Building Airport Roads: The Ultimate Skylines Guide

Building an airport in Cities: Skylines involves several steps, from finding the right location to placing terminals, runways, and taxiways. The Airports DLC allows players to create sprawling passenger and cargo airports with different styles, sizes, and upgrades. The process begins by locating a suitable area with flat terrain, open space, and good city connections. Using the Airport Area Tool, players can flatten the terrain and paint the desired airport area. The next step is to place a terminal, which can be extended using concourses to increase aircraft capacity. Aircraft stands are then positioned along the concourses, followed by the construction of a runway, ensuring it meets the minimum length requirement. Taxiways, one-way roads for planes, are connected to the runway and aircraft stands to facilitate arrivals and departures. Decorative buildings, such as control towers and hotels, enhance the airport's attractiveness and functionality. Proper road connections and attention to aircraft behaviours are crucial for a successful airport design.

Flatten the land

Flattening the land is an important step in building an airport in Cities: Skylines. The process of flattening the land involves using the Terraforming Tool and the Level Terrain Tool to create a flat surface for the airport building.

To begin, use the Terraforming Tool from the Landscaping menu to modify the land in and around the chosen area for your airport. Consider the amount of space the airport will occupy and use the Terraforming Tool to adjust the elevation and contour of the land. The Terraforming Tool allows you to add or remove soil, ensuring that the airport area is level and free of obstacles such as trees.

Once you have modified the terrain to your desired elevation, it's time to use the Level Terrain Tool to fine-tune the flattening process. The Level Terrain Tool will help you create a perfectly flat surface, ensuring that there are no slight inclines or bumps that could interfere with the airport's functionality.

It is important to note that the first point you click on when beginning to paint the area with the Terraforming Tool will determine the area's elevation. Soil will be added or removed as you paint, and you may need to pay to buy or dispose of soil, or manually adjust the soil levels on your map.

Additionally, when flattening the land, it is crucial to decide on the elevation of the airport area before starting. The elevation will impact the amount of soil that needs to be added or removed, which may incur costs.

By taking your time and carefully utilising the Terraforming Tool and the Level Terrain Tool, you can effectively flatten the land to create a solid foundation for your airport in Cities: Skylines.

Choose a style

When it comes to choosing a style for your airport roads in Cities: Skylines, there are a few options to consider. Firstly, it is important to decide whether you want a realistic or a functional airport. If you want a realistic airport, you will need to pay attention to the dimensions and spacing of your runways and taxiways. For example, the Los Angeles LAX airport has a 5x2km area with four parallel airways, while the Rome Leonardo Da Vinci airport has an area of 4x6km with three airways. You can use the Precision Engineering tool to show the length of your roads in meters, which will help you achieve accurate measurements.

Another factor to consider is the style of the terminal buildings. There are three styles to choose from: Classic, Modern, and Ultra Modern. Each style has small one-story terminals, slightly larger two-story terminals with split arrivals and departures, and large terminals with two stories, split arrivals and departures, and a built-in underground metro station. The more modern the style, the more expensive it will be to build and maintain. You can mix and match buildings from different styles within a single airport area if desired.

Additionally, you can choose to include decorative buildings such as control towers, hotels, parked planes, and hangars to increase your airport's attractiveness. The more attractive your airport is, the more people will use it. The control towers come in the same three styles as the terminals, and the more modern the control tower, the more attractiveness it adds.

If you are more concerned with functionality than realism, you may want to consider using mods to enhance your airport design. The MOD Airport Road and Vasmir22 assets, for example, can help you create a detailed and functional airport. You can also find terminal buildings in the workshop that already include plane parking spots, or use the asset called a320/a350 parking spot by Vasimir to create your own plane parking spots.

Place a terminal

When placing a terminal for your airport in Cities: Skylines, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind. Firstly, it is important to choose an appropriate location for your airport terminal, ensuring it is somewhat distant from your city but close to a highway for optimal functionality and to avoid interference with other buildings.

Once you have selected the location, you will need to terraform the land to create a flat surface for the terminal. You can do this by using the Terraforming Tool from the Landscaping menu and then utilising the Level Terrain Tool as needed.

After preparing the terrain, you can proceed to place your terminal. The game offers three different styles of terminals to choose from: Classic, Modern, and Ultra Modern. Each style has three different sizes of terminal buildings available: small one-story, small two-story, and large terminals. The larger terminals also include an underground metro station.

When placing your chosen terminal, ensure that it is connected to the road to complete the setup. Additionally, consider extending the terminal using a concourse network, which will allow you to connect the terminal to aircraft stands.

It is worth noting that the more modern and larger the terminal, the higher the initial cost and maintenance expenses will be. Therefore, it is important to allocate your funds wisely based on your city's needs.

Add a concourse

To add a concourse to your airport in Cities: Skylines, there are a few steps you need to follow. Firstly, it is important to note that concourses are networks that appear to be part of the building and are used to connect airport terminals, concourse hubs, and aircraft stands. To place a concourse, click and drag, similar to placing roads. Ensure that the concourse is placed inside the airport area on flat terrain.

Additionally, you can add an Airline Lounge to the concourse, as well as public transport buildings such as the Airport Bus Station, Elevated Airport Metro Station, and Airport Train Station. These buildings must be placed on the concourse.

When designing your airport, you can choose from three different styles: Classic, Modern, and Ultra Modern. Each style has its own unique features and costs, with Classic being the cheapest and Ultra Modern being the most expensive. You can also mix and match buildings from different styles in a single airport area.

Furthermore, you can enhance your airport's functionality and aesthetics by adding extra taxiways, service roads, and even a bus network or monorail system within the airport premises. These additions will improve the overall experience for passengers and staff.

Remember to plan your runways, taxiways, and terminals carefully, as aircraft behaviour can sometimes be illogical. It is recommended to have a separate airway-taxiway system for each terminal to prevent misuse.

Place aircraft stands

Aircraft stands are essential areas in an airport where aircraft load and unload passengers or cargo. When placing aircraft stands, it is important to consider the size of the stands and their connection to the terminal or concourse.

Passenger aircraft stands come in three sizes: small, medium, and large. These stands must be connected to either the terminal or the concourse. The size of the stand determines the size of the plane that will operate there. For instance, the Simple Plane Stand A350 is designed for the A350 aircraft and will allow it to pass without its wings or tail colliding.

Cargo aircraft stands, on the other hand, come in a standard size. They can be placed along regular roads or cargo airport roads. Unlike passenger stands, cargo stands do not require a connection to a terminal to function.

When designing your airport, it is important to ensure that the taxiways, which are one-way paths for aircraft to move between runways and plane stands, are properly connected. Taxiways are similar to roads but are for plane traffic only. It is recommended to have at least two taxiways connecting the runway, placed near the extremities.

Additionally, consider using mods and assets, such as the Airport Road and Vasmir22 assets, to enhance your airport design. These can provide plane parking spots and improve the overall functionality and aesthetics of your airport.

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