The impact of newer larger aircraft on airport management

The Impact of New Larger Aircraft on Airport Management
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Abstract
The aviation industry is one of the industries that have experienced tremendous technological changes in the recent past. The changes have impacted the size of aircrafts manufactured and there is still room for an increase in the development of large aircrafts. Unfortunately, the growth in size of aircrafts manufactured is unparalleled to the available resources at the airport, especially considering the land resource allocated to the airports. The demand for new large aircrafts (NLAs) has resulted from the tremendous growth in the number of people that are using aviation industry for transport purposes. Since the early millennium, the number of people using air transport has been growing and is expected to keep growing as globalization takes shape. According to Kasthurirangan (2008), the airbus industry predicts that the average number of seats in the aircraft will increase by 4.6 percent between the years 2009 to 2019. This is statistical estimation has a tremendous impact on airport management. The increase in the size of the aircraft translates to significant changes in the management, especially considering that the management has to make enough early preparations to receive the NLAs. This paper explores the impact of NLAs on airport management. The key areas of focus for the paper is on the airport design and frequency of pavement replacement and repairs, effects on aprons and taxiway separations, effects on gate capacity, and the effects on aircraft servicing operations.
The Impact of New Larger Aircraft on Airport Management
Introduction
Over the last years, the airlines industry has experienced significant changes in the number of people using the industry for transport. Aircraft manufacturers have responded by increasing the size of the aircraft. The new large aircraft (NLA) first made its appearance in 2006 when the manufacturers released the a-380 aircraft with a seat capacity of 550 people (Mircovic & Tosic, 2014). The introduction of NLA is a direct interruption to the original airport design and operations. NLAs imply that the airport design will have to adjust and change the manner they operate and handle aircrafts at the airport. Among the notable changes that the management is to undergo is to change the gate capacity, taxiway and apron operations, servicing and repair of aircrafts and taxiway and aprons, in addition to the handling of services at the gates. The expected key impact of NLA is on the airport operations and infrastructure.
Impact of NLA on Airport Design and the Frequency of Airport Pavement Replacement and Repairs
According to Milner (1998), the three leading aircraft industries that have been interested in the NLA are Airbus, McDournel, and Boeing. NLAs possess unique characteristics that were unforeseen by the airport designers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has defined NLA as any aircraft with the ability to carry weight of about 12,500 pounds. The traditional airport designers did not anticipate such changes in the air transport, implying that the introduction of these airlines is a direct pressure for changes in the airport design for servicing these aircrafts. Before delving into the impact of NLAs, it is advisable that one understands the characteristics of NLA and its potential in the coming years.
New Large Aircrafts have the capacity of carrying an increased number of passengers. Traditionally, aircraft designers had proposed the introduction of double decker aircrafts but these have been reduced to single-deck with an increase in wing and tail-size. An increase in the dimensions of the aircraft implies an impact on the airport designs that were traditionally meant to service specific dimensions of an aircraft. Airports that are expecting to serve NLAs will have to make a significant change in the size of the airport as well as the size of the available facilities. The servicing of NLAs requires a stretch in the available resources if indeed an airport is ready to receive NLA.
According to Bayoumi, Osman, and Gadallah (2016), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has developed standards of classifying airports depending on the size of aircrafts that they are to serve. NLA do not meet the original design criteria for aircrafts due to its size since it falls in the design group VII. This is due to its size, implying that it will require appropriate size and time of clearing from the pavement. Additionally, an increase in the size of the NLA implies that the airport design has to make significant changes in the frequency of airport pavement replacement and repairs. NLA also requires complete overhaul or adjustment of the original airport design to service NLA. Airports with design standards of servicing smaller aircrafts will need to make potential adjustments to accommodate NLA’s length and width.
Effect on Taxiway and Apron Separations
The larger aircrafts will require that the airports increase their taxiways. Taxiways will have to be widened to increase their handling capacity of the NLAs. Smaller taxiways will cause congestion at the airports. Additionally, this implies that the airport management will have to acquire more land if indeed they want to service NLA alongside other aircrafts. The larger aircrafts also need larger space for landing. Any airport that is preparing to receive these aircrafts has to make necccessary adjustments on the existing ...