Several entrance and many exit

[me123]

Some options:

1. The system reverts to automatic gate allocation - the flight simply goes to the nearest available gate if there is one available. This is essentially the system we have now, but with the additional step of us assigning a gate at the start.
2. Manual intervention - the flight clears the runway and holds for instructions, triggering a prompt to the player to assign the flight to a gate. Realistic, but cumbersome for the CEO. And, as has been pointed out, this is not an air traffic control simulator.
3. A system whereby you list gates in order of preference - I think this is too cumbersome and just gets moreso as the airport expands.

I’d opt for option one. The gate allocation is respected where possible, but in the event of delays or other problems the computer (your ground crew/ATC) will sort the problem out for you. In the event of this causing further clashes, you could either let the AI sort it out or there would be time for the control freaks (like me) to manually intervene before the next planes land (if the game allocates the flight to a stand that will cause a clash, a message could appear to prompt/inform the CEO). This is probably how most airports run anyway - the gate allocations are assigned in advance, and may be varied at the last minute due to operational issues.

I do think that, to an extent, the management do have some interest in gate allocation. Airlines may request certain gates (perhaps to facilitate connections, or for access to lounges, or even just proximity to customer service desks, or proximity to their other flights to allow the ground crew to be more efficient). If the airline is going to build a lounge and customer service desk in an airport, it will want their flights to be departing nearby. Not much point building a lounge at gate 1 when the flight ends up departing from gate 79G, and when money and reputation are at stake you better believe it would become the CEO’s problem. Similarly, Cheapo Airways might want to utilise their staff to the max to keep costs down, so they’d much rather have flights departing from gates 3 and 4 (allowing ground staff to work with two planes, or at least be able to move from one to the other in a matter of seconds) than going from gates 3 and 48 (which may require additional staff). Again, when it comes to money, it ends up being the CEO’s problem. Remote stands, again, could be a contentious issue for airlines - the more prestigious airlines may not be best pleased with their passengers being bussed half way across an airfield. Lots of these things are features that we have discussed, so allocating gates isn’t too far away from our duties.

And, as I’ve said elsewhere, if you are just using the existing grid but upgrading it to equate a row to a gate (which is probably how I’d use it practically anyway), then it should be no more cumbersome for the casual player who doesn’t really care about gate allocations.

[vikhattangady]

Maybe atleast setting gate priorities.
Maybe a middle road between setting each flight’s gate manually, and leaving the assignment completely up to the path finding algorithm.
I explained this idea a little more here:

Setting Gate priorities

Continuing the discussion from Add Apron TaxiwayTextures for realism: I asked in the other thread if we could decide on which runway a flight would land and which gate it would taxi to. That was obviously too much to ask for, and would become too tedious for player to set manually for each incoming flight. Revised idea: Can we set priorities for runways/gates? That is, the plane will always attempt to land at the runway with highest priority. If that runway is not available, then next priori…

[thetuque]

I would echo some of what @me123 said.

Personally, I’d like the ability to assign a gate to either “Open” which any airline will use and a gate assigned to an airline. This way I’m able to group all of Maple’s flights for example on the same concourse, also I would be able to build a lounge close to their gates increasing passenger satisfaction, and it makes logical sense once connections are implemented. If it ever gets to the point where airlines may provide their own staff members grouping gates also makes sense.

Optimizing everything to me is half the fun. I look at games like Prison Architect and Factorio and optimization plays a large role in those games.

[bootsie123]

I really like what your idea. There should at the very least be an option where we can assign a gate to be either “Open” so any airline can be there. Or have the gate assigned to an airline of your choice.

[lboufleuer]

Aerodrome ATC is responsible for giving flight plan clearances, taxi control and runway control. Saying that ATC is responsible for assigning gates is just not accurate. They are the ones who transmit this to pilots, but they are not the ones who define it. Gate assingment is defined by airport administration. We are not going to hate the game if this is not available, but you need to consider the lack of realism that random gate selection creates and consider our wishes of micromanagement.

[letsdothis41]

would we be able to separate terminals from domestic & regional and international

[CodyTheLion]

I have to join the gate planners on this one. Gate allocation I think can play a big role for a successful airport. I will not bring up the reasons why, they have already been brought up more than once. Moreover please not say that gate allocation would be a part of the ATC’s job. As someone else stated. This is a part of another department of the airport or even the airline itself if it is a hub. Mostly in Europe I think the ATC guide airplanes all the way to the gate however in the US the most common system is that ATC only guide the airplane to the terminal and that the airlines controls the aprons. (Don’t know why that bother me so much ) Moving on, the argument about what a real CEO would be involved with is according to me used a bit faulty. My idea of an airport CEO is someone how is only a part of the decision making. When an airport is designed the CEO is not a part of the discussion until the design almost is finished. The same with choosing which runway and gates GA can use. The reason for this, I guess, is that the CEO cannot be involved a lot in all aspects of the airport. This is how I think it is in real life however this is a game and it would be quite boring only to say yes or no and let the computer be creative. My point is, I can hear you say “FINALLY” , that sometimes the game allow the player to do more than a real life CEO and sometimes not and unfortunately it feels like gate allocation is in the later category even that it is requested quite a lot. Thumbs up devs for saying that you will have a look at it Also thumbs up if you made it to the end of this post.

Edit: Written on mobile, not the best post I have written

[piloto19hh]

Well, IRL gate assigning works this way. I’m not sure if this is good in the game or not, but in real airports most planes don’t know which specific gate they have to go, they know which zone (each airline has some gates assigned, and their planes go to those). Of course they will usually go to the same gate, but it is not confirmed.

If you go to an airport you will see that arriving flights usually don’t have an assigned gate until it has landed (or it is about to land). And the same goes to departures: you won’t know in which gate you will have to board until the plane has landed.
So I’m good with this system

[me123]

The thing is it’s so varied.

Some airports do assign the gates very early, I think at Glasgow they assign the gates for the day ahead of time and they are on the screens in each individual pier and I’ve been informed of the gate at check in (although the main departure area displays “please wait”, presumably to mitigate against changes and keep you in the area where you’ll spend more money). Also seen this at Cardiff and Birmingham.

I’d imagine that all airports have a provisional plan for the day.

[Bigbigcheese]

Due to aircraft movements and having to know where every plane is I’d imagine they schedule gates and flights months or even years in advance so that they know where every aircraft is gonna be at what time. They then deal with delays and reschedule accordingly on a more as it’s needed basis but the basic scheduling is almost certainly done months in advance.

A slight side example of how planned things like this are is that trains in the UK are essentially timetabled 10-40 years in advance and then that timetable is edited and altered depending on the actual requirements within the year it’s used. It’s quite amazing how much work they have to do to make sure no two trains in the entire network are at the same intersection at the same time which would cause queues. I am almost certain that aircraft would work in a similar way.