AIRPORT PLANNING

PURPOSE
• Civil Aviation: air transportation provided by airlines or the carrying of cargo
by commercial aircraft

• Planning concept to develop the ultimate version of an airport

• Includes aviation and non-aviation related sectors

• Specific Goals

• Provides guidelines for future development of the airport

• To develop physical facilities of an airport

• To account for land use impacts and airport noise compatibility standards

• To establish access requirements

• Schedule priorities in the development process

 WHO PARTICIPATES?
Coordinated effort between groups of people
Groups involved in master planning
• Airlines
• Airport authorities
• Engineering team
• Environmental groups
• Financial groups
• City council (community)
 MASTER PLAN CHECK LIST
• Organization and study groups
• Inventory of existing facilities
• Forecasts of future aeronautical demand
• Capacity and delay analysis
• Facility requirements and concept development (phases and alternatives)
• Airport site selection (or infrastructure site selection if the airport is in place)
• Environmental procedures analysis (noise and water pollution)
• Operational simulations (capacity and delay analyses)
• Airport plans (ALP)
• Plan implementation
 FACTORS CONSIDERED IN AIRPORT SITE
SELECTION
• Operational capacity (airspace issues, obstructions)
• Capacity potential (land available, weather conditions)
• Ground access (distance from city centres, existing highways, etc.)
• Development costs (terrain, land acquisition, cost, soil conditions, utilities,
etc.)
• Environmental consequences (noise, impact on flora and fauna, air quality,
endangered species)
• Socioeconomic factors (relocation of people, changes in employment
patterns, impact on industry, taxes, etc.)
• Consistency in area wide planning (impact on land use, effort on
metro/regional plans, etc.)
 DATA REQUIREMENTS
• Demand and traffic data
• Passengers (historical annual, monthly and hourly passengers)
• Aircraft (annual, monthly and hourly movements)
• Cargo (annual, monthly and hourly tonnage of cargo)
• Environmental data
• Local regulations
• Local development plans
• Existing land uses
• Local transportation plans
 DATA REQUIREMENTS
• Local and national noise regulation
• Physical data
• Market an modal share of access modes
• Meteorological data (winds, rain, snow and low visibility phenomena
records)
• Topographical information (10 m. contours or better)
• Detailed information on existing facilities (check out the old master plans)
• Flora and fauna
 DATA REQUIREMENTS
• Aeronautical data
Holding stacks, approaches, and climb out procedures
Navaids
Airways
• Financial information
Revenue/expenses
Debt structure
Capital expenditures
Assets and liabilities
Legal limitations
 DATA REQUIREMENTS

Costs
• Construction
• Detail costs
• Finishing costs
• Equipment costs
 OUTPUTS OF THE MASTER PLANNING ACTIVITY

Document(s) that detail the development of the airport including future

expansion/ construction of the airport Possible complementary
documents:
• Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
• Regional air transportation needs
• Regional economic impact study
IMPROVEMENT OF EXISTING AIRPORT

The logical approach of the improvement of existing airport can be

carried on the following considerations:
1. Capacity of existing airport
2. Improving the existing capacity
3. Traffic forecast
4. Planning a new airport
 1. CAPACITY OF EXISTING AIRPORT:

It is to be ascertained whether the existing airport can handle the

anticipated air traffic with respect to:
• Adequacy of apron and servicing facilities
• Adequacy of terminal building for handling passengers and cargo
• Capacity of runways and taxiways to handle the peak hour traffic
• Suitable approaches
 2. IMPROVING THE EXISTING CAPACITY
The possible methods or measures to improve the present capacity of the
airport should be investigated and it may include various criteria such as:
• Construction of new runways
• High speed exit taxiways
• Improving traffic control devices
• Rearranging or revising the plan of terminal building and loading apron
 3. TRAFFIC FORECAST
• The further volume of traffic including the new types of aircraft likely to
visit the aircrafts likely to visit the airport should be studied and it should
be calculated whether such traffic can be accommodate by reasonable
improvements in the existing airport.

