Start with an inspection routine you can repeat

Your first shift is easier when every passenger follows a clear routine. This Airport Contraband beginner guide starts with the belongings tray, body search, and luggage check, then adds the systems your chosen paths introduce. The goal is to make the right decision about each person and item without losing track of the rest of the airport.

Player experience in the collected prerelease playthrough shows the early tutorial teaching those three stations in order. Open the queue, inspect what passengers place in the tray, search their clothed areas from the front and back, and examine their luggage before completing control. Station signs provide reminders when you lose your place.

As new mechanics become available, use their instructions rather than assuming every inspection is still the basic first-shift routine. The official Airport Contraband Steam description confirms that document checks, cargo, additional tools, and riskier choices broaden the job.

Let the item index determine your decision

An object that looks suspicious is not automatically contraband. Check its classification in the item index before acting.

  • Legal items: Return them to the passenger's tray instead of keeping them.
  • Restricted items: Confiscate the item; the early tutorial distinguishes this from an arrestable offense.
  • Contraband: Once that inspection system is introduced, confiscate the goods and arrest the smuggler.

Player experience shows that accidentally confiscated items can be returned from your bag while the passenger is still available. Make the correction before sending them past control.

Documents introduce another distinction. The developer's ID Scanner explanation separates valid documents, expired documents, and forged IDs. An expired document means refusing entry; a forged ID calls for arrest. Do not treat every document problem as the same outcome.

Check the whole shift before sending the plane

Passenger work is only part of a later shift. Check arrivals and departures, and read the cargo brief whenever hangar work is active.

In the recorded cargo tutorial, arriving crates move from the aircraft's loading area to the truck. Departing crates move the other way; after placing them in the loading area, you exit the crane and pull the loading lever. Cargo can also need special intervention, including freeing a smuggled capybara and disposing of its empty cage.

Use the intercom after the required controls are complete. Player experience shows that an incomplete terminal or hangar can prevent clearance. Once the shift is finished, return to your quarters and rest to advance to the next day.

Read cartel requirements before taking anything

Cartel tasks can deliberately conflict with a clean inspection score. Read the requested action, item or passenger category, quantity, and deadline before choosing how to fulfill one.

A delivery task is not complete merely because you confiscated the requested items. The early playthrough hands them to a courier at the bus stop. A let-through task instead requires the relevant person or item to pass inspection; those are different actions.

Keep the airport's performance and the cartel's demands in view. Correct controls earn reputation, while mistakes and deliberate violations can reduce it. A task reward is not proof that the airport will approve of how you earned it.

Build advantages between officers

A failed employee is part of the progression loop. The developer describes Dream Perks as permanent improvements funded by Dream Points earned according to the length of a run.

Separate those from temporary perks bought during a run. Player experience in the prerelease tutorial explains that Handyman purchases reset when the employee dies or is fired. Permanent progression can improve future employees, but it does not mean every upgrade or possession carries over.

Use your next attempt to address the difficulty you actually encountered, whether that was limited room for mistakes, movement between stations, or the time needed to finish controls.

FAQ

Should I arrest everyone carrying a restricted item?

No. The early tutorial distinguishes confiscating a restricted item from arresting someone with contraband. Use the item index and current inspection instructions.

Why will the plane not depart?

Check that the required terminal and hangar work is complete. The recorded tutorial uses the intercom to grant departure clearance after those controls.

Are Handyman perks permanent?

The collected prerelease tutorial says they reset when an employee dies or is fired. Dream Perks are the separate permanent progression system.