It's not the size of the map or the number of airplanes that matters. You couldn't have enough airplanes in the air to build an effective shield around a country without some sort of guidance system. So why not do it like in real life?
Ground observers and/or radar stations provide intelligence on the location number (and possibly type) of airplanes approaching, fighter control then directs the appropriate number of fighters to intercept. '92 Sqdn, steer heading 140, climb angels 23', with new instructions being issued as needed.
Fighter control could be provided by the program where applicable, by computer voice output and/or text message. It would be available for example for the defenders launching from Britain, but not on attackers of the RAF on a deep raid into France (no radar coverage, no ground observers). In essence the defenders would have an advantage of intel.
To avoid empty maps large or small, some sort of guidance system is needed.
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