Baggage System

[Sensational TKO]

I have been playing sim airport for a short while now an I can't put it off any longer. I think its about time to sort out the baggage system.

Only trouble is, idk what to do or how such a sytem should look. I've seen some people put convayer belt things behind the ticketing desks that run underground. But idk if this is the way to do it. or what, apart from underground passages, else is needed.

Any screenshots of in game baggage systems will be appritiated.

[Scifiwriterguy]

Things to know about baggage systems:
• They're expensive. In addition to all the conveyor hardware you need to buy, you also need to build underground foundation space to put it in, plus hangars and vehicles to actually service the planes. So expect to drop a very, very sizeable chunk of change on getting a system installed.

• Almost all baggage equipment is meant to operate underground, and that's the single most common mistake most people make. "I can't install a baggage carousel!" It's because it needs room underground as well as on the surface.

• Hubs and two-way conveyors form the backbone of the system. Hubs are the place where bags can enter and exit the system, and two-way conveyors link hubs to one another. Build a good backbone and everything else becomes easier.

• The ports on a hub - all of the ports - are configurable. By default, a hub will have two each of Consumer, Producer, and Two-Way ports. But by right-clicking a port, you can select its mode. So if you have a hub parked under your baggage carousels, you can switch up to five of its six ports to Consumer mode and run five carousels off that hub rather than the two the default configuration allows.

• Conveyors don't cross, so plan with that in mind. You can *make* them cross in a way, but it involves taking one of them to a different floor, and that means a lot more money. It's much better to build a plan that doesn't require crossings at all.

• There are limits for how many producers you can link together. By that, I mean that the baggage pickups from ticketing desks have a cap. For each conveyor going into a hub's Producer port, you can only have five producers. So five ticketing desks on one belt headed to the hub. Now, just like the baggage carousel example above, you can take a hub at an "end" of the system and change five of its ports to Producer mode so you can plug a total of 25 desks into a single hub. But just be aware of the limitation.

• Baggage depots, installed outside near your gates for serving planes, have both a producer and a consumer connection point. Don't mix them up. ;)

• And you will need baggage vehicles in a hangar to actually use those depots and service your planes. Don't forget those or the whole system fails.

• Finally, the bags you see whizzing around on the conveyors are *not* rendered in real-time yet. They show that a conveyor is attached and working, not the actual load it's carrying, so don't try to use the animation for load analysis yet.

As for photos of a system, I can do one better! Our buddy A-Train built a pretty comprehensive video tutorial on setting up a baggage system. It'll walk you through the process, but be advised that it's on the long side. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/4qSMFN4ERiQ

[Spacebar]

Did you know that there's a stickied thread that says in caps HOW TO: The BAGGAGE SYSTEM?

[Eagleeye]

I never knew you could change up the hub ports... ugh

[Scifiwriterguy]

Originally posted by Spacebar:

Did you know that there's a stickied thread that says in caps HOW TO: The BAGGAGE SYSTEM?

Doesn't mean the OP isn't entltled to ask the question. This way, s/he gets answers beyond "watch a 46 minute video on the subject." That's kinda the point of having a forum: someone playing the game has a question, posts the question, gets help. It also allows other, more experienced players to learn about features they may not have known existed. Everybody wins.

[A-Train]

Originally posted by Scifiwriterguy:

Things to know about baggage systems:

As for photos of a system, I can do one better! Our buddy A-Train built a pretty comprehensive video tutorial on setting up a baggage system. It'll walk you through the process, but be advised that it's on the long side. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/4qSMFN4ERiQ

Thanks for the plug, and great info you provided... I'd save that somewhere for next time! :-)

[A-Train]

I would add a couple of points here:

1. You MUST assign Baggage Depots to gates, or those aircraft will not be serviced and will use golf carts.

2. You can save money by (being creative) keeping as much of your system on the ground floor as possible. There will be times you have to go underground, but limit this, as it is $500 per tile of foundation, and it requires $1500 of foundation for just one tile ($110) of conveyor.

3. Use the planning tools. Here are some space requirements of what you need:

Baggage Hub: 3x5 tiles, but must have clearance of 1 tile around all ports, so plan for 5x7 tiles.

Baggage Depot: 2x7 tiles, but must have foundation beneath with walls around, which is 4x9 tiles.

Baggage Carousel: 3x5 tiles, but only the center three tiles need foundation beneath, based on the orientation of it.

Transition up/down: 1x4 tiles. XYYZ ("X" is one floor connection, "Y" is transition up or down, and "Z" is the connection on the other floor.)

4. If you can wait to build the baggage system... WAIT! It will cost at least $200 to $250,000+ just for a basic system, unless you are REALLY creative with the layout and keep as much as possible on the ground floor. You are better off spending more to build a Fuel System, because it brings in REVENUE, and a Baggage System does not.

