Stand Sizes, Classification and Upgrades

[utopieselective]

Ha, to tell you the truth, didn’t know it was a rule, just thought of all the airports I visited they used the same side so far…
( I’m not an airplane expert or anything, I just enjoy the game a lot )

@me123 And for the rear door boarding (on my mockup image), that was a quick photobash on my part so it was not really set in stone. I know it happens on a few places but I think the double ramp on the picture that @Henry747 shared is more interesting to get… Allowing to separate first class and the rest of us poor devils.

Actually, looking at your KLM picture, that thing is sexy as hell, now I want that in the game too!

[Henry747]

I think it was all in the explanation. The way you put it, it makes sense in my mind

[ReV0LT]

Isn’t this the same info with what @Antarctica posted, with regards to the classification of the stands?

@Henry747 How would a glass jetbridge be different than a normal one, in terms of operational?

@lemon1324 Yeah, I assume that’s how the entrance node would work. However, wouldn’t that mean you either have to have a) cobus and stairs, or b) multi-level (to implement jetbridges) for this to work? Because if the stand is hand-drawn, that means service road is built manually next to the side, which means one would also have to put jetbridges manually (and this might crash the pathfinding?)

[Henry747]

A glass jetbridge might be a requirement for the higher end airlines, who want their customers to be able to see the full glory of their aeroplanes as they board plus it might make things a bit different. All my airports look the same.

[BobbyRobert]

Maybe as a color option, like an automatic saved color at the bottom of the spectrum.

[ElBarbo]

If possible, multiple gates (Venice airport image) i think is good idea.

[PigScroll]

Okay, so I’ve had a flick through the thread again at this stage, and I’ve had a few ideas, basically a merging of @me123’s, @Henry747’s, @ReV0LT’s and @Antarctica’s ideas.

So, these are the FAA regulations for aircraft class

Category A - <15m wingspan - e.g. Cessna 182, Baron 58
Category B - <24m wingspan - e.g. DHC-6, Saab 340
Category C - <36m wingspan - e.g. B737, A320
Category D - <52m wingspan - e.g. B767
Category E - <65m wingspan - e.g. B777/A330
Category F - <80m wingspan - e.g. B747/A380

However, these could be altered slightly for ACEO

Category A - ≤ 4 Tile wingspan - e.g. Cessna 182, Baron 58
Category B - ≤ 6 Tile wingspan - e.g. DHC-6, Saab 340
Category C - ≤ 8 Tile wingspan - e.g. B737, A320
Category D - ≤10 Tile wingspan - e.g. B767-300, B757
Category E - ≤12 Tile wingspan - e.g. A330, A340, 767-400
Category F - ≤14 Tile wingspan - e.g. Longer Class E Craft: B777, A340-600
Category G - ≤16 Tile wingspan - e.g. A380

Category G has been added since the A380 has a massive 80m wingspan compared to the 60m of the 747 - so a bigger stand is probably a better idea.

Well, there are seven of them - so what about seven eventual stand types? And they could all be upgraded in different ways - let’s see how I envisage it:

Stand Class A

SIZE: 4x4 Tiles (+2x4 Service Road)
COST: $15 000 (Grass), $45 000 (Asphalt/Concrete)
USES: General Aviation, Class A aircraft
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-taxi-out Style
UPGRADES:

• Grass > Asphalt/Concrete - $35 000
• Mirror Stand Guidance System - $1 000

Stand Class B

SIZE: 6x6 Tiles (+2x6 Service Road)
COST: $20 000 (Grass), $60 000 (Asphalt/Concrete)
USES: General Aviation, Class A and B aircraft
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style
UPGRADES:

• Grass > Asphalt/Concrete - $45 000
• Mirror Stand Guidance System - $1 000

Stand Class C

SIZE: 8x10 Tiles (+2x10 Service Road)
COST: $100 000 [Notice how I’ve reduced the price - the jetbridge has been removed, meaning no price is paid for that]
USES: Class B and C aircraft
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style
UPGRADES:

• None > Normal Jetbridge - $100 000 [Would normally be much more expensive, but in-game that price would be a bit high IMO]
• Normal Jetbridge > Glass Jetbridge - $25 000
• Electronic Stand Guidance System - $10 000
  (Current Medium Stand)

Stand Class D

SIZE: 10x12 Tiles (+2x12 Service Road)
COST: $160 000
USES: Class C and D aircraft (Class D only with 2 Jetbridges)
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style
UPGRADES:

