Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Airlines Manager vs Airport City Manager Simulator

Airlines Manager 4.6★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Airlines Manager
Airport City Manager Simulator 4.6★ · Free + IAP 60

Airlines Manager offers a more detailed and realistic airline simulation experience, while Airport City Manager Simulator focuses more on city building with aviation elements.

Airlines Manager provides a deeper, more realistic airline management simulation, despite issues with its interface and ads. Airport City Manager Simulator combines airport and city building, but users report slow progress and high costs.

Head to head

Features & Realism edge: Airlines ManagerR5R6R23R50
Airlines Manager Airlines Manager is praised for its detailed simulation, including emergencies and realistic supply/demand, and the ability to create custom liveries R5R50. Users also suggest adding more realistic flight paths, delays, and a wider variety of aircraft R23. However, some find the airport categories unrealistic and note missing airports R6.
Airport City Manager Simulator Airport City Manager Simulator is enjoyed by 'avgeeks' for its aviation theme, but some find the aircraft models unrealistic . Users desire more realistic updates and the ability to customize plane paint . The game also includes city-building elements, with players managing airport expansion alongside city development .
Ease of Use & Interface edge: Airport City Manager SimulatorR1R4R7R17
Airlines Manager Airlines Manager has a complex interface and poor tutorials, making it difficult for new players R1R17. Some users also report the game freezing frequently and login errors R4R7.
Airport City Manager Simulator Airport City Manager Simulator is generally considered easy to learn , but some users experience the game freezing or getting stuck on loading screens .
Monetization & Value edge: Airlines ManagerR9R16R18R21
Airlines Manager Airlines Manager is criticized for excessive ads, with some ads lacking an 'X' button, forcing users to restart the app R9R18R21R43. Many features are behind paywalls or subscriptions, such as livery slots and mass pricing R16R36. Users feel the game has become more 'pay to win' over time .
Airport City Manager Simulator Airport City Manager Simulator is heavily criticized for being 'pay to win' and having slow progress unless money is spent . Prices for planes, upgrades, and land are considered too high, and selling planes yields very little return . Ads are also a significant issue, with some being long or lacking a close button .
Reliability & Support tieR2R7R10R13
Airlines Manager Airlines Manager users report bugs like zero profit on routes or demand glitches R2, and issues with collecting event rewards R10. Some have lost progress or had accounts reset R7R13. Support is criticized for being unhelpful or non-existent R10.
Airport City Manager Simulator Airport City Manager Simulator has reports of lost game progress , issues with connecting accounts , and planes disappearing without customer support . Some users also note a lack of updates .
Engagement & Progression edge: Airlines ManagerR8R28R33R42
Airlines Manager Airlines Manager can be fun and addictive, but often involves a lot of waiting for progress R8R28R33. Some users find it too grindy and difficult to acquire aircraft, hubs, and routes without spending money R42.
Airport City Manager Simulator Airport City Manager Simulator is described as addicting and engaging , but progress is very slow and difficult without spending money . Recent updates have made progression even harder, such as increasing the stars needed for destinations .
Pick Airlines Manager if

you prefer a more in-depth and realistic airline management simulation, are willing to navigate a complex interface, and appreciate features like custom liveries R5R50.

Pick Airport City Manager Simulator if

you enjoy a game that combines airport management with city building elements, find the aviation theme relaxing, and are prepared for a slower progression without significant in-app purchases .

Evidence note: Both apps are free with in-app purchases. The negative reviews for both are heavily skewed towards monetization issues (ads, paywalls, slow progression without spending), which is common for free-to-play games. Airlines Manager's issues with ads and paywalls are present but less severe than Airport City Manager Simulator, which faces strong criticism for being 'pay to win' and having disproportionately high costs.

Frequently asked

Do these games have a free tier?
Yes, both Airlines Manager and Airport City Manager Simulator are free to download and play, but they both offer in-app purchases and rely heavily on ads for monetization R9R36R43R51.
Can you fly planes in these games?
No, neither Airlines Manager nor Airport City Manager Simulator allows you to fly planes; they are management and simulation games R12R80.
Do these games support Chinese language?
Airlines Manager has multiple requests from users for Chinese language support, indicating it is currently not available R20R37R39R44. Airport City Manager Simulator also has users asking for Chinese language .

