The Economy6 min read
Materials & surfaces
Runways, taxiways, and aprons are paved from six materials in three tiers - natural, sealed, and premium. Materials cost no fee: your buildable-area level includes them. You pay only for the area you lay, and everything you buy goes into a per-airport inventory that gets reused for free when you reshape.
A per-airport inventory
Every airport keeps its ownsurface inventory, tracked in the right rail's Materialssection. Purchased area belongs to that airport alone - inventory never transfers between airports. Which materials you can use is set by that airport's area level, and covers runways, taxiways, and aprons together.
The six materials
| Tier | Material | Included from |
|---|---|---|
| Natural | Grass | Level 1 (Airstrip) |
| Natural | Dirt | Level 1 (Airstrip) |
| Natural | Gravel | Level 1 (Airstrip) |
| Sealed | Asphalt | Level 2 (Airfield) |
| Sealed | Tarmac | Level 2 (Airfield) |
| Premium | Concrete | Level 3 (Regional) |
No unlock fee - reaching the level includes the material on runways, taxiways, and aprons.
Paving rates
Area is billed per square metre at the runway rate for the tier; taxiways cost 60% of that rate and aprons 40%.
| Tier | Runway | Taxiway (60%) | Apron (40%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Natural | Ⓐ0.05 /m² | Ⓐ0.03 /m² | Ⓐ0.02 /m² |
| Sealed | Ⓐ0.25 /m² | Ⓐ0.15 /m² | Ⓐ0.10 /m² |
| Concrete | Ⓐ0.45 /m² | Ⓐ0.27 /m² | Ⓐ0.18 /m² |
The save cart itemises every unlock and every area purchase before anything is charged.
Free starter allotments
Every airport starts with three fee-free pools, each its own allotment:
| Surface | Material | Free area |
|---|---|---|
| Runway | Dirt | 6,000 m² |
| Taxiway | Grass | 7,000 m² |
| Apron | Grass | 9,000 m² |
A complete natural airfield - strip, taxiways, aprons - costs Ⓐ0.
Reshaping is free
Area you've bought is inventory, not consumption. Reshape a runway, replace a taxiway, redraw an apron - the old area returns to the pool and the new layout draws from it for free. You only pay for new area beyond what your inventory already holds.
What materials are not
Materials cover the operational surfaces only. The natural grass/dirt/gravel underlay painted with the Ground tool is always free and tracked separately - see Ground cover. For where materials sit in the wider price list, see Spending & prices.