4. PLANNING A NEW AIRPORT

• If the above three considerations are not favourable for the
improvements of an existing airport, the proposal for a new airport
should be made.
 AVIATION SYSTEM PLANNING
The aviation system is composed of a number of components and
subsystems, including:
• Airways
• Operating system
• Airports
• Airlines
• Aircraft
• Air passengers
• Air cargo
 AIRPORT MASTER PLANNING
The master planning process itself is made up a number of defined steps:
1. Prepare a master work plan.
2. Inventory and document existing conditions.
3. Forecast future air traffic demand.
4. Determine scale and time phasing of facilities.
5. Evaluate existing and potential constraints.
6. Determine the relative importance of constraints and other considerations.
7. Develop a number of master plan options.
8. Evaluate and screen all plan options.
9. Select the most acceptable and appropriate option, refining and modifying it in
response to the evaluation process.
10. Prepare master plan documents in final form.
 AIRPORT LAYOUT DESIGN
The layout of an airport is dependent upon a number of factors, of which the most important are:
1. Number and orientation of runways
2. Number of taxiways
3. Size and shape of aprons
4. Area and shape of available land
5. Topography and site soil conditions
6. Obstacles to air navigation
7. Required proximity of land uses within the airport boundary
8. Surrounding land uses
9. Timing and scale of phased development of the airport
10. Meteorology
11. Size and scale of airport facilities being planned
 THE PRINCIPAL FACILITIES TO BE CONSIDERED IN AN AIRPORT
PLAN INCLUDE:
• Runways • Navaids
• Taxiways • Lighting
• Passenger terminals and aprons • Flight kitchens
• Cargo terminals and aprons • Fuel farm
• Rescue and firefighting services
• General aviation terminal and apron
• Air traffic control tower
• Sewage treatment and pumping
• Aircraft maintenance stations
• Long-term and short-term parking • Electrical substations
• Access roads
• Security fences and control gates
• Rail and public transport access
• Hotels
• Airport maintenance, snow clearance,
engineering base • Industrial uses
ICAO GUIDELINES FOR STRUCTURE OF MASTER PLAN

• Development of physical facilities of the airport

• Development of land uses for areas surrounding the airport
• Determination of environmental effects of aerodrome construction and operation
• Establishment of airport access requirements
 FAA RECOMMENDATION
• Phase I: Airport Requirement
• Phase II: Site Selection
• Phase III: Airport Plans
Airport Layout Plan
Land use plan
Terminal Area Plans
Airport Access Plans
• Phase IV: The Financial Plan
Schedule of Purposed Development
Estimates of Development costs
Economic Feasibility Analysis
Financial Feasibility Analysis
 CNS/ATM
COMMUNICATION, NAVIGATION, AND SURVEILLANCE
&AND
AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
 CNS/ATM

The expression CNS/ATM refers to the

communication, navigation, and surveillance and air
traffic management system that controls aircraft
approaching and departing the airport and those
moving on the airfield as well as manages all air traffic
in the airspace.
AIRPORT CAPACITY
 AIRPORT CAPACITY

As air traffic levels continue to grow over time, additional

demands placed upon the national airspace system will strain the
system’s airport capacity. The key to keeping pace with future
demand is by planning ahead, and to help with that planning that
looks over the horizon at the capacity challenges ahead.
Capacity refers to the ability of an airport to handle a given volume or magnitude of
traffic (demand) within a specified time period. Four distinct elements in a capacity
analysis:
Airspace
Airfield
Terminal
Ground access

