I was looking through some statistics on the Vatstats website and noticed that Intercity has made the pie chart for airline movements at London City.

https://vatstats.net/airports/15247

I think we can thank Graham for the majority of those movements as his name appears regularly on the arrivals/departures page.

Now we just need to work on our other hubs. 

Cheers,
Serge

Good spot, well done Graham and everyone that's logged hours at VATSIM!

I think appearing on the Düsseldorf chart may be more difficult though, as we're small fry there relative to London City, but Birmingham is a distinct possibility. It's also interesting to see what aircraft types are favoured, I wonder if the A318 will still have a 20% share at Christmas, also the C172 is amusing since recreational flying and single engined aircraft aren't permitted at LCY 

How reliable is Vatstats btw, because I was looked at our airline statistics on there and JS41 has around 45% of all our hours recorded on Vatstats!?

Quote from: Chris Liu on Oct 14, 2014 09:39
It's also interesting to see what aircraft types are favoured, I wonder if the A318 will still have a 20% share at Christmas, also the C172 is amusing since recreational flying and single engined aircraft aren't permitted at LCY 

Yeah, I thought seeing the A320 on the list was also amusing.

Quote from: Chris Liu on Oct 14, 2014 09:39
How reliable is Vatstats btw, because I was looked at our airline statistics on there and JS41 has around 45% of all our hours recorded on Vatstats!?

Vatstats should be pretty reliable however it should also be noted that it has only been around since April 2014 and it started collecting data a little bit before that. Although 45% for the JS41 does sound high Graham flies it exclusively and has knocked up nearly 80 flights in only a couple of months.

Vataware would be a better source for data as it goes way back before Intercity was formed however they are yet to add Intercity to their airline list so we can't see any overall stats as yet. I have inquired to get Intercity added however it seems to be a low priority for them. It's been pending for months.

Cheers,
Serge

Yeah, I spotted that request some months ago but considering Vataware doesn't even work properly half the time, I guess they have higher priorities!

BTW, we also made the following pie charts:
Knock https://vatstats.net/airports/15465
Belfast City https://vatstats.net/airports/15140

Chris,


I take it because we are affiliated to Vatsim. What about IVAO? I have been very busy at our hubs with them, is it not time for an affiliation with IVAO, too? What do we need to do to achieve this as this? Perhaps this could be a target for next year?


Keith

It was my intention to partner with IVAO long ago, but I think their acceptance criteria are unrealistic so I've dropped the idea, specifically:

QuoteVAs are required to log per week at least Nº of users X 2 hours = Required hours. It does not mean each user must fly 2 hours, it means the total of hours flown by the company must be calculated with this formula. This is the minimum required to maintain their membership status in our Virtual Airlines System.

Also we need 10 IVAO members on our roster at all times and I'm not sure wed maintain that. Full requirements listed at https://ivao.aero/rulregs/va-r-r.asp

Hi Chris,

Well, I think there's a challenge for us! We have, as you mentioned, reached the 200 pilots number. I fly on both networks. Maybe we could consider asking our pilots to fly a mixture of both, thus securing our place  with IVAO? I happily would fly fifty percent on each, but we would need the commitment of our members. I have got to know a number of ATCOs on IVAO, and I know, for example, if we needed ATC cover in Germany, for an event we wished to arrange , I could secure that cover.  I also know some of the UK VATSIM ATCOs who would likewise oblige.


How about we canvass the views of our pilots? If you need a volunteer to manage work to secure our place with IVAO, then I am he!


Lastly, I believe the most effective way to market and recruit for our VA is through online flying where we publicise our brand as well as chat with other pilots. If we are present on both networks, that can only be good for us.


Keith

I just don't see how any virtual airline can log "Nº of users X 2" hours per week, unless it ruthlessly culls its own members; based on our 77 pilots, that equates to 154 hrs/wk or 667 hrs/mo! This is why I've stopped actively purusing of IVAO partnership, it would mean a lot of heartache and work for minimal benefit. However, should we ever meet their criteria then I'd likely apply.

I've flown on both networks myself and I am happy to work with and support IVAO (that doesn't need VA partner status). Whilst I appreciate Intercity currently has a greater presence on VATSIM, this isn't due to our policies, it's simply where our pilots choose to fly (actually, more than half of all Intercity hours are logged offline). I agree that having Intercity pilots flying on a multiplayer network is one of the best ways to publicise and recruit from that network, but dictating to members where they should fly would alienate many of them, resulting in a net loss of pilots (consider that only 17 Intercity pilots have an IVAO ID listed, versus about 50 with a VATSIM ID).

I want to advertise on IVAO social media but they only permit this for IVAO certified VAs, whereas VATSIM have no such restrictions. I know most of the special events posted in the forums are for VATSIM, but that's simply because I'm not in the loop with IVAO, if you know of IVAO events relevant to our members then I'm happy to post those (I'm looking to hand responsibility off to someone else for the special events anyway, which should achieve a little more balance in this area).

I appreciate the network of contacts of you have at both networks and no doubt we shall call upon those in the future. Pleaes consider applying for the Events Coordinator position when it's readvertised, you sound like you'd be well suited 

No probs, they were just some thoughts.

Keith

I fly on VATSIM pretty much every flight, I also fly the JS41 on there for us too. After looking at the VATSTATS site recently, it logged a flight which I didn't complete in my logbook, and Also failed to log a flight I did complete. I guess it's only as reliable as the data it's supplied which in the case of VATSIM is the "who's online" which has an output which can be accessed every 10 mins.


I have nothing against flying on IVAO, I am just comfortable flying on VATSIM and so just log on there by default.

I've taken what you said on board Keith, I understand we could be more proactive with IVAO and to that end, I have actioned the following:

   
• Requested IVAO UK & IE add Intercity to their special events mailing list, so we know about their special events and can promote them here.
• Placed an advertisement on IVAO Worldwide Flight Operations forums, VA Airlines News & Announcements. I will continue to post promotional material there on a regular basis, although it is rather buried in their forum tree structure so I'm not sure how wide the audience reach will be.
• Investigated advertising in IVAO UK & IE forums but unfortunately I found this is forbidden for non-partners. I'm not sure if that rule is actually enforced, but I'm not about to find out and risk bringing Intercity in disrepute.
• Investigated marketing Intercity on IVAO social media, again this is forbidden for non-partners.
• I continue to promote Intercity in network neutral places, such as Avsim forums, Majestic forums and VA List.
• I am in the process of getting us listed at www.flightsimc.com, a VA database which is promoted on IVAO.

I'd like to thank everyone who promotes us by flying online (no matter which network), nothing sells us better than word of mouth and actually seeing our pilots out there (be it online or in forums)! Every pilot we have is precious, it's not easy getting folks to join a fictional airline, no matter how good the idea or name.

Thanks, Chris. This is really what I had been hoping for. Please contact me if you feel I can help in any way and thus take the pressures off your time.

Keith