AI Route Habits

[UBF]

I wanted to start a bit of a discussion about the route creation habits of the current AI. I know the AI are getting a revamp soon, but I'm not sure what's getting touched so I thought I'd mention it here anyways.

Currently in 2.13 the AI seem to really enjoy creating random routes nowhere near their focus airports/hubs. I personally feel there should be more of an emphasis on AI creating new routes just within their hubs, especially considering that both the Hub and Spoke and Point to Point business models of Airlines still place full emphasis on hubs/focus cities.

[Tjoeker]

For 2.14 the AI received an update so that it doesn't abandon its successful routes so quickly.
But that's all for the next version.

For the later versions we indeed plan to make the hub models more prevalent.
The AI shouldn't create regional routes on the other side of the world any more.

But please, let us know whatever strategies you'd like to see implemented.
We're planning on implementing a bunch of strategies and let the AI choose one based on what kind of airline it is and the other airlines' strategies.
So the more strategies implemented, the better?

[UBF]

For 2.14 the AI received an update so that it doesn't abandon its successful routes so quickly.
But that's all for the next version.

For the later versions we indeed plan to make the hub models more prevalent.
The AI shouldn't create regional routes on the other side of the world any more.

But please, let us know whatever strategies you'd like to see implemented.
We're planning on implementing a bunch of strategies and let the AI choose one based on what kind of airline it is and the other airlines' strategies.
So the more strategies implemented, the better?

I think in terms of strategies, the main ones should just be Hub-Spoke and Point to Point. To be honest, those also aren't that different in terms of structure, But instead of using huge aircraft like 747's and A380's from hub to hub, and then spokes outwards, smaller aircraft are used to more destinations.

Perhaps there could be a chance for airlines to operate a few routes outside of its hubs but still nearby, Eg. Lufthansa doing a route from DUS to TXL. But they should be limited to short haul and be geographically close to one of the airline's hubs. The holes in airline coverage would then be filled by alliances/code-sharing, but I believe you guys already have that planned for sometime down the line. Eg. My hub is from FRA and I fly to JFK, where an American airline will then take my passengers to XXX state (Like a hub and spoke, but via Alliance instead).

I don't think there's many other viable business models that Airlines use, so I don't think there's a need to overcomplicate things!

EDIT: Perhaps it also makes sense since we're talking about routes and geographical locations to mention that perhaps you could link the aircraft purchase habits to geographical regions to make it more realistic. For example, Russia & China have a decent preference for Chinese and Russian made aircraft, Middle East has a mix, and all the rest (HK/Rest of 'Westernized' Asia, USA, Europe) prefer Airbus/Boeing/Bombardier/Embraer? It's quite weird right now to see Tupolevs and whatnot mixed in with a fleet of modern 777/A350's haha. I know there's already a feature in the XML to define preferred aircraft, but perhaps being able to define probability, or having more extreme default values for Airlines in different countries would be good. Eg. US & EU airlines would almost never buy a Tupolev, and also established airlines like Singapore Airlines or Qatar wouldn't buy a Piper Cherokee, yet it seems like that's what they like to do once the game starts.

[Tjoeker]

Yeah, I know AI is lacking at the moment. ^^
I'm taking note of your suggestion.

And for strategies, I was thinking along these lines:

-Brussels airlines is a premium low cost airline, meaning that while they do attract business passengers and have premium cabins on short haul flights, they still have a low price.
They also operate from a single airport/hub in BRU. Even though they are allowed to open a base in say AMS.
-TUIfly is a leisure airline and thus operates to holiday destinations. It would be weird seeing them fly LHR-EDI for example.

[UBF]

Yeah, I know AI is lacking at the moment. ^^
I'm taking note of your suggestion.

And for strategies, I was thinking along these lines:

-Brussels airlines is a premium low cost airline, meaning that while they do attract business passengers and have premium cabins on short haul flights, they still have a low price.
They also operate from a single airport/hub in BRU. Even though they are allowed to open a base in say AMS.
-TUIfly is a leisure airline and thus operates to holiday destinations. It would be weird seeing them fly LHR-EDI for example.

Ah I see, that makes sense! And for example TUIfly or Condor would operate a larger percentage of seasonal routes than say Lufthansa or Air France. Ryanair will operate mainly short haul and try to push prices down as far as possible and fight on volume, and also fly mainly to non-main airports (Eg. London Gatwick/Luton rather than Heathrow). Perhaps if its going to be that complicated, being able to have categories in the XML file and perhaps having a percentage as a multiplier effect would be cool.

Like you could have scales such as from 0-100 for Ultra Low Cost to Luxury, and then have 'flags', lets say 'nonmajorairports' yes/no or maybe 0-100 for the likelyhood, etc.