Airport CEO

Airport CEO is a management and tycoon sim that puts you in the chief's chair at your own airport. You lay down the infrastructure, runways, taxiways, gates and aprons, and raise terminals fitted with check-in, security, restaurants and shops, building the whole operation up from nothing.

Running it means juggling the business side: hiring staff and executives, negotiating with airlines and watching the budget so the books stay balanced. Airlines bring the passengers and the income, but each carrier has its own size and demands. Passengers are simulated individuals with personalities and a flight to catch, and they react to queues, staff and entertainment, since a content passenger spends money and a frustrated one does not.

Everything is deeply simulated, so trouble can come from stressed employees, broken equipment or bad weather causing delays and emergency landings. As the airport grows, terminals expand and demand new facilities, from control towers and larger stands to stations for fire, weather, catering and fuel. Drowning in detail, you can hand off flight planning to an informatics department or bring on a CFO to manage costs and pricing.