An interesting addition for the future I think would be mail transportation. Here in Italy we have Mistral Air, that is a subsidiary of the Poste Italiane group, that takes care of the movement of mail and packages via air.
One of its bases is Milan Linate airport, that has created a specific area for the purpose of mail handling.
In gaming terms, this would require I think a dedicated area in the airport plus employees and a convetor belt system similar to the one that passenger baggage currently use… The devs may confirm this or not, but I have the impression that it wouldn’t too big a strain to code, since the basic simulation principles that govern a passenger luggage and a mail container are pretty much the the same
Either this, or mail handling may be reconducted in the field of “generic cargo traffic” in an airport: it’d be less specific but quicker to implement.
Let me know your thoughts on this proposal and feel free to merge this topic in the one about cargo or the one about tiny suggestions.
And last but not least, since this is my first topic here: Frederik and Olof are doing an OUTSTANDING job, I think I have never seen a game that is in an Alpha state but looks like Beta! This will be I think a small gem in this genre when it’s out! Keep up the great work!
The devs have stated clearly that they focus on passengers now, but that cargo handlng (including specialty cargo like mail, perishables) at a later date.
I agree that mail handling is an excellent addition
I think it would be a great addition to the game when the time is right. These flights tend to be overnight too which might give your airport more activity in the unsociable hours.
I think having a dedicated operation for mail and parcels would be beneficial.
I could argue that it would be detailed enough to be a separate operation within the cargo operations. You could have a mail distribution centre on site that sorts mail and directs it onwards (obviously, designing and running this system is well outwith the scope of Airport CEO, but having a warehouse on site for the mail operator to inhabit would be a nice feature).
The big difference between cargo and mail could be that cargo arrives and goes on to its destination, whereas the mail arrives in bulk and is sorted into shipments prior to going to the plane. Obviously, again, going into detail on this is outwith the scope of the game; but the game could perhaps receive 100 packages of mail and generate 100 packages going to various destinations from there.
If you keep it generic enough you could handle a lot more. Precious cargo, perishables, livestock, flowers, the list is endless. These all have special facilities (secure, refrigerated, etc)
I agree, so much potential in cargo - I’d love to see lots of the different types of cargo having their own required objects and processes. Obviously, care needs to be taken not to get too far into the micromanagement of a warehouse, but there’s a lot to explore when it comes to individual cargo management.
You could avoid major micromanagement by just having the contract for the cargo flights just say what they will ship and what type of building storage they need (packages, cold storage, secure, etc.) As far as the terminal part of it you could build a shipping and/or receiving zone. Maybe provide the shelving or special storage type things. Example: AirCargo contract wants to ship fresh produce, zone for the shipping area and place refrigerated storage containers. Contract specifies how many containers needed.
You could even further reduce management by just providing the proper size storage zone and the the company provide the other materials.
It is not necessary that mail needs to be sorted by destination at the airport. It is normally sorted int shipments at the post office/parcel agency.
A lot of cargo arrives in bulk at an airport by trucks and all the contents of a truck may not be headed to a single destination.
It is very common that a truck is filled with any and all cargo that needs to be shipped via air and the sorting of the shipments happens at the airport (not individual mail parcels).
But you could have different facility to be able to handle different cargo. Generic sorting facility for normal cargo and mail (low cost sorting, less income per item), cold storage and refrigerated trucks to transport to plane for perishables (more operational cost, more revenue from shipments), maybe vaults/extra guards for precious cargo
I know that some mail carriers do their sorting at airports to some degree, and it could be a nice addition. I invisage a machine that takes parcels and generates a number of batches (ten units headed for Stockholm, ten for Rome, five for Athens) headed for different destinations, rather than it arriving as such. The mail sorting must not be a micromanagement nightmare and would just be a machine that receives mail and generates a destination.
Micromanaging would be sorting the stuff by hand by clicking on it. I don’t see the issue with designing a system that does it automatically. For example at East Midlands in the UK DHL have a sorting station for mail which would be fun to design.
