Research points
Your airport learns by doing. Every landing, passenger and hangar day earns research points, and together with money they unlock new buildings, aircraft and techniques.
Earning points
Research points are operating experience. You earn them from:
| Source | Points |
|---|---|
| Landing, category A (light aircraft) | 1 |
| Landing, category B / C / D / E | 2 / 4 / 10 / 15 |
| 10 departing passengers | 1, scaled by satisfaction |
| Rented hangar box | 0.5 per day |
| Cargo or mail flight | 1 |
| School circuit, sightseeing flight, glider landing | a fraction each |
Goals on the goal board also reward points, money and reputation.
Running research
Each project costs research points, money and time in game hours. Both points and money are paid when the project starts. Only one project runs at a time – everything else waits in the queue and starts automatically when its turn comes and you can afford it. Cancelling refunds both, and queued projects that depend on it drop out too.
Locked tools, buildings and vehicles appear greyed out in the build bar, and the tooltip names the research you need.
The tree
Six branches: Airfield, General aviation, Air traffic control, Ground handling, Terminal and Airlines and cargo. A few examples:
Early projects are cheap and quick; the late ones for widebody traffic and the large tower cost thousands of points and days of research.