Airline Founder

Released: Sep 6, 2026
Platforms: Windows
Last updated: 06 Sep 2026, 18:43 GMT

Updates & announcements

12 posts

30 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.4.1 Update
Update Notes: Added a mission system. Added Brazilian Portuguese. Optimized the economy system for small aircraft. Improved and fixed music volume and sound effects. Fixed incorrect information for some airports. Added support for importing external background music. Fixed severa
Update Notes:
Added a mission system.
Added Brazilian Portuguese.
Optimized the economy system for small aircraft.
Improved and fixed music volume and sound effects.
Fixed incorrect information for some airports.
Added support for importing external background music.
Fixed several bugs.
Original post
29 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.4 Update
Over the past week, I’ve made several more updates to the game based on player feedback. The changes are listed below. The update will most likely be released sometime between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM UTC on August 29. I’ve also received a lot of feedback that the game can feel overwh
Over the past week, I’ve made several more updates to the game based on player feedback. The changes are listed below. The update will most likely be released sometime between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM UTC on August 29.
I’ve also received a lot of feedback that the game can feel overwhelming due to the amount of information presented. To better balance realism and accessibility, you can now choose the Information Density in the settings. At lower information density levels, the game will display less detailed information and use fewer technical terms, making it easier to get into.
Customizable UI
Demo 0.4 introduces a fully customizable UI.
You can now rearrange the management interface to better suit your workflow, switch to a cleaner view focused on key decisions, or keep a more detailed layout with additional management information. Custom UI layouts can also be saved for later use.
120 Real Aircraft Added
New games can now be started with either the new real-aircraft catalog or the original fictional-aircraft catalog.
The real-aircraft catalog includes 120 models, ranging from turboprops and regional jets to narrow-body and wide-body airliners.
Some aircraft can be purchased new, while others will gradually appear on the used-aircraft market as time passes and market conditions change.
More Realistic Management Challenges
Demo 0.4 introduces a new Realistic difficulty setting.
The economy and overall management pace have also been rebalanced across all difficulty levels to provide a more consistent and challenging experience.
Improved Route Recommendations
Route recommendations now take more factors into account, including city demand, airport size, hub potential, market competition, company reputation, aircraft capacity, and airport slots.
Popular trunk routes will also receive more appropriate flight-frequency recommendations based on market size.
We also fixed an issue where the route recommendation page and manual route planning could produce inconsistent profitability estimates.
Aircraft Can Now Operate Multiple Consecutive Legs
Aircraft no longer need to return to their original airport after every route assignment.
The same aircraft can now continue directly to its next assigned destination and operate multiple routes in sequence.
If two assigned flights cannot connect directly, the aircraft will automatically perform a repositioning flight between them.
A Clearer and Smoother Global Route Network
On both the 2D map and the 3D globe, players can now choose to display aircraft icons instead of moving dots.
Map zooming, long-distance route rendering, and performance when managing large fleets have also been improved.
Language Updates
Demo 0.4 officially adds interface support for Hindi, Polish, Korean, and Russian.
Translations for previously supported languages have also been further improved.
Existing Save Compatibility
Demo 0.4 remains compatible with existing save files.
Your airline, fleet, routes, aircraft, and current operating status will all be preserved, so you can continue playing without starting over.
Existing saves will continue to use the original fictional-aircraft catalog. The real-aircraft catalog must be selected when starting a new game.
Other Changes
Fixed an issue where some long-distance routes could disappear when zooming the map.
Information density can now be adjusted in Settings.
Reduced repeated stuttering during daily processing on the map and route pages when managing large numbers of routes or using accelerated time.
Fixed several UI issues where dropdown selections could appear blank, titles could display incorrectly, or the first click might not register after reopening certain pages.
Aircraft modification configurations can now be copied.
