GAME
Commuter Xpress the Collection
Add-on for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

Format: PC
First Class Simulations
£24.99

5 060020 472084
Age Restrictions: Not Rated
Available
31 March 2006


Major airlines build their routes around a "hub and spoke system". Using this scheme, smaller commuter planes fly passengers from towns to hub cities where they can then board larger planes for longer flights to overseas destinations. The goal is to fly the most economical aircraft on any given route in order to maximise profits. This has led to the popularity of the commuter airlines. Featuring short hop routes and the modern jets which fly these busy services, as a Commuter Xpress pilot you'll be flying aircraft which include the ATR-72, CRJ-700 and 900s, the BAE-146, the Beech 1900D, the Boeing 757, the Dash-8 and the Saab 340...

The Commuter Xpress Collection packages together volumes 1 and 2 in the franchise. While volume 1 has been available for some time, this is the first time that volume 2 has been released onto the European market.

Playing volume 1, gamers learn how major airlines build their routes around a "hub and spoke" system. Using this scheme, smaller commuter planes fly passengers from the small towns to the hub city airports where they board larger planes for long haul flights to distant cities. The small airlines make money by using the most economical aircraft on any given route to maximise profits and this in turn has led to the popularity of commuter airlines.

As a Commuter Xpress pilot you'll be piloting the most modern popular aircraft including the ATR-72; CRJ-700; BAE-146; Beech 1900D; Boeing 757. Your goal is to fly the most economical aircraft on any given route to maximise profits. Volume 1 also contains several short hop routes from smaller airports to larger city ones. Also included is a flight management computer integrated with autopilot.

Volume 2 puts you in control of six of today's most commonly used commuter airline aircraft: The Dash-8; CRJ-900; Saab 340; Embraer 190; and Fokker 100. Six airlines based in France, Germany, Benelux, the United Kingdom and the US are featured here. As a freelance commuter airline pilot you get to choose which airlines you fly for and when. This second volume includes a flight selector program which allows you to select the airline your next job is with, the departure point, the destination, time of departure and the particular aircraft to use for that flight. Alternatively the timesaving random option will assign you a flight, aircraft and destination in seconds. Each flight launches FS 2004 with a preloaded flight plan into FS 20004's GPS and is then ready to go.

This collection is yet another great add-on for FS 2004. However, this is similar in style to the recently launched Air Taxi Manager - although this time around you are a slave to the "hub and spoke" system that the Air Taxi industry is so keen to distance itself from.

Another worthy addition for Flight Simulator fanatics. Once you tire of flying the missions you can still use the planes as any of the others in the FS 2004 database.

Nick Smithson

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