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R5] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Fun game, some suggestions: I love this game, as it actually simulates the details like emergencies and realistic supply/demand. I have some suggestions though. -More Soviet/ Russian aircraft, like how if you are trying to make a Soviet state based airline like Bek air for example it’d be nice to have some more russian airplanes -Detailed emergencies, like showing if the gear or engines failed or
  2. [R6] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Not great, not terrible.: Missing some airports such as those in the US Virgin Islands. Some of the airport categories are completely unrealistic when compared to what actually flies to those airports.
  3. [R23] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Awesome Game but what I would like to see in the future: I would like to see a different flight path not just straight flight to and from make it a flight path. I would also like to see a satellite view so I can see where they are flying over exactly. and if you could add flight delays or cancellations due to a lack of maintenance. and if you could just add some more private jets and prop engines
  4. [R50] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Artists dream: I wasn’t going to make a review since I rarely do anyways but after finding out that you can make your own liveries and apply them to your aircraft changes my mind. Since I’m a simple minded person who likes to create this mechanic was perfect for me and allowed for me to create liveries for aircraft designated to Germany for free by the way!
  5. [R1] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US Absolutely terrible: I have played other manager games and this is by far the worst. Complex interface, poor tutorials.. pass it by
  6. [R4] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US Nope: Can’t log in securely and they want your email address. Not happening! Uninstalled!
  7. [R7] Airlines Manager 2/5 · US Keeps starting over: I have made a account 3 times and it just keeps starting me over not even letting me sigh in Over all good game
  8. [R17] Airlines Manager 4/5 · US Read this!: Ok overall, I quite like this game. It’s fun, pretty fast-paced, and not impossible to accomplish anything in like some other tycoon games. I also really appreciate that it’s not P2W (Pay to win). But, BUT, some of the menus are VERY confusing. You can figure them out by tapping around for a while, but it would be awesome if there was a tutorial or something for every menu, because tha
  9. [R9] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Needs no ads option: Fun game nut way too many ads to really do anything. You can buy an AM Gold membership, which is nice, but how about for a few dollars more per month tomhave no ads? Then you could really sit down and enjoy the game. Gets old really quick having to watch an ad every time you try to do something.
  10. [R16] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US Paywalls on features that shouldn’t have them, and removing features that shouldn’t be removed: So, as if removing airlines painter and all non cloud saved liveries wasn’t bad enough, you make the new built-in painter worse in every aspect. You have to pay for more slots, which you didn’t have to do before in the painter app, and plus the new painter is horrible to use and adapt to for users who w
  11. [R18] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Too many ads: It’s needs to have less ads but overall it’s a good management simulator
  12. [R21] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Fun but aggravating: The game has been fun but recently the ads have lacked an “X” button. So you’re just stuck on the ad in a doom loop and you have to close the game with no reward. It’s become so prevalent that I’m considering quitting the game.
  13. [R2] Airlines Manager 4/5 · US Bugs: Every once in a while I’ll check in and just have zero profit made on a route I’ve had since the start or my demand amount glitches and has it as if I have no planes on the route it’s prevents me from knowing if anything is being ran properly and really ruins the experience.
  14. [R10] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US Error with no help: In the middle of a limited time event there is an error preventing me from collecting rewards. On top of this there is no way to get help. This after paying lots of money on content.
  15. [R13] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US Scam: Game is a scam. You spend money and then are forced to start over and you lose the coins and the money you spent.
  16. [R8] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Very good: Aight first I’m not a bot. I just like this game. It’s very good, only thing is it takes a lot of waiting. Like type of game you log in half an hour in evening and half hour in morning and that’s it. But very fun
  17. [R28] Airlines Manager 2/5 · US Eh. Fun for a little bit then waiting a lot: Looked fun and I had fun for the first few days but you get to a point where you just sit and wait and you lose interest in the game over the period of a few days. Can’t do much except wait until I get more money or spend money in the game. No thanks.
  18. [R33] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US The game is ok I guess: Ok so for some reason my last airline was really good like 27.920 place in ranking but with my new airline it says 38.666 so I’m asking how and why am I stuck in those spots and also this game is slow but addictive but the thing that really ticks me off is route prices like really is impossible for me to get a new route when I was saving money that’s why I restarted once so
  19. [R42] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US My experience after 4 years: Welll…it’s been a long time since I’ve played,but it is very hard to just get a few aircraft,hubs,routes…yeah.
  20. [R36] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Not a terrible game: It’s not a terrible game. Seems like you can progress without having to pay but it looks like there is a subscription service that would make it easier. They used to have a free daily reward in the shop that you didn’t have to watch an ad for but with the recent update it seems to have gone away. Now everything is behind an ad or pay to play. Maybe I’m missing it but I haven’t
  21. [R43] Airlines Manager 2/5 · US Ad based game: Insane amount of ads
  22. [R51] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Good game: This is a good game, but not very fun. You will spend more time watching ads versus actual time playing the game! I’ve had it a couple weeks, but tired of having to watch ads instead of enjoying the game play. Uninstalling the game and in search of something more interesting to spend my free time doing.
  23. [R12] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Uhh🫥🫥😐🫤: Can you fly the airplanes?please answer me.
  24. [R80] Airport City Manager Simulator 5/5 · US One of the best games I’ve ever had but: One of the best games I’ve ever had but I thought you could fly planes and land
  25. [R20] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Waiting for 10 years still without Chinese: Chinese!please Chinese!thanks a lot! We need Chinese from China fans
  26. [R37] Airlines Manager 1/5 · US No Chinese: No Chinese language option. · translated
  27. [R39] Airlines Manager 3/5 · US Por favor: Es un buen juego y tiene muchos fans en China. ¿Se puede añadir el idioma chino? Estoy tan cansado de jugar esto en un idioma extranjero
  28. [R44] Airlines Manager 5/5 · US Please Add Chinese Language Support: I really enjoy playing Airlines Manager: Plane Tycoon, but I find it difficult to fully enjoy the game because there is no Chinese language support. Many players in China would love to play this game if a Simplified Chinese version were available. Please consider adding Chinese language support in future updates. It would make the game more accessible and enj

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store