Airport and Airway Safety and Capacity Enhancement Act of 1987 (ACEA) gave
highest priority for AIP funding to capacity-enhancing project.
FAA now stipulates that AIP grants can only be issued for capacity enhancement if the
airport certifies that all of its elements can handle the increased traffic.
 RUNWAY CAPACITY
Factors that influence runway capacity include:
• Meteorological conditions in terms of visibility, cloud ceiling, and wind
• Airfield layout, runway configuration, and operational strategy of using the runway at
different wind directions
• Aircraft arrival and departure ratios
• Aircraft fleet mix as related to approach and departure sequencing, and runway
occupancy time per aircraft type
• Runway occupancy times as related to aircraft performance characteristics and runway exit
location
• ATC-related matters in relation to runway arrival fix loading, sector loading,
ATM procedures during congestion times, and controllers’ work load
 AIRFIELD CAPACITY
Airfield capacity is the rate at which aircraft movements on the runway/taxiway
system result in a given level of delay defined by:
Throughput capacity
The rate at which aircraft can operate at the airfield without regard to any delay
Practical capacity
Subjective value judgment about how much delay is tolerable.
 ACCEPTABLE LEVEL OF DELAY
A judgment that recognizes that some delays are:
o Unavoidable
o Too expensive to eliminate
o Few aircraft will encounter a higher level than normal
o Number of operations that can be expressed in terms of the maximum acceptable rate incurring an
average delay.
o An airport is severely congested when average delay exceeds 9 minutes.
o Practical capacity is always less than throughput capacity.
• Practical hourly capacity (PHOCAP)
• Total combined capacity measure of runway, taxiway, and gate areas.
• Practical annual capacity (PANCAP)
• Level of operation that results in not more than four minutes average delay per aircraft in a normal
peak two-hour operating period.
 FAA MEASURES OF DELAY
Air Traffic Operations Management System (ATOMS)
Records aircraft delayed by more than 15 minutes.
Includes cause:
• Weather
• Terminal volume
• Center volume
• Closed runways or taxiways
• National Airspace System equipment interruptions
Airline Service Quality Performance (ASQP)
• Collected from airlines with 1% or more of total domestic scheduled passenger
revenue, includes all delays, by phase of flight.
 MANAGING CAPACITY
Factors for managing capacity:

Airfield characteristics:

• Most critical determinant is runway configuration

Airspace characteristics and air traffic control:

Mile-in trail or minute-in-trail restrictions

• Least disruptive traffic management initiatives, however, least accurate.

Traffic management systems

 Software that assists the management of a smooth flow of aircraft to and from airports with minimum delay
 Metering aims to match the arrival of aircraft to the ability of the airport to handle the volume
 Meteorological conditions
 Demand characteristics

Spacing standards between aircraft on take-off

• ATC required to double departure times from 60 s to 120 s after a heavy jet
 MANAGING DEMAND
Promote more effective or economically efficient use of existing facilities rather than adding true
capacity

Administrative management:

• Limiting or diverting traffic reduces the need for capital improvements at airports with capacity
problems

• Includes restricting access by setting quotas on enplanements or the number and type of operations
• Slots
• A block of time allocated to an airport user to perform an aircraft operation
• Term was originally used to identify the authority of an aircraft to conduct an IFR operation at a high
density airport

• Slots are controlled by FAA, but can be bought, sold, leased, or transferred within FAA limitations and
approval

• Purpose is to alleviate congestion at high demand or high density airports

 MANAGING DEMAND

Diversion of traffic
• Moves traffic (primarily general aviation) to reliever airports Reduces delay by
allowing for greater uniformity of aircraft mix at an airport.
• Balances the use of aircraft among several metropolitan air carrier airports.
• Rehubbing: Using transfer hubs to redistribute operations to less busy airports.
• Slot auctions allow peak-hour access only to those users willing to pay a market-
determined price.
• Slots represent one of the most significant barriers to entry in the airline business.
 MANAGING DEMAND

Economic management
• Aviation economists favor allocating airport access by demand management, which relies on a
pricing mechanism.
• Most commonly favored economic management methods of reducing delay:
• Differential pricing
• Three NYC metropolitan airports reduced congestion by applying a peak hour surcharge
• Slot management
• Slot
• Block of time allocated to an aircraft to perform an airport operation.
• One of the most significant barriers of entry in the airline business
• High density rule
 TECHNOLOGICAL AND WEATHER SOLUTIONS
Value of technology is measured by its ability to achieve:
• Increased capacity
• Higher efficiency or throughput
• Greater safety
• Improved reliability Greater accuracy
• Lower cost
• Greater convenience
• National Airspace Architecture
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
FACTORS AFFECTING AIRSIDE CAPACITY AND DELAY

