Aviation Empire
- Brand
- KLM
- Year
- 2013
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Other
- Mechanic
- Simulation & Strategy
- Platform
- App
Objective
KLM cast itself as the most digitally forward, pioneering airline — round-the-clock social service since 2009, a Meet & Seat feature — and wanted a way to stay in touch with travellers between ticket bookings. As SVP Martijn van der Zee put it, the job was to fill the pause between conversations with the audience: games as another always-on channel to engage current and prospective passengers. It was also a chance to tell KLM's story back to 1919 from inside the play itself, rather than through advertising.
Solution
Players build an airline from scratch, starting in 1919 with a single London–Amsterdam route, and steer it forward decade by decade into the present. They buy historically accurate planes — early Fokkers through the Boeing 747 — assign them to new city routes, and grow their airports with runways, hotels and other passenger facilities as traffic increases. Completing timeline milestones earns credits and badges, a CEO-style stats screen tracks the business, and leaderboards rank players against friends and the world. A flying mini-game lets them step into the cockpit and pilot a plane along its route by hand. The hook tying it to real life: checking in by GPS at an actual airport unlocks that same airport in the game, across roughly 70 airports worldwide.
Results
Over 1.7 million downloads and a 4+ star rating by 2017, with the Android release alone passing 500,000+ installs on Google Play.
- 1
The player downloads the free app and works through a detailed tutorial that casts them as the head of a new airline, starting in 1919, the year KLM was founded.
- 2
The player opens routes by connecting city pairs on a rotating, zoomable 3D world map, beginning with KLM's historic 1920 London–Amsterdam line, then buys era-appropriate aircraft — starting with Fokkers and expanding through the decades to the Boeing 747 — and assigns them to routes, where more planes flying back and forth mean more revenue.
- 3
The player reinvests earnings into new international routes and into building up airports with runways, hotels, and other amenities that keep passengers satisfied, while adding or upgrading hangars to maintain the fleet.
- 4
Progress follows a decade-by-decade timeline of era challenges that reward credits and advance the airline from 1919 toward the present day.
- 5
At any point the player can take manual control in a mini-game, piloting a plane along its route instead of watching the simulation play out.
- 6
Checking in via GPS at a real-world airport unlocks that airport in the game for free, letting the player build out its roughly 70-airport KLM network by traveling rather than spending in-game resources.
- 7
The player earns achievement badges alongside credits, can log in with a social account to share progress with friends, and compares standing on leaderboards ranked globally and among friends.
- 8
A CEO statistics screen tracks the airline's management performance, and in-game purchases let the player expand and personalize the aircraft fleet.
- 9
A single game can be picked up across a tablet and phone on the same platform, and players connect outside the app on the Aviation Empire Facebook page with KLM, developers, and each other.
