DEVELOPING AN AIRPORT MASTER PLAN When operators introduce an airplane model into their fleets, they need to work closely with airport authorities and airplane manufacturers to ensure airport configurations can accommodate the airplane. Airplane characteristics — such as increased wingspan, fuselage length, or weight — affect ground maneuverability, pavement loads, and terminal servicing. Any incompatibility between the configuration of the airport and the characteristics of the airplane must be resolved long before the airplane arrives at the airport to ensure successful operation and profitability for the airline. The case for advanced planning is strong because major airport changes, such as terminal redevelopment, require 10 to 20 years to complete. AERO EDWARD L. GERVAIS, P.E. AIRPORT TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES TECHNICAL FELLOW BOEING COMMERCIAL AIRPLANES GROUP 15 An airport master plan combines aviation growth projections with future airplane capabilities to create a detailed plan and schedule for a given airport. It defines both the immediate and long-term needs of an airport facility in logical growth increments that include airport configuration, uses, and costs. An effective plan maximizes the development potential of the facility and allows for the appropriate budgeting and timing for engineering, design, and construction. In developing an airport master plan, airports, airlines, and airplane manufacturers should consider the following factors to ensure safe and efficient airplane operations: 1. Aviation industry forecasts and growth projections. 2. General airport planning guidelines. 3. Specific airplane requirements. 4. Airport terminal requirements. AERO AERO 16 17 AVIATION INDUSTRY terminal servicing, jet-engine wake 1 FORECASTS AND 1 THE WORLD FLEET WILL MORE THAN DOUBLE BY THE YEAR 2019 and noise, and pavement requirements. GROWTH PROJECTIONS FIGURE In 1968, a standard format for Forecasts are available from a airplane-specific information was variety of sources, with multiple developed through the ICCAIA. Called sources being the preference of National Aerospace Standard (NAS) most major airports. (See table 1 3601, it includes sections on basic for information on how to obtain airplane field-length requirements, copies of the following documents.) performance, typical interiors, pave- ment requirements, and jet blast ■ The International Civil Aviation attributes. NAS 3601 documents, such Organization (ICAO) publishes as the Boeing Airplane Characteristics annual traffic summaries for the for Airport Planning manuals, now entire world. The data can be are a basic requirement for any sorted by state, region, or major transport-category airplane having markets such as trans-Pacific or maximum takeoff weights of 35,000 lb trans-Atlantic. (15,875 kg) or more. ■ The International Air Transport Airlines, airports, and airplane Association (IATA) produces manufacturers together walk a fine traffic summaries and provides line, balancing the desire for increased its own forecast specialists airplane capacity, range, and operating on a case-by-case or market- economy with the need for airport by-market basis. improvements and modifications. ■ The International Coordinating No matter where an airport is in the Council of the Aerospace Industries operations, the number of airplanes In the United States, the primary spectrum of traffic, larger commercial Association (ICCAIA) offers the based at an airport, the typical mix of source for these planning tasks is airplanes are on the horizon. The intro- Conventional Takeoff and Landing airplanes, gate usage, regional and local FAA Advisory Circular AC 150/5300-13, duction of the 717 and 737 at smaller (CTOL) Future Trends document. economic forecasts and demographic Airport Design. Outside the United airports served by regional transports It outlines commercial airplane studies, and unique phenomena States, most airports rely on ICAO such as F-100s and Avions de Transport attributes that have had an impact (e.g., hosting the Olympic Games when Annex 14 International Standards and Regional could create the need for on airport planning from the millions of passengers are expected Recommended Practices for Aerodromes longer runways and stronger pave- 1950s to the present. during a relatively short period of time). and ICAO Airport Design Manuals (ADM) ments. At the top end, airports served by twin-aisle airplanes such as the ■ The Boeing Company annual Current for Runways (ADM Part 1), Taxiways Market Outlook forecasts worldwide 2 GENERAL AIRPORT PLANNING and Parking Aprons (ADM Part 2), and 767 and MD-11 may need upgrading air travel growth and new-airplane GUIDELINES Pavements (ADM Part 3). (See table 1.) to adequately deal with the 747-400 and