Let us know if you have more questions... :-)

[Scifiwriterguy]

Originally posted by A-Train:

4. If you can wait to build the baggage system... WAIT! It will cost at least $200 to $250,000+ just for a basic system, unless you are REALLY creative with the layout and keep as much as possible on the ground floor. You are better off spending more to build a Fuel System, because it brings in REVENUE, and a Baggage System does not.

There's a lot of wisdom in this statement. Even the most efficient baggage system is a huge money sink, and that money is effectively gone - it can bring in more airline business, but it's never going to bring in a single penny of income itself. A fuel system, on the other hand, is also costly (though not as costly) and can bring in *tons* of cash.

To go that route, you'll need to do a few things:
1. You'll need to buy storage tanks, a fuel delivery depot, and fuel trucks (with hangars for them to go in).
2. You then need to actually buy the fuel and wait for it to be delivered. While you're doing that, decide on a pricing strategy. Auto-pricing will do to get you going, but to optimize your income, you'll want to take manual control.
3. If you haven't already, research Fuel Ports. (I'm pretty sure it's still a research item.) This will enable you to run pipelines to your gates and fuel planes more efficiently.
4. When you have the money and the research done, upgrade your gates with fuel ports and string pipelines to your new ports. A best practice is to place your fuel ports in a line so you can run a single stretch of straight pipe to handle all of them. Otherwise you need to take a fishbone pattern, and that increases your costs.

On the whole, building your fuel system first makes a LOT of sense, since it and your baggage system will be occupying the same general area (the gates). Laying fuel pipeline first removes the headache of having to cut apart baggage conveyors and route them to another level - fuel lines can only run on the -1 level and can't intersect with your baggage conveyors, so if they cross, the conveyor has to go to another level to pass by. Installing fuel first means that you don't end up with expensive surprises later. :)

[A-Train]

Originally posted by Scifiwriterguy:

T
2. You then need to actually buy the fuel and wait for it to be delivered. While you're doing that, decide on a pricing strategy. Auto-pricing will do to get you going, but to optimize your income, you'll want to take manual control.

Two things here, since we're now talking fuel system.

$2.00 a liter has proven to be a VERY GOOD selling price for me. Smaller aircraft will buy at that price point, as opposed to $2.50 a liter (which I used to charge), and about 1/3 of the flights will request fuel.

Second, I recommend routing your fuel pipelines away from the terminal buildings, and keep them under taxiways. Unless you have a remote terminal, you should be able to avoid crossing baggage and fuel lines. Besides, fuel lines are CHEAP, and you don't have to build foundation for them.

[Eagleeye]

Originally posted by A-Train:

Originally posted by Scifiwriterguy:

T
2. You then need to actually buy the fuel and wait for it to be delivered. While you're doing that, decide on a pricing strategy. Auto-pricing will do to get you going, but to optimize your income, you'll want to take manual control.

Two things here, since we're now talking fuel system.

$2.00 a liter has proven to be a VERY GOOD selling price for me. Smaller aircraft will buy at that price point, as opposed to $2.50 a liter (which I used to charge), and about 1/3 of the flights will request fuel.

Second, I recommend routing your fuel pipelines away from the terminal buildings, and keep them under taxiways. Unless you have a remote terminal, you should be able to avoid crossing baggage and fuel lines. Besides, fuel lines are CHEAP, and you don't have to build foundation for them.

LOL, I actually put together a spreadsheet... comparing price to expected sales at various price points (10 cents apart)... I found that the optimal price point was actually $2.99 per liter. While you may have fewer actual planes requesting fuel, the additional price per liter actually makes up for the missed sales.

Here, look...

https://imgur.com/5ZC7upR

[Sensational TKO]

Thanx for the advice. I will now put back installing a baggage system as I only have about 40,000 saved. I was hoping that by adding a staff door behind the ticket desks that leads outsdie that the workers wouldnt go AAAAAAALL the way thro the airport at least. But they still do.

I have watched a number of videos when baggage systems are placed but clealry I need to watch a lot more. I wanted to only instal a small area just large enough for the baggage thing underground to then be connected to where it need to go by narrow passages of perhaps 2 wide. Don't see the point in building a huge wide underground area just for that.

[A-Train]

Originally posted by Sensational TKO:

Thanx for the advice. I will now put back installing a baggage system as I only have about 40,000 saved. I was hoping that by adding a staff door behind the ticket desks that leads outsdie that the workers wouldnt go AAAAAAALL the way thro the airport at least. But they still do.

Install Outdoor Gates in the fence 5 or so tiles away from the terminal building. Eventually you will want to build a loop road and have your deliveries, garbage, storage, and fuel inside the fence line on this loop road... Gets them out of the way of Pax vehicles.

Originally posted by Sensational TKO:

I have watched a number of videos when baggage systems are placed but clealry I need to watch a lot more. I wanted to only instal a small area just large enough for the baggage thing underground to then be connected to where it need to go by narrow passages of perhaps 2 wide. Don't see the point in building a huge wide underground area just for that.

Underground baggage conveyors require 3 tiles wide of foundation. Wall - conveyor - wall. So each SINGLE TILE costs $1610. :-(