pseudoswede

The key to getting the #1 valuation (which I did three times) is hubbing at the top 20 US airports, but not flying to the top 50 world airports. You make your money flying where everyone else doesn't fly--obviously does not work that way in the real world. Snagging the last gates in mid-sized European and Asian airports was also a huge competitive advantage--especially if no other US-based airlines had acquired a gate there. That was like printing money. You only start flying to the top 50 world airports closer to the end of the game when most people have quit.

mandolino

Doh! 2003 is calling!

Cloudship

Definitely talking real world here, not games. That is why I tend not to play them.

ft101

You can have stop offs on your spokes. Examples with EK are DXB-BKK-HKG and DXB-CMB-SIN amongst others. These make less than ideal routings, but the other advantages of DXB already described would outweigh the disadvantages.

Kagehitokiri

what about having a private airport, rather than having a private terminal ?

plinko83

Los Angeles or San Francisco. Large enough cities with O&D traffic. Accessible to Europe, Asia, North/South America, Australia. Only Africa is really out of reach.

Too much travel

I know - they guy is funny isn't he? No wonder he thinks Singapore is the centre of the world!

Tchiowa

The economic center of the world left Europe a very long time ago. It is now "migrating" to Asia. If you want to build something new and you're not focused on Asia, you're missing the big picture. That includes the Middle East. It's moving the wrong direction.

Bangkok would actually be more "centric" than Singapore but Suvarnabhumi doesn't have the infrastructure to support a hub airline like Changi does.

A hub in Singapore captures the dynamic economies of Asia and in particular the growing economies of ASEAN and China. Dubai is yesterday's news.

IMO.

Too much travel

Your examples show exactly why SIN is not optimally positioned. SIN doesn’t make sense as a transfer point except if you are going from Europe and certain parts of Asia to and from Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Oh, okay, I’ll give you Brunei too. Every hub has its equivalent local catchment area – and that’s Singapore’s. Furthermore, there are already existing nonstop options on almost every one of the above routes except for ICN-PER.

However, for a Gulf-based hub (not just DXB, but anywhere else in the region without visa or other restrictions) the geographical reality is that your number of transfer opportunities increases materially. You’re no longer limited to your immediate catchment area – instead you become an intercontinental connector.

The import-export guy going from Guangzhou to Lagos? The IT executive from Bangalore to Seattle? The oil technician from Jakarta to Oslo? The émigré from Glasgow to Durban? The Gujarati trader from Ahmedabad to Dar Es Salaam? The holidaying family from KL to Orlando? The businessman from Taipei to Sao Paolo? The hotelier from Nice to Ho Chi Minh City? The vintner from Adelaide to Lyon? The intrepid tourist from Osaka to Casablanca?

These are all one-stop flights via the Gulf, at relatively minimal deviations from their Great Circle routes.

Tchiowa

But they are also minimally travelled routes. Are there more than 1 import-export guys travelling from Guangzhou to Lagos in a year? I lived in Lagos for 4 years. Other than oil and banking there aren't many travellers like you describe. And they are going to the US or EU so neither a SIN nor DXB hub would help them.

Now, Guangzhou to Bataam? Dozens every day. KL to SFO? Hundreds every day. Taipei to Sao Paolo as compared to Taipei to Perth or Singapore or Jakarta or SFO? No comparison at all.

Again, while the routes you describe are better served through DXB, comparing the number of flyers who want those routes compared to routes in Asia, and comparing the potential growth of business in Asia as compared to Europe, the future points toward SIN.

SpewyMcSpew

One in the Arctic and one in the Antarctic. Aurora Airlines.

t325

STL because I'm completely biased. But for the US, it would be a decent option. Right in the middle of the US. We don't have the weather issues ORD has. STL has a newly remodeled terminal and plenty of gates. Plus it would give Southwest a run for their money, it seems like they aren't the cheapest option nearly as often as they used to be, I think they've gotten quite comfortable here in STL with their mini fortress hub.

stut

Ryanair used to be particularly good at this

t325

Not really because if I had a private airport, it wouldn't be a two hour drive from my actual destination

stut

Yeah, but sometimes it works in your favour, and you actually want to be at the obscure little town masquerading as a big city airport!