Airport Board Games

Aviation has changed a great deal since Wilbur and Orville Wright took the first flights at Kitty Hawk ion their first powered aircraft in 1903. Since the Wright brothers invented the first successful plane, aviation has taken off- literally. The 1970’s may be considered a golden year of flying due to the major advances made. Entertainment options became a popular trend amongst airlines. Sleeping berths, piano lounges, flowers, fashion shows, art, and fancy food were all part of the various entertainment options offered back in the good ole’ days.

In more modern times, flyers are carrying around their Ipads, Kindles, Smartphone’s, laptops, and other gaming systems. Many airlines are offering a wide selection of movies, Wi-Fi, maps, television shows and games on personal screens.

Sometimes our smart technology gets to be just too overwhelming. Try stepping back into the 70’s and indulge yourself and your family or friends in a lovely board game! If you like board games and airports you should definitely check this two 70's games.

 

AIRPORT THE AIRLINES GAME

The goal in this game is to create the most profitable airline. The gameplay is similar to Monopoly. 

While the game is fun, it is also quite unrealistic just like how real estate investment is in the classic Monopoly. The game requires 2-4 players and takes about 60 minutes to complete. It sells for around $20 on eBay or Amazon. It’s best for ages 10 plus and is rated as being a fairly easy game to understand and play. Airport may be one of the best games to pack in our suitcase for a nice airport layover!

To begin Airport, players start with a fixed number of aircrafts in which they distribute around the routes on the playing board. Each player takes a turn to roll the dice and move their pieces around the board. When a player lands on a certain square on the board, the player is then paid for all the aircraft he or she has on that specific route. The more aircrafts on a route, the lower the payment will be. All players will receive payment for their aircraft regardless of who landed on the square. 

Players must also perform maintenance on their aircrafts during the game. Cards can be drawn which give players bonuses of penalties such as a mail cargo route or a strike. Players may also purchase, lease a new aircraft, or sell an old aircraft to the bank. The winner of the game will reach a net worth of one million dollars. 

 

AIRWAYS 

The goal in this game is to fly passengers from their home airport to their destination airport. An extra player will act as an air traffic controller and must control several aircrafts at one time. Airways is best played with 2-4 people and may take up to 120min to complete. It is best for ages 10 plus and is a bit tougher than Airport. The game contains a board game, an air speed indicator board, a control console, four airport panels, 16 planes numbered 1-4, 32 incident cards, 61 passenger cards, and 80 air traffic control cards. While there are many little pieces this board game is still the perfect size to fit in your bag to play at the airport for a nice layover!

Each played will typically control four aircrafts belonging to British Airways, Pan Am, Swissair, or Qantas. Each aircrafts can carry up to 200 passengers at one time. Players follow the typical airline procedures in order to get these passengers home safely. This includes making radio calls and responding to incidents and emergencies in the right way.

Airways is suppose to replicate a real flight and use realistic radio calls, incidents, and emergencies. While this board is considered a vintage game, it sells on eBay and Amazon anywhere from $20- $50 depending on the condition of the game.

Both games can be found on eBay.