Challenges for ground operations arising from aircraft concepts using alternative energy

Abstract

Current research in the field of future aircraft concepts aims at accommodating ambitious reduction goals set by national and international regulators. These concepts should be investigated not only with regard to aircraft efficiency, but also in terms of their compatibility with airline operations, existing ground handling procedures and airport infrastructure requirements, as these influence the overall performance of a future aircraft concept. This paper addresses this aspect, focusing on case studies concerning hybrid-electric and universally-electric aircraft concepts, analyzing implications for current ground handling operations at the airport. Current bottlenecks, such as capacity shortages, and potential areas of improvement are identified based on a state-of-the-art reference ground handling process. To this end, requirements of different stakeholders, including airports, airlines and ground handling providers, are outlined. In the next step, insights are contrasted with operational requirements of the future aircraft concepts under consideration. The paper stresses the anticipated challenges involved in aligning future aircraft requirements with current procedures, discusses the necessary adaptions to operational processes. The results highlight changes that need to be made to the current system before an aircraft can enter service, and provide an initial basis for the strategic planning of the stakeholders involved.