Aviator: Airline Empire

All aboard for the Jet Age

Aviator: Airline Empire is a turn-based airline strategy game set in the golden age of flight — when a new route could make a city feel important overnight and every polished airframe promised a little bit of tomorrow. It launches in Steam Early Access in November 2026, and a public demo is available on Steam now.

You begin with a name, a colour, a home city, and one modest advantage. From there, build an airline with enough nerve to cross oceans and enough sense to keep the books from catching fire. Open routes between ambitious cities, watch demand shift between business travellers and tourists, and decide which opportunities are worth the price of admission.

The world is full of competitors with their own personalities, ambitions, and suspiciously well-timed expansion plans. Some chase prestige. Some chase low fares. Some simply seem to enjoy arriving first. Your job is to read the room, outfly the opposition, and make your airline the name everyone remembers when the departure board starts to sparkle.

Play the demo on Steam

The public demo has been available on Steam since 10 September 2026. Aviator will also take part in Steam Next Fest from 19–26 October 2026, giving more players a chance to try the game before Early Access.

Early Access in November 2026

Aviator: Airline Empire takes off in Steam Early Access in November 2026. Here is what you can play from day one:

• Three single-player scenarios (1950–1990): build an airline across four decades of commercial aviation, with around 6–10 hours of strategy.
• Open Skies sandbox: set the rules and AI rivals, then connect routes between 120+ cities across a huge world map.
• Local hot-seat multiplayer: pass the controls and compete in airline rivalries for 2–4 players on one screen.
• Flight School: learn the essentials with an approachable tutorial.
• Steam Achievements and controller support, plus an experimental TV Mode for couch play.

During Early Access, we plan to add more scenarios and game modes, introduce aircraft from additional eras, expand Open Skies with a larger world and more ways to configure your own scenarios, and deepen the local multiplayer options. Community feedback will help shape what comes next.

A tribute to a classic

Aviator is an independent airline management game inspired by the spirit of classic titles such as Aerobiz Supersonic, released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1993.

We think of it as a spiritual successor: not a remake or continuation, but a new interpretation of the airline strategy genre — built around modern systems, deeper simulation, and our own visual identity.

Aviator is independently developed and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or licensed by the creators, publishers, or rights holders of Aerobiz Supersonic. The title Aerobiz Supersonic is referenced solely to acknowledge its creative influence. All related names, trademarks, artwork, and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective rights holders.

A game for the same table

Local hot-seat multiplayer is part of the game from day one of Early Access. Two to four players pass the controls around, each running their own carrier in the same changing world, then see who can build the strongest network.

We want it to feel like a classic board game brought to life: a group gathered around the same table, making plans, reading the market, and reacting to the same changing world. Deeper local multiplayer options are planned during Early Access.

A small empire at 30,000 feet

• Shape your airline with a custom name, colour, home city, and starting trait.
• Find the sweet spot with city opportunities ranked by available slots, price, growth, business demand, and tourism.
• Build a living fleet from a historical aircraft database spanning prop planes, early jets, long-haul workhorses, and jumbo icons.
• Keep one eye on the calendar as aircraft age, become obsolete, and eventually retire from service.
• Know your rivals through their cash, routes, fleets, passengers, strategies, and latest expansion reasons.
• Measure the miles with route, regional, and world rankings that grow quarter by quarter.
• Write your own scenario in the Open Skies sandbox, with your own rules and AI rivals across 120+ cities.
• Play the long game with oil prices, fuel reserves, save slots, autosaves, and a victory screen that remembers how you got there.

Development status

Aviator launches in Steam Early Access in November 2026, and we expect it to stay in Early Access for about 10 months. The focus is the satisfying rhythm of airline management: spot a possibility, take a calculated risk, survive the quarter, and do it all again with a slightly grander hat.

We’re polishing the systems, tuning the balance, and giving the world more reasons to make an interesting decision. Follow the dev log for progress from the workshop.