In Connecting Flights, players take a role of airline managers who compete for passengers and resources required to fly them to their desired destinations. Players make money for each transported passenger, with the player making the most money in the last round being the winner.

The airport, plane and passenger cards, which can be purchased in auctions, have been designed to join up together (when laid inline) in a way that visually validates all flights. Longer flights require larger fuel trucks so management of the order of flights to different geographical destinations becomes a mini-puzzle of increasing complexity as players acquire more passengers, planes and airports.

Throughout the game, players must face aviation-related events, some of which force rearrangement of their flights. The key to victory is creating a flight network resilient to events and sabotages while effectively using your unique player ability and trading skills.

Connecting Flights can also be played in a cooperative mode (1-2 players), in which players work together to fly passengers to their desired destinations. With new passengers appearing as the game goes on, players must continually adapt their flights to ensure everyone gets home before the end of the game.