the 777. demand (fig. 1). It can be used for In addition to forecast data, airport almost all forecast functions, including planning requires general information 3 SPECIFIC AIRPLANE those of minor-market, single-runway on the commercial airplane fleet that REQUIREMENTS airports, for which forecasts of the is expected to serve a given locale Space for parking, gate usage, ground single-aisle airplane fleet are critical. during a reasonable period of time, operations, and runways is best mea- These documents are used primarily say the next 10 to 20 years. sured against the needs of the specific for passenger, cargo, and movement Both ICAO and the U.S. Federal airplanes being accommodated rather forecasts. Passenger forecasting Aviation Administration (FAA) have than the general FAA or ICAO guidelines mentioned above. It is at this point involves the number of passengers developed guidelines on the physical in the planning process that airplane who will use a given airport. It is space required to accommodate all sizes manufacturers work most closely with measured in the thousands or millions of airplanes, based on wingspan, wheel airport planners and the airlines. of people who will go through an base, and gear track (the distance airport monthly or annually. between the outer edges of the right For example, Boeing produces airport- and left extremities of the landing planning manuals, titled Airplane Cargo forecasting predicts freighter gear). These documents give the planner Characteristics for Airport Planning, traffic for a given airport or region. It is basic guidance on runway and taxiway for all Boeing- and Douglas-designed measured by the tons of cargo annually widths and shoulder requirements, commercial airplanes (table 1). These transported through an airport. minimum runway-to-taxiway and manuals describe specific airplane Movement forecasts involve one or taxiway-to-taxiway separation distances, characteristics, such as dimensions, more of the following items: peak-hour and taxiway-to-taxilane separations. performance, ground maneuvering, AERO AERO 18 19 For example, the introduction of the locations and shuttled passengers to and not the 777, as the critical airplane To deal with this situation, an airport 777-200 in 1995 presented airports from check-in areas or departure lounges. to govern pavement design. master plan must effectively combine fore- 1 AIRPORT PLANNING RESOURCES with several issues in terms of airplane Pavement loading was another issue One explanation for this is that the cast data with future airplane capabilities TABLE size and pavement load. facing airports served by the 777. development and implementation of to create a detailed plan and timeline that Boeing Airplane Characteristics for Airport Planning www.boeing.com/assocproducts/aircompat/ With a wingspan of 200 ft (61 m) and Before the inception of the 777 in 1989, a typical airport master plan can take indicate how existing facilities should be changed, renovated, or completely rebuilt an overall length of 210 ft (64 m), the there was no universally accepted 20 years to accomplish if the required Boeing Current Market Outlook www.boeing.com/commercial/cmo/index.html 777 needed to occupy 747 gates at most pavement design for a six-wheeled changes are major, and 10 to 14 years to accommodate the predicted growth. airports. In many cases, these gates were (triple-tandem) main landing gear if the changes are minor. In either case, AIRPORT TERMINAL FAA Advisory Circular AC 150/5300-13, Airport www.faa.gov/arp/150acs.htm available because the 777 flew routes configuration (see “Pavement Loading,” the lead time required at the airport 4 REQUIREMENTS Design, and Advisory Circular AC 150/5360-13, served by the 747. Airports without 747 April–June 1997 Airliner, p. 25). In level far exceeded the time needed Planning and Design Guidelines for Airport services made gate adjustments to accom- fact, most airports that were in the to introduce the 777 (fig. 2). It took An airport master plan also must address Terminal Facilities modate the 777 or reconfigured terminals. initial design stages in the early 1990s eight years to design, produce, and the airport structure itself. This includes A few airports used remote parking identified the 747 or the 767, but deliver the 777. terminal layouts, passenger and baggage hold areas, baggage handling, and IATA Airport Development Reference Manual www.iata.org/index.asp baggage claim. The primary industry source for these requirements is the IATA ICAO traffic summaries; Annex 14 International www.icao.int/cgi/goto.pl?icao/en/sales.htm Airport Development Reference Manual Standards and Recommended Practices for or (table 1). It details airline needs not Aerodromes; and Airport Design Manuals (ADM) ICAO Document Sales