Previous Next

In the days of pre-history (pre-computers that is), the number of us who could run our own airline to challenge British Airways was somewhat limited. Now, thanks to CCS, Electron and BBC owners may fly their machines into battle! You take the role of Chairman of L-AIR, with capital of £3m and seven years to take over B.A. (if you last that long!). It really is a strange feeling to make a profit or loss running into tens of millions of pounds each year, with adrenalin levels running high.

Decisions to be made each year include chartering aircraft, or perhaps buying to build up your own fleet, and employing enough people to run the line efficiently. There are unexpected troubles ranging from hijacks to strikes over tea breaks, although suitable insurance cover can cushion the financial blow of some of these events. The necessary information is clearly presented in graphical or written form, with a superb implementation of a video-printer used for newsflashes.

This may sound a little finicky, but I do not like to find spelling mistakes in commercially produced software, and Julian Jiggins should have checked procede and unservable. Leaving this small point aside, Airline is a good simulation requiring luck, planning and shrewd hunches to reach the necessary thirty million pounds. I commend this tape to anyone wishing to exercise their brain rather than fingers, or indeed to anyone wishing to show the power of the Electron for rapid and accurate use of data.

Dave Reeder