Automatic aircraft maintenance can now be enabled.
Fares can now be adjusted by service class.
Fixed several other bugs reported by players.
Thank you, as always, for your feedback and support.
Original post
25 Aug 2026Developer post
Dev Log 3: Demo 0.4 Progress and What’s Next
After completing the Demo 0.3.2 update, I continued working on one of the issues most frequently mentioned in player feedback: the UI. UI is a difficult problem. Some obvious issues are relatively easy to solve, such as excessive information density. However, other issues are mor
21 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.3.1 Update
Fixed an issue where the 3D globe view would reset to the Gulf of Guinea after switching pages. Fixed an issue that prevented the Demand, Slot, Rivals, and Profit strategic layers from appearing on the 3D globe. Added the Airline Slot Tier system. As your airline expands, its mon
Fixed an issue where the 3D globe view would reset to the Gulf of Guinea after switching pages.
Fixed an issue that prevented the Demand, Slot, Rivals, and Profit strategic layers from appearing on the 3D globe.
Added the Airline Slot Tier system. As your airline expands, its monthly slot allocations increase across airports, while each airport’s own ceiling still applies.
Improved several UI screens and layouts.
Fixed several known issues.
Original post
19 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.3 Update
Update Notes: Updated the map system with a new 2D satellite map, standard 3D globe, and 3D satellite globe. Added German, Arabic, and Italian language support. Improved the UI for the Staff and Routes systems. Added a Frequent Flyer Program system. Improved business and economic
Update Notes:
Updated the map system with a new 2D satellite map, standard 3D globe, and 3D satellite globe.
Added German, Arabic, and Italian language support.
Improved the UI for the Staff and Routes systems.
Added a Frequent Flyer Program system.
Improved business and economic logic, fixing economic balance issues with custom routes and short-haul routes.
Added Public Service Obligation (PSO) contracts.
Fixed an issue where bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, were displayed incorrectly.
Fixed an issue where starting debt could not be repaid.
Fixed an issue where expansion costs were not displayed when there was insufficient cash.
Fixed various other known bugs.
Thank you all for your continued support of Airline Founder!
Original post
16 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.2.1 Update
Update Notes: Improved the management system across different difficulty levels. Improved the tutorial. Made route planning more convenient. Fixed some incorrect airport names and population data. Improved the save system. Optimized the font sizes of some text elements.
Update Notes:
Improved the management system across different difficulty levels.
Improved the tutorial.
Made route planning more convenient.
Fixed some incorrect airport names and population data.
Improved the save system.
Optimized the font sizes of some text elements.
Original post
15 Aug 2026Developer post
Demo v0.2 Update
The demo has now been available for three days. Thank you all for your support! During this time, I’ve received a lot of feedback from players. This update addresses some of the issues and suggestions you’ve shared, while others will be worked on in future updates. Update Notes L
The demo has now been available for three days. Thank you all for your support!
During this time, I’ve received a lot of feedback from players. This update addresses some of the issues and suggestions you’ve shared, while others will be worked on in future updates.
Update Notes
Language & Tutorial
On first launch, the game will now prioritize the game language selected in Steam. If the Steam language cannot be detected, the game will use your system language instead, with English as the default fallback.
Expanded the tutorial and onboarding system to make the game easier to learn and understand for new players.
Route & Fleet Management
Aircraft assigned to existing routes can now be changed directly, without having to close and recreate the route.
Changing aircraft will preserve the route’s existing operational history and data.
Leased aircraft can now be returned before the end of their lease.
Flight Frequency & Aircraft Capacity
Flight frequency information now displays both flights/month and the corresponding flights/week.
Added aircraft rotation information to the route creation and editing screens, including:
Time required per flight
Time currently occupied by the route
Assigned, available, and remaining aircraft rotation hours
Maximum monthly flights the selected aircraft can operate
Route Fares & Fuel Costs
Routes now support entering an exact one-way base fare while keeping the existing quick-pricing options. Before adjusting fares, you can now view the market reference fare, recommended price range, estimated load factor, and projected profit.
