An OahuAir 767 is on its way to the gate
This Pacific Air flight has just reached the service area
A Taiwan Southern 747 is preparing to be towed Terminal 2.
Unicorn and OahuAir flights are ready to be towed
An Airport Ground Service, also called a ground service, airserve, or air service is a situation players will encounter in the AH series.
Description
An airserve is when an aircraft is towed from a hanger or open spot to the gate, or vice versa. They appear every once in a while in all three games. Occasionally, an incoming flight (usually a budget one) that arrived recently will be towed from the gate to a service hangar. Airserves will remain on the ground frequency until they reach their destination. Once they do, they will disappear off the ATC panel quickly. Depending on the length of the stage, they may show up again as a normal flight.
AH Honolulu
First appearing in Honolulu, airserves were officially called "Oahu Ground Service". They would start in the service area on the right side of the airport (the empty parking stalls). This area is
Airserves in this game mostly are bound for the right side gates, making them generally easy to handle. However, in the event of an OahuAir commuter plane needing to go to the regional terminal on the other side, careful action is required. It is recommended to use the outer taxiway so the main one does not get congested, especially if the airport is busy.
AH Narita
At Tokyo-Narita Airport, they are referred to as Narita Airserves by the ATC (the first time this term was used), and they appear in the airserve terminal in the right section of the airport.
Unlike the other two games, aircraft taxi at different speeds depending on the taxiway and number of aircraft nearby. Air services taxi at the slowest speed regardless of taxiway or traffic, and frequently go from terminal 2 and the cargo terminal. This forces the player to work around them. Just like Honolulu, when handling airserves on long routes, the player should give the right-of-way to other flights as towed aircraft won't experience delays. They should also use unoccupied taxiways, especially in this game, as if there are flights behind the airserve they will eventually catch up and possibly collide.
AH Kansai
In the Kansai game, ground services are much rarer, only appearing in a few stages. They are now referred to as air services, and ATC communications between them and the towed plane are now spoken in Japanese.
Airserves in this game will appear in the hangar (labeled on the map) on the far left side of the airport. This is convenient for services going to the PHC or LCC terminal, but not so much for planes needing a tow to the main terminal. This will put them in the way of incoming flights, but slightly less caution is needed as planes all move at the same speed.
Other Games
Airserves are also in exclusive games like AH New Chitose and AH Haneda. They are a little more infrequent in these games, but both airports have a respective terminal for ground services.
Towed Aircraft
The following airlines will appear as airserves.
- Unicorn Airlines
- OahuAir
- All Japan Airways
- Taiwan Southern Airlines
- Pacific Air Cargo
- Japan Sky Airlines
- Azix Airlines
- Wing China