So i already have INN and BRI through pure unlocking and HKG through grinding for SP and then exchanging for GP, and im thinking what else to get since i have 20 gp left over, and i’ve come to two airports, LHR and IAD. My goal for the new airport is it needs to produce a ridiculous amount of sp per hour or even minute if possible, as well as still being worth it and fun to play. From what i’ve heard on the forum LHR is less efficient with a dual runway setup as opposed to IAD’s four runway setup, but LHR can handle a lot more widebodies, while IAD is good for c class i’ve heard. Please help me to decide as i really don’t want to waste my last 20GP.
Hi, welcome to the community 
The answer to IAD vs LHR isn’t always clear and different people can have different views, but here’s my take:
You’ve definitely heard the correct information here and IAD is just a much faster airport in general with its four runways, that’s definitely the main reason why IAD would be better. For that reason, whenever you start a play session, IAD is always much faster to get more full so you get more silver planes earlier into your play session.
It is also true that IAD has significantly less widebody stands, but I actually don’t see that as a big problem as long as you’re actually playing the game and not just sitting AFK - with IAD’s number of widebody stands some usually free up by the time all planes land so you can get a continuous flow of planes in and out really well if you play attentively.
LHR is much worse in that aspect since the airport is basically impossible to ever fill up - unless you just leave the approach manager on and don’t handle any planes. If you can turn on your game for an hour or two before each of your play sessions, that’s the only way to really make LHR as good as or better than IAD, but if you can’t do that then you probably shouldn’t even bother getting LHR at all.
This also really isn’t good for the “fun to play” element. For me personally, LHR is just about the most boring airport to play - mostly because a huge part of the airport just always sits empty and you can’t really do much with it. The layout isn’t particularly interesting either, so I feel like other options are just better for fun than LHR. (keep in mind this part is subjective and other people might see it differently)
But here’s my question for you: Why do you want to get another airport for grinding SP when you already have HKG? Most people will agree that HKG is easily a top 2 airport, possibly top 1 for grinding silver planes, so why bother spending your gold planes on another airport that won’t improve your numbers at all (or only very marginally)? For grinding I would actually just stay at HKG since it has functionally just about as many stands as LHR while having a much faster layout.
I would recommend either getting another airport that you could play just for fun - if there’s any you like - or something else entirely, after all you can get most airports (except CNN) for free without spending any gold planes at all through levelling, so why not spend them on something you can’t get without them? Like fleet planes for example - those can get you much more wollars and SPs (especially in player connnections) than airline contracts or other players’ planes.
I don’t know how many fleet planes you have unlocked already but if I were you I’d save for the A388 right now, since it’s great profit-wise and gives a lot of SP and XP as well, plus we know it’s getting remodeled soon so its price will increase. The A380 also pairs really well with HKG since there’s a lot of F-class stands and actually quite a few profitable routes for the super-jumbo from HKG, so that’s nice too
So, my honest (though subjective) answer for your question would be: Neither, unless you really want to have one, not for operational reasons. Get yourself an airport just for fun or even better - some fleet planes. If I had to choose between LHR or IAD I’d go with IAD, but that depends mostly on your playstyle.
Hope this helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask me
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totally agree, HKG is objectively the single best airport in the game from a grinding perspective. IAD is second, and LHR is third or fourth behind BKK.
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For me, LHR shines in once circumstance: overnight landings. With only a single runway, it’s huge amount of stands require several hours to fill, so it’s great to fill with the tower manager overnight and handle throughout the next day as you have time. But… HKG also does that, and does it faster, and has more stands if I recall correctly, so there isn’t really a huge plus to it unless you aren’t enjoying HKGanymore.
I personally wouldn’t unlock IAD with GP. It’s just so easy to grind to. Though it’s a relatively nice airport for grinding — it does rewards smaller connections: class C planes, and 787s (due to lack of handling crew) for max efficiency.
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Thanks for giving me such a insightful answer! As for your question of why do i want to get another airport for grinding sp is primarily because my hkg is still around level 30, and i want to buy IAD to get more sp to buy LHR, and from then i can use the remaining sp and wollars to buy a huge fleet of b77ws’ to send in this so called “golden triangle” so that i can get a lot of xp, and if i need to get xp at my BRI fast, (to be honest, BRI is kinda boring once you know)i can just send 2 of them over. So that’s my plan in a nutshell, feel free to give me any feedback or how to improve my ideas!
Ok, thanks for your answer, i will definitely keep your tips in consideration!
Hmmm… I’m not sure I understand… if you already have HKG at level 30 then why do you want to start over at another airport when you’ve already made some solid progress at possibly the best airport for that? B77Ws are quite great, got a fair few of them myself but you really don’t need multiple big hubs to handle them all, in fact I think it’s way better to have them all concentrated at one hub so it’s easier to handle.
Also, not sure if you meant that you want to send planes between two of your airports, kind of sounded like it but you can’t actually do that in-game so that’s another thing to consider.
Do you actually have the B77W unlocked already? If you do then that’s great, but if you don’t then the A388 might be better for you since it’s way cheaper and performs well on the routes you’re looking for.
Maybe I misunderstood, but FYI, you cannot send airplanes to yourself (from one of your airports to the other, being both yours).
What you CAN do to speed up the leveling process is to ask people to send you their planes:
You’ve been given some great share of advice already, but since you seem short on SP/GP, I’ll second some:
- I wouldn’t buy IAD with GP, you’re almost there in unlocking it for free (BRI>PRG>IAD);
- SXM costs 4 GP, buy all AT76 and E175 you can find in the map and you’ll level it in no time. It will unlock LHR;
- Since you’re still lvl 30, I’d sincerely focus all my effort on leveling HKG, and secondarily keep leveling BRI>PRG>IAD. HKG have 2 runways for cargo and enough crew to handle, you can ignore pax altogether and get all the A124 and B748 you can find in the map for an infinite influx of SP. Just remember, after reaching International, the further the contract, the better!
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IMO, it’s better to save up for the B77W first. The sooner you unlock your own plane, the better your overall gameplay is.
Unlocking both IAD and LHR will set you back ~40 GP. That’s 3-4 weeks’ worth of SP conversion before you start saving for the B77W. And as pointed out by the others, you can’t send your planes to your other airports.
While you’re progressing through your HKG, you’d be getting the SP for conversion and wollars you need to buy your own planes.
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Alright, thanks for the advice!
I don’t have any fleet planes yet, and seeing as i can’t send my own fleet planes to my airports, i’ll guess i’ll stick with your idea!