• None > 1 Normal Jetbridge - $125 000 [Would normally be much more expensive, but in-game that price would be a bit high IMO]
• 1 Normal Jetbridge > 2 Normal Jetbridges - $120 000
• Normal Jetbridge > Glass Jetbridge - $30 000
• Electronic Stand Guidance System - $10 000

(Largest Stand Needed At The Moment)

Stand Class E

SIZE: 12x14 Tiles (+2x14 Service Road)
COST: $250 000
USES: Class D and E aircraft
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style, 1 Jetbridge
UPGRADES:

• 1 Normal Jetbridge > 2 Normal Jetbridges - $120 000
• Normal Jetbridge > Glass Jetbridge - $30 000
• Electronic Stand Guidance System - $10 000

Stand Class F

SIZE: 12x14 Tiles (+2x14 Service Road)
COST: $250 000
USES: Class D, E and F aircraft
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style, 1 Jetbridge
UPGRADES:

• 1 Normal Jetbridge > 2 Normal Jetbridges - $120 000
• Normal Jetbridge > Glass Jetbridge - $30 000
• Electronic Stand Guidance System - $10 000

Stand Class G

SIZE: 14x16 Tiles (+2x16 Service Road)
COST: $350 000
USES: Class G aircraft (A380)
COMES WITH: Service Road, Road Crossing, Taxi-in-push-out Style, 2 Jetbridges
UPGRADES:

• 2 Normal Jetbridges > 3 Normal Jetbridges - $120 000
• Normal Jetbridge > Glass Jetbridge - $30 000
• Electronic Stand Guidance System - $10 000

You will notice I refer to Stand Guidance Systems - I’m going to create a separate thread about this and once I do I will add a link below.

Stand Guidance System and Marshallers

So, I’ve talked about it a little here: https://forum.apoglabs.com/t/the-stand-thread-stand-sizes-new-stands-etc/5752 But I see nowhere else has really mentioned the guidance system at all, and marshallers have only been touched on a little bit. First off - what is a stand guidance system? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand_guidance_system Thanks Wikipedia! So, a stand guidance system is the machine which replaced marshallers in the bigger airports. I’ve been think…

So, one of the questions you may ask is what is the benefit of upgrading the stands? The answer is below:

Airline Requirements and Stand Upgrades

So, I’m actually tempted to create yet another thread about types and classes of airline - if I do, the link will end up in here somewhere!
So, different airlines may have different requirements for the gate - a low cost airline probably won’t care about their passengers and their experience, whereas another might.
Lets use an example using two made up airlines - Zing and RoyalAir. Zing is a low cost carrier (thanks @FirstOfficerFair!) and RoyalAir is the world’s first 6 star airline. They both operate A320s in this case.
Zing will not really mind what infrastructure the Class C or D stand has - if does not mind its passengers walking in the rain to the terminal. In fact it would prefer there not to be a jetbridge - it is charged every time it uses one!
However, RoyalAir needs to impress its customers who are paying lots of money. It wants the best jetbridge available, so will want a glass jetbridge for the customers to admire the shining purple aircraft they are boarding or leaving.
Thus, different airlines can have different requirements depending on their type/class, and it is up to the airport to satisfy these needs - obviously RoyalAir will pay the airport a lot more handsomely than Zing for their glass jetbridge!

So, I believe this is a good, not too complicated solution to the stand size and upgrades balancing issue. Here is an example of what each aircraft might be:

Aircraft

Cessna 182 - A
Baron 58 - A
Cessna 208 - B (No Jetbridge)
DHC6 - B (No Jetbridge)
Saab 340 - B (No Jetbridge)
ATR42 - B (No Jetbridge)
CRJ 200 - B
Embraer 135 - B
ATR72 - C (No Jetbridge)
CRJ 700 - C
Fokker 70 - C
Embraer 190 - C
737-600 - C
737-800 - C
A320 - C
A321 - C
757-200 - D
767-300 - D
787-9 - E
A330-200 - E
A340-300 - E
777-200 - E
A340-600 - F
777-300 - F
747-400 - F
A380-800 - G

So, what do you think? Do you think there are too many stand types? Or is it just right? I’d love to hear your feedback!

[pderuiter]

Looks very well thought through and i like your ideas.