Air Traffic Control Factors

• FAA specifies minimum vertical, horizontal, and lateral separations for aircraft in the
interests of air safety.
• The length of the common path from the ILS gate to the threshold, normally 4–8 mi
• The strategy employed by controllers in sequencing aircraft traveling at different
speeds (e.g., first come–first served, speed-class sequencing)
• The allowable probability of violation of the separation rule, recognizing that it is not
possible to maintain the allowable separation with perfect precision at all times
• The sophistication of the air traffic control system, which affects the precision with which
aircraft can be delivered to the ILS gate and the ability to monitor aircraft speeds and
detect aircraft positions and movements
FACTORS AFFECTING AIRSIDE CAPACITY AND DELAY
Characteristics of Demand
• The capacity of a runway depends on aircraft size, speed,
manoeuvrability, location of taxiway exits, and braking capability as well
as pilot technique.
• But the most important elements are the magnitude and peaking pattern
of demand itself.
• The effect of aircraft size is reflected both in the wing tip vortex
phenomenon and in differences in approach and touchdown speeds.
FACTORS AFFECTING AIRSIDE CAPACITY AND DELAY

Environmental Factors
• The most important environmental factors influencing runway capacity are
visibility, runway surface conditions, winds, and noise abatement requirements.
• Under conditions of poor visibility, pilots and air traffic controllers become more
cautious.
• Longer aircraft separations and greater runway occupancy times result,
andrunways with marginal crosswinds are less likely to be used.
FACTORS AFFECTING AIRSIDE CAPACITY AND DELAY

Design Factors
The principal factors in this class are as follows:
1. Number, spacing, length, and orientation of runways
2. Number, locations, and design of exit taxiways
3. Design of ramp entrances
DETERMINATION OF RUNWAY CAPACITY AND DELAY

A number of different approaches may be employed to estimate runway capacity

and delay, including:
1. Empirical approach
2. Queueing models
3. Analytical approach
4. Capacity handbook
 TAXIWAY CAPACITY
• A key component in the airport layout is the taxiway system, which connects the runways to
the terminal apron-gate area and aircraft service hangars.
• In taxiway layout and design, major emphasis is given to providing smooth and efficient
flow of aircraft along the taxiways.
• Whenever possible, taxiways should be designed with maximum capacity and safe and
uninterrupted aircraft flow in mind.
• Ideally, taxiways should not cross active runways, and at busy airports, a one-way taxiway
flow pattern should always be maintained for taxiways connecting the runway(s) and the
terminal apron-gate area.
• Taxiway capacity is the maximum number of aircraft operations accommodated on the
taxiway component of the airfield.
• It could be safely assumed that taxiway capacity is always available to move aircraft to
runways and gates, and therefore there is need to evaluate taxiway capacity separately to
determine total airside capacity.
 GATE CAPACITY
Gate capacity refers to the ability of a specified number of gates to accommodate
aircraft loading and unloading operations under conditions of continuous demand. It is
the inverse of the weighted average gate occupancy time for all the aircraft served.
The maximum number of aircraft operations accommodated by the gate-apron group
component (gate capacity) is dependent on:
• Gate-apron aircraft parking arrangement
• Aircraft ground service and passenger loading characteristics
• Number and mix of the gates and stands by category
• Gate occupancy time per flight
• Scheduling practices of the airlines
The gate occupancy time, which is a determinant of overall airport gate-apron
capacity, depends on the following variables:
• Type of aircraft
• Whether the flight is an originating, turnaround, or through flight
• Volume of deplaning and enplaning passengers per flight
• Amount of baggage and mail per flight
• Productivity of aircraft servicing operation and efficiency of apron personnel
• Exclusive use of one airline or class of aircraft and availability to all users