Route details now display the fuel price index, current monthly fuel costs, and fuel costs as a percentage of total operating costs.
Added fuel sensitivity analysis, showing the estimated impact on profit if fuel prices increase by 10%.
Expanded Catering System
Catering can now be configured separately for Economy Class, Business Class, and First Class.
Each cabin class can offer meals for free, sell them on board, or provide no meal service.
Up to three menu options can be configured for each cabin class.
Long-haul routes now support two meal services per flight.
Catering choices now directly affect catering costs, onboard sales revenue, demand attractiveness, service ratings, pricing potential, and on-time performance risk.
Route Interface Improvements
The existing route overview now displays additional key metrics, including profit, profit margin, revenue, load factor, effective demand, fare, aircraft, flight frequency, on-time performance, and competitive pressure.
Capacity, fuel, pricing, scheduling, service, cargo, and aircraft-change controls have been moved to more accessible positions within the route details screen.
Added a fixed shortcut bar for quick access to pricing, scheduling, service, cargo, and aircraft settings.
Increased scrollbar width and contrast to make navigation and feature discovery easier on longer pages.
Improved text sizing, panel spacing, and top navigation readability at lower resolutions and in smaller windows.
Added help buttons for recommended routes, aircraft availability, and employee role effects. Clicking them now provides explanations of the corresponding game mechanics.
Map & Airport Data
Actual effect description of "Airport Marker Density":
Performance: Displays approximately 1,200 airport markers in the world view
Balanced: Approximately 3,000 airport markers
Detailed: Approximately 6,000 airport markers
All: Displays all airport markers
Adjusted automatic route recommendation filters. Some airports that are not suitable as regular commercial passenger destinations will no longer appear in automatic recommendations.
Corrected airport data issues reported by players.
Airport names and locations can now be displayed in the appropriate localized language on the map, airport details pages, and search results.
Conducted another review of airport data worldwide and updated the database accordingly.
Thank you again for all your support.
If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, feedback is always welcome.
I’ve also heard from some players who are interested in having a community space for the game. I’m currently working on plans for that.
Original post
12 Aug 2026Developer post
Airline Founder Demo Is Now Available | A Few Words from the Developer
Today, I am very happy to announce that the demo of Airline Founder has officially been released. You can now download and play it. The demo is a pre-release version of the game intended primarily to gather your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions before the full release. The dem
28 Jul 2026Developer post
The Demo Is Coming Soon
I’m excited to share the latest update with everyone. Today, I submitted the game files for the demo to Steam for review. Once the review is complete and the build is approved, the demo will be released. The Airline Founder Demo will be the first public version of Airline Founder
11 Jul 2026Developer post
One Step Closer to the Demo
Over the past month, we have continued working toward the release of the demo version. The demo will offer 18 in-game months of gameplay, with content that is largely consistent with the full version. If everything goes according to plan, the demo will be released sometime in Jul
10 Jun 2026Developer post
Dev Log 2
This week, I continued optimizing the game as I move toward the release of the first demo. First, I further improved the way national borders are displayed on the map. For special or disputed borders, the map now uses dashed lines to avoid creating political ambiguity. I also opt
08 Jun 2026Developer post
Dev Log 1
It has been over a month since development began on Airline Founder, and we are getting closer and closer to the Demo version. If everything goes smoothly, I hope to release the first Demo by the end of June. During the past week, I updated and optimized the visual display of cit

Updates & announcements

Customizable UI

120 Real Aircraft Added

More Realistic Management Challenges

Improved Route Recommendations

Aircraft Can Now Operate Multiple Consecutive Legs

A Clearer and Smoother Global Route Network

Language Updates

Existing Save Compatibility

Other Changes

Update Notes

Language & Tutorial

Route & Fleet Management

Flight Frequency & Aircraft Capacity

Route Fares & Fuel Costs

Expanded Catering System

Route Interface Improvements

Map & Airport Data

A Few Words from the Developer