19. Cities: Skylines AirportsUpdate notes

First, save up enough money (and find a space) that you can paint a 25k cell area as an airport area. Keep in mind it will auto-level the entire airport area as you zone it. You can now also pay to add or remove excess dirt from your inventory in the same section. Here is an example of about how big that will need to be:

Airport DLC

Build a terminal, aircraft stand, and runway in your airport. I'd recommend a two level terminal for better traffic flow, and using the ultra modern version will give you an attractiveness bump. A concourse isn't strictly required, but will give you more room to place aircraft stands and speed up the process. Don't forget to use taxiways to connect your runway(s) to the aircraft stands.

I've included my layout for reference:

Airport DLC

Getting this infrastructure placed will get you:

Airport Architect

Build an airport area with a terminal, a runway and an aircraft stand.

Airport Architect
Offline Mode - These achievements require play in game modes that do not necessitate a connection to any online services.Single Player - These achievements can be obtained by a single player.Shop - These achievements require the purchase of an item or a series of items from a shop.

It certainly isn't necessary to do a U shaped concourse, a straight line will be fine. I was leaving room for future expansion in case I needed a bigger setup to get 10k passengers, but this was perfectly adequate. Once your airport is functioning you can see it's total area from the airport district's info screen. Keep adding until you get to 25k and you will get:

Airfield Expertise

Build an airport area with an area of 25 000 cells.

Airfield Expertise
Offline Mode - These achievements require play in game modes that do not necessitate a connection to any online services.Single Player - These achievements can be obtained by a single player.Cumulative + - These achievements are obtained by repeatedly performing the same action or set of actions over time.

If that is bigger than you want, you can revert to an earlier save after you get the achievement. I would say I only used about 5k of my airport area.

To reach level 3, you will need to reach 5000 passengers and 1000 attractiveness. How long this takes will depend on your city size and the airport size and number of planes. The passengers will come with time (you can just let it idle). For the attractiveness you can add control towers under the airside section, or various things from the decorations section. Control towers are the most compact option (if money isn't an option). 8 ultra modern towers was enough to hit 1k and can be done immediately at level 1. If you want a more cost effective (but bulkier) option, small parked planes under the decorations tab are the way to go. Hitting level 3 will unlock:

Airline Tycoon

Have an airport area reach level 3.

Airline Tycoon
Offline Mode - These achievements require play in game modes that do not necessitate a connection to any online services.Single Player - These achievements can be obtained by a single player.Level - These achievements must be obtained by levelling up in-game components.Shop - These achievements require the purchase of an item or a series of items from a shop.

Level 3 also unlocks the Airport HQ building which lets you adjust your ticket prices. Raise them to the maximum for:

High-cost-carrier

Set the airline ticket price slider to the maximum price.

High-cost-carrier
Offline Mode - These achievements require play in game modes that do not necessitate a connection to any online services.Single Player - These achievements can be obtained by a single player.Shop - These achievements require the purchase of an item or a series of items from a shop.

Now just idle bit for the passengers to accumulate for:

Airlifter

Have 10 000 total passengers travel through an airport area.

Airlifter
Offline Mode - These achievements require play in game modes that do not necessitate a connection to any online services.Single Player - These achievements can be obtained by a single player.Cumulative + - These achievements are obtained by repeatedly performing the same action or set of actions over time.
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