Brokerage System
You can request airplanes via the brokerage system. These requests show up in the Used Market, in a special section called Open Broker Requests. Every airline can view and accept the placed requests, after which the plane(s) is (are) automatically ordered and forwarded to the buyer.
Contents
Place Request
You can place new requests at two different locations: at the Used Market and at the normal Buy Aircraft page. There will be a dropdown menu, similar to that on the Buy Aircraft page, with the header Request Aircraft. Select the manufacturer you want to request, and click Select.
You will now go through the same steps as when ordering a new airplane: you need to select the aircraft type and engines. This time, you will need to select the radio button next to the engine variant you wish to request, then click on Request Plane. After that, the most important screen will come up.
File:RequestAircraftEngine.jpg
Quantity
In this field, you need to input the number of planes of the chosen type you want to request.
Broker
Here, you can choose if you want to place the order to a specific airline, or if you want everyone to see it. If you want to send it to a specific airline, choose the airline's name from the dropdown menu. The official game brokers are listed on the Brokers page. If you want everyone to view the request, leave the menu as-is.
Markup Percentage
The markup percentage determines the final price of your request. Markup percentages differ according to the recipient of your request. If you place a public request, for everyone to see, the markup percentages go from 0% to 35%. With a private request to a normal airline (i.e. not an official broker), percentages go from -2% to 35% while a request privately sent to an official broker can go from -10% to 35%. The lower your markup percentage, the less likely it is for normal players to pick up on your request, because they won't make any profit on it. With a Markup percentage below 0, they'll lose money on the order. However, official brokers will make a profit, because they receive an additional discount on every plane they accept through brokerage system, but they might not want to pick up your request, because the profit is quite small. The higher your markup percentage, the more players will want to pick up on it, because there's a substantial profit to be made. However, you will have to pay much more for the aircraft than you normally would.
0% (or below 0%) Markup
When you place a request with a 0% markup, the chances of your request being taken are quite small. Regular players will not profit at all from this, because they buy and sell the airplane at the exact same price. Official brokers will only profit slightly, but that might not be enough of an incentive for them to take your request. If you, as a normal airline, decide to take a request with a 0% markup, you will not make any profit. If you decide to take a request with a markup below 0%, you'll end up losing money because you order the plane for more money than you sell it for.
Downpayment & Total Cost
File:RequestDetailsConfirm.jpg
You will now see the total cost of your order (as indicated by the image above). First shown is the list price, or the normal market price for the aircraft type. Next is your downpayment. The downpayment is a payment of 35% of your entire order value to the airline taking your order. This is to protect the accepting airline against bad buyers, who don't buy the plane once they've ordered it. The total cost including markup shows you what you're going to have paid in the end, once all planes have been delivered. Below, you'll find another number. This value is the amount of money you will pay to take delivery of the aircraft(s).
Please note the downpayment is withdrawn from your account the moment you place the request. When the request has been withdrawn by you, the downpayment will be returned immediately.
If you are satisfied with the request, click on "Proceed" at the bottom of the page. If you wish to make changes, you can do so at the top and click on "Submit". The page will refresh with the changes you made (along with the new costs of your request).
Order Taken
Once your request has been taken by another airline, the aircraft will have been ordered automatically. Once the airplanes have been delivered to the selling airline, the requested planes will be offered for sale to the buying airline automatically. The plane will be available for three game months, or three real-time days, without the selling party being able to withdraw the plane. After those three game months, the plane will still be listed, but the selling party can withdraw the plane from the aircraft market.
Order Not Taken
If no airlines take up your order, the request will be automatically withdrawn by the game after 6 game months. The downpayment will be returned automatically. You can withdraw your own requests at any time, as long as they have not been accepted by another airline.