[Henry747]

Nice! I love the idea of splashing out on a $350 000 stand

Im sure my employees can cope with the resulting pay-cuts…

[PigScroll]

Okay, so I’ve come up with another, completely different idea, courtesy of @lemon1324, to do with custom stands. This could either be implemented alongside my idea above or the current model, or just be a standalone feature. For the sake of this example I will use it in conjunction with the set stand types above (two posts above if you want to have a flick through).

So, if your airport is an awkward shape when none of the standard A - G stand sizes suit you, you can use a custom drag-and-drop stand feature. Four easy steps will then be required before it can be opened!

1) Sizing the Stand

• Select the surface you desire (grass, asphalt or concrete)
• Click and drag the surface to the desired size (much like foundations and taxiways)
• As well as displaying the size and cost, the unplaced blueprint will display the stand’s size class (A-G)

2) Adding a Taxiway and Terminating Point

• Click on the gate you wish to edit and click “Edit Taxiway”
• You should now be able to drag a taxiway onto the stand, and right click on it to mark it as the “terminating point”

3) Adding a Service Vehicle Access

• Ensure at least one service road tile is adjacent to the stand
• Click on the gate you wish to edit and click “Edit Vehicle Entrance”
• Select the point between the stand and the service road that you wish the vehicles to enter/exit the stand from

4a) Adding a Passenger Entrance/Exit Without a Jetbridge

• Click on the gate you wish to edit and click “Add Passenger Entrance”
• Click “No Jetbridge” on the menu that appears
• Ensure the stand is adjacent to either the terminal, or a valid path to the terminal via sidewalks and road crossings can be found
• Select the point between the stand and the terminal/path that you wish the passengers to enter/exit the stand from

4b) Adding a Passenger Entrance/Exit With a Jetbridge

• Click on the gate you wish to edit and click “Add Passenger Entrance”
• Click “Jetbridge” on the menu that appears
• Ensure the stand is adjacent to the terminal
• Select the point between the stand and the terminal that you wish the jetbridge to originate from
• The game will then cleverly create a non-moving (if applicable) and a moving jetbridge section to link the terminal to the gate

Of course some stands will require no jetbridge, some will need the option, some will need one and G class will need 2.

After these, the game will then be able to decorate the stand according to the locations of all the important details. Wow, this is a clever game!

Well, that is part 2 of my little stand long post series thing wotsit…
Part 3 may come soon if I get the inspiration!

I’d love to hear your feedback and criticism!

[pderuiter]

I’ve been advocating something like this as well, although having adjoining stands could be a problem with this idea.

What could be done is having just the parking spot in the different sizes (so only the lines without the background). Then the player can make the flooring the way he wants to. I.e. having a large continuous tarmac with aircraft parking spots

[Thorozar]

Along with the awesome idea about the different stands I would love to see the ability to have services come from the front of the stand like they do in many US airports. Basically any service vehicle should be able to enter any part of the stand from either taxiway, service road, or other stands.

[PigScroll]

@pderuiter Possibly having each gate classed as an individual room might work - in another long post sometime later in the week I’m tempted to look at long lines of gates, aprons and other stuff like that…

[Thorozar]

That is a good idea, could also have a gate waiting area as a room as well so that pax know where they should be sitting waiting for their flight instead of halfway across the map as is sometimes the case.

[MallardDuckAZ]

You should have remote stands with air stairs instead of bridges. they should also have an option to bus passengers to them

[MallardDuckAZ]

This is a good Idea but I wouldn’t use 2 or 3. Airplanes always have to board from the captains side so he can see better and 3 goes over the wing. One Idea I have is to have the entrance to the terminal on the right but have it go in front of the plane to the left.

[JonnyT]

Something to throw into the mix.

I seem to find that some airports these days have got double stands which can be merged into one large aircraft stand. I wonder if that is possible?

So a E20L and E20R for 2 medium sized planes like A320. But can be combined to form E20 to make a larger aircraft. Anyone heard of it?

[PigScroll]

I have indeed heard of it, and even considered how it would work for Airport CEO, but I think it could be slightly too complicated to implement, with minimal addition to gameplay.

It is an interesting idea though…
Hmm…

[Rubble]

Would this be what you are talking about?

It does also make you think about what will be required when large planes are introduced. I for one are already building with it in mind @Fredrik and also given @Jettuh mockup in the past.

[merge1973]

@Henry747

I like the idea of upgrading stands. If stands arrive without a jetbridge, then you upgrade similar to concrete and asphalt. However, I deffinately aggree with the a smedium stand. We need something a little different. Just to fill the gap.

Henry, I agree with you.