far best plane ever😂
JK! It really SUCKS
16Navigator-p/cGreat for start up. Good money earner
Very good for starting with
Great plane. Early on, starting again- I'm level 6- I have six C's, 3 P's and 2 M's. Each average at about 2,000 coins per hour.
Even worse on range than the Anan, cannot go trans-Tasman, but as my airline is a small one I still put mine to good use
17Griffon-P/CIt is very profitable and good for small airlines. It has a better range than most planes its size and it is good to carry layovers.
Great for low levels big range
THE BBEST
18Airvan-PThe first plane that you get that can carry 3 passengers, and very economical to run, even without upgrades. I'm level 16 and still use two of these for my regular service.
Makes LOTS of $ for newcomers. Also has good range.
Nice plane for all newcomers, very good range
VERY GOOD MONEY MAKER for all under level 10
20Airvan-CMy airvan-c is still my top earner when I'm al level 15!
21Anan-P/CAwesome for new-players
Top earner
Not the best on range, but it can go trans-Tasman I use mine for Sydney-Auckland
22StarshipTerrible plane!It constantly loses money, there is no reason for it other than speed and range. Maybe useful for events, but only at major losses. Basically this plane blows.
The starship has the best range in the game
Extremely fast and has lots of capacity
The Starship is actually great in the job of a bux sitter- sitting at airports for bux and then flying them to their destinations. Hackmud firewall. At Level 35 and trying to get thousands of bux to blow on big planes, bux is way more important than the 10-15 thousand coin loss from operating Starship.
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Top Remixes
2. Aeroeagle-M
3. Cyclone-M
pctwist
2. Sequoia-M
3. Concorde
Gollark8
2. Concorde
3. Fogbuster M
pocketplanes001