Airport
Airport Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object
Assuming the role of the president of an airline, each player tries to run his airline profitably using cash and credit. AIRPORT involves buying or leasing airplanes, planning routes, and assigning jets in a competitive environment. If you make the right decisions your airline will accumulate the most wealth, making you a millionaire and the winner of the game.
Equipment
- Four colored playing tokens
- Four sets of airline jets (discs) in corresponding colors
- Playing board
- Airport cards
- Lease Agreement cards
- Money
- Two dice
Airport Codes
CHI.....Chicago • DAL.....Dallas • LAX.....Los Angeles • MIA.....Miami • NYC.....New York • SEA.....Seattle • SFO.....San Francisco
Set Up
Each player selects a playing token to represent his airline and places it on the End of the Year square. Each player may also choose a name for his airline.
Each player receives $100,000 in cash from the bank (one $50,000 bill, two $20,000 bills, and two $5,000 bills) and the following fleet of jets, to start the game: (discs of the same color as the playing token)
- 2 players.....8 jets per player
- 3 players.....6 jets per player
- 4 players.....5 jets per player
Order of play is determined by rolling the dice. The player who rolls the highest number is first and the others follow in a clockwise direction.
The first player places one jet on the route of his choice. The routes are shown on the playing board (on the map of the USA) by colored flight paths between pairs of cities. Each of the players in turn places one jet at a time on the board on any route he chooses until the entire fleet of jets are placed in service. (Jets issued at the start of the game are free and require no start up costs.)
The first jet on any route is placed on the circle which has a "$" sign below it. Other jets are placed on the next circle on that route. The route is full when all eight circles on each route have jet markers placed on them.
When each player has placed all his fleet of jets on the route or routes of his choice, play is ready to begin.
Select one player to be banker and one player to be the airplane factory manager. Use the box insert for keeping extra airplanes.
Play (Before Rolling Dice)
On each turn, in order to be competitive, players may use one or more of the following:
Movement of Jets: Before rolling the dice, each player is permitted to move one of his jets. Movement of a jet is either: moving a jet from one route to another route, or taking a jet from one's hangar (area directly in front of each player) and placing it on a route. Whenever an airline places its first jet into service on a new route, or reinitiates service on a route, the airline must pay the bank $10,000 start-up costs. When a jet marker is removed from a route, other jet markers on that route are moved to fill the empty circle so that the circles with the highest indicated values are always occupied.
Lease Jets: An airline may lease one jet per turn for $10,000 from the bank. The jet is given to the player immediately along with a lease agreement card. He then places the jet on a route which constitutes the player's "movement of a jet" for that turn. If the jet is the airline's first aircraft on the route, he must pay $10,000 start-up costs. A player may terminate any or all of his leases at any time by returning any one of his
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Each time a player's token passes or lands on End of Year, the airline must pay the bank an additional $10,000 for each lease card it holds.
Purchase Jets: Jets cost $20,000. Jets are ordered from the FACTORY by paying half the price for the aircraft as down payment and half on delivery. When a player makes a down payment on a jet or jets, airplane markers (discs) are placed in the ORDER section of the jet FACTORY (located on the board below the USA map). When the player's token passes or lands on the End of Year square, his aircraft on order are moved to the ASSEMBLY part of the FACTORY. The next time his token passes or lands on End of Year, the remaining balance must be paid and delivery is made (or the jets are forfeited to the bank). If paid, the jets are put in the player's hangar area to be moved on to the routes (see "Movement of a Jet").
Sell Jets: A player may sell his aircraft to other airlines at any time. The new owner exchanges it for one of his colors and places the jet in his hangar. The bank will always pay $10,000 for any jets if no airline is willing to pay more.
Loans: Players may borrow up to $100,000 in $50,000 increments. (Loans are repaid in $50,000 increments.) An account of each player's loan should be kept. When an airline's token lands on or passes End of Year, the airline must pay 10% interest ($5,000 per $50,000 owed) to the bank. When a player repays any of his loan, he must pay a 10% interest charge on the amount repaid.
Play
Each player, in turn, is given the dice. He rolls the dice and moves his token the number of squares indicated. If his token lands on:
Route Square: (Colored squares showing the AIRPORT CODES of a route of a matching color) All players having jets on that route collect from the bank the fares earned by their jets on that route. The fare below the last jet placed on the route determines the amount each jet will earn. Fares shown below each circle on each route are in thousands of dollars. Each airline collects the fare for every jet he has placed on the route. For example: If there are two jets on DAL-MIA, each jet earns $20,000. If four jets are on this route, each jet will earn $10,000.
Maintenance Base Square: The airline must remove one of its jets from each of the indicated routes on which he has one or more jet markers and place it on the Maintenance Base square where it will remain until the player passes or lands on the square again. Then the jet will be placed in the player's hangar (defined as the area directly in front of each player).
Airport Card: The player draws a card and action proceeds as described on the card.
Cost Squares: The airline pays as indicated to the bank. (Jets "In Service" are the airplanes operating on routes.)
Buy Out Square: A player may buy one competing airline's jet on any route by paying his competitor $30,000 and returning the jet to the bank, substituting it for one of his own color and replacing it on that route.
On Strike Square: The player can collect no fares or move any jets until he moves off the square. Fares for other airlines are computed as if the airline on strike had no jets on the route.
While on strike the airline must "negotiate with the union". Player pays $1,000 times the number he rolls on the dice on each of his turns. When he rolls a six or better, he must make a final payment, thus ending the strike. All payments are made to the bank. He then moves to the square indicated by the dice.
Jet Purchase Options Square: The airline may buy as many additional planes as it chooses, up to a maximum of one plane for each plane it has in the ASSEMBLY position of the FACTORY. Any jets purchased are placed in ASSEMBLY, thereby shortening the delivery time required to receive an aircraft.
End of Year Square: When landing or passing this square, the player advances all of his aircraft being manufactured one position (either Order to Assembly or Assembly to Delivery). He also makes lease and/or loan interest payments.
Ending the Game
The first player whose airline is worth $1,000,000 or more and announces it before rolling the dice on his turn is the winner of AIRPORT. The other players calculate the total assets of this player by adding up his cash on hand plus the value of his jets.
Jets owned are worth one-half of the original price or $10,000. Jets in the factory or leased have no value. All his debts are repaid. If his airline is worth $1,000,000 or more, he is the winner.
A normal game takes two hours to complete. If desired, a time limit may be set for ending the game. The player with the greatest total assets wins.