The latest in a long line of management sims places you in the shoes of an airport manager. Will your customers fly first class or count themselves lucky they lived to tell the tale?
Ben Morris

We've had Theme Park, Theme Hospital, Pizza Syndicate and lately we've even explored family life in The Sims. So what's the next job to undergo the metamorphosis into the world of real-time management? Well, it's the humble airport this time, in Krisilis' latest offering.

Millions of passengers pass through the many airports in the world every year and someone needs to organise everything and make sure things go smoothly. People who've watched the Airport docu-soap will know that it can be a testing time for both passengers and staff alike.

The aim here is to successfully manage every aspect of airport life. Unfortunately, the grinning diplomatic talents of Jeremy the Russian-speaking flight attendant are unavailable and you're pretty much on your own. The emphasis is largely on the overall running of the airport, from building placement to the signing of contracts with the world's airlines. As passenger or cargo throughput increases, the needs and complaints of the customers have to be taken into consideration if profits are going to continue rising.

Although the goal varies from scenario to scenario, the most important thing is money. A constant flow of hard currency must be obtained just to keep everything up and running, let alone for you to think about expansion. Naturally, your bank manager is rather unforgiving when it comes to debt and a big trip into the red will land you in big trouble.