What is your suggestion?
The Airbus A350-1000 (A35K) is one of the most advanced, efficient, and capable long-haul aircraft ever built. It serves as Airbus’ flagship widebody aircraft and was specifically designed to compete directly with the Boeing 777-300ER and, more recently, the Boeing 777-9. However, in World of Airports, the A35K currently struggles to fulfill that role due to how its seating capacity and profitability are modeled.
My suggestion is to rebalance the A35K by improving its seating retention when Business Class and First Class cabins are installed, while also reviewing its revenue scaling so that its financial performance better reflects both its real-world capabilities and its position within the game’s aircraft progression.
At the moment, the aircraft loses an unrealistic number of seats once players begin creating premium cabin layouts. Although premium-heavy configurations are common among airlines operating long-haul routes, the A35K suffers a disproportionately large reduction in passenger capacity compared to aircraft it should be competing against. This significantly lowers its earning potential despite requiring one of the largest investments in the game.
In reality, the Airbus A35K comfortably accommodates approximately 400–420 passengers in a standard three-class configuration depending on the airline. Its cabin was specifically designed to maximize passenger comfort while still maintaining a very high seating capacity. In World of Airports, however, a realistic premium configuration with around 20 First Class suites and Business Class reduces the aircraft to roughly 358 seats. This represents a loss of approximately fifty to sixty seats compared to realistic layouts, which has a direct impact on profitability.
Since passenger count is one of the largest factors affecting gross income, every missing seat represents lost revenue. As a result, the A35K earns significantly less than players would reasonably expect from Airbus’ flagship aircraft. Instead of rewarding players for unlocking one of the most prestigious aircraft in the game, the current balancing often makes the aircraft feel economically underwhelming.
The problem becomes even more noticeable when comparing the A35K with the Boeing 77W. Both aircraft occupy nearly the same market segment and have very similar passenger capacities in real-world airline service. Assuming both aircraft use comparable economy seating layouts, their overall capacities should remain relatively close. Even if the Boeing 777 retains a slight advantage under a denser 10-abreast economy configuration, the difference should be relatively modest—not the substantial gap currently seen in-game.
Because of this imbalance, the Boeing 77W consistently generates significantly higher gross revenue while the A35K struggles to remain competitive despite serving the exact same role. This creates a situation where one flagship aircraft clearly outperforms the other, not because of operational differences, but because of how the seating system currently calculates available capacity.
The issue extends beyond realism. It also affects progression. Players invest a significant amount of GP to unlock and purchase the A35K expecting it to become one of the highest-performing aircraft in their fleet. Instead, many discover that its profits often fail to justify the investment. Rather than feeling like a meaningful upgrade, it can feel like an expensive aircraft that offers only marginal financial improvements over smaller widebodies.
How would it work in the game?
Rather than reducing maintenance costs or lowering the aircraft’s purchase price, I believe the balancing should focus on the areas that are actually limiting the aircraft’s performance.
The first possible solution would be to revise how the current exit-limit seating system calculates available passenger capacity whenever premium cabins are installed. At present, the A35K appears to lose too many Economy Class seats relative to its actual cabin dimensions. Allowing the aircraft to retain more seats would immediately improve its competitiveness without fundamentally changing the aircraft itself.
Another possible solution would be to slightly increase the aircraft’s maximum available seating capacity when Business Class and First Class are configured. Even an increase of approximately 30–50 seats under premium layouts would dramatically improve the aircraft’s financial performance while still keeping it balanced against the Boeing 777 family.
If modifying seating calculations is technically difficult, another option would be adjusting ticket revenue scaling specifically for the A35K. Since the aircraft currently sacrifices a large number of passengers, slightly higher revenue per flight could compensate for the lost capacity while preserving realistic premium layouts.
Most importantly, the aircraft should continue to require a large investment to purchase and operate. The goal is not to make the A35K overpowered or the most profitable aircraft by a large margin. Instead, the goal is simply to ensure that its profitability properly reflects its size, purchase cost, and intended market segment.
These adjustments would allow players to configure realistic premium cabins without feeling financially punished for doing so, while also preserving overall game balance.
Why is this a good idea?
The current balancing unintentionally places the A35K in an awkward position within World of Airports.
Instead of competing economically with the Boeing 77W, the aircraft frequently produces financial results much closer to aircraft such as the Boeing 789 or Airbus A339 despite being considerably larger. That simply does not reflect the aircraft’s intended role in either aviation or the game’s progression system.
Aircraft progression works best when each upgrade provides players with a meaningful improvement. Smaller aircraft should remain cheaper and more flexible, while flagship aircraft should justify their significantly higher purchase costs through improved passenger capacity and stronger profitability.
At the moment, the A35K struggles to achieve that. Community testing has consistently shown that the Boeing 77W outperforms the A35K by a considerable margin in both gross income and overall profits. The aircraft’s seating limitations prevent it from fully utilizing its large cabin, leaving players with fewer passengers and lower revenue despite investing in one of the game’s most advanced aircraft.
The current balancing also discourages players from experimenting with realistic airline configurations. Many airlines operate the A35K with premium-heavy layouts because its large cabin can comfortably accommodate both luxury seating and a high number of Economy passengers. In World of Airports, recreating those same layouts often results in substantial financial penalties, making historically accurate configurations less attractive from a gameplay perspective.
Rebalancing the aircraft would therefore improve both realism and gameplay. Players would finally feel rewarded for unlocking Airbus’ flagship aircraft, progression would become more satisfying, and competition between the Airbus A35K and Boeing 77W would become far more representative of their real-world rivalry.
Most importantly, these changes would not make the A35K overpowered. The Boeing 77W would still remain an excellent aircraft, but the A35K would finally be able to compete on equal footing rather than consistently falling behind because of limitations that do not accurately represent its real-world capabilities. The result would be a healthier balance between the game’s flagship long-haul aircraft while making one of Airbus’ most iconic airliners feel as rewarding to operate as players expect it to be.
IMAGES/CONCLUSION:
IMAGE 1: (ARGUMENT 1) [DARKNESS’S 2ND HIGHEST A35K HIT]
IMAGE 2: (ARGUMENT 1) [MY SECOND HIGHEST B77W HIT]
IMAGE 3: (ARGUMENT 2) [GOLDEN’S A35K HIGHEST HIT]
IMAGE 4: (ARGUMENT 2) [MY PERSONAL HIGHEST A359 HIT]
IMAGES 5-6: (ARGUMENT 3) [GOLDEN’S B789 AND A339 PB]
Please finally refer to the screenshots provided to analyze the situation better for a higher judgement of what could be followed in future updates.
Revamped it this time from the previous feedback of what was given in my former post. I’ve gotten the greenlight to remake it so here you go. Thank you all for the feedback and reading. - Agent