Airport Planning Research Articles

The health impacts of transformative infrastructure change: Process matters as much as outcomes

BackgroundMajor infrastructure development is often transformative for society, including its health. In this realm, there is a growing trend to view airports as drivers for health. By linking airport, urban and health planning, airports can become settings for health. Engaging stakeholders and those affected by such major change in health assessments is essential. This paper demonstrates that health and health equity impacts of major infrastructure developments such as airports extend to the planning processes for these developments; it argues that building a Healthy Airport requires greater consideration of how communities are engaged in these processes. MethodsWe carried out a Health Impact Assessment of community engagement practices for the planning processes of a new greenfield airport in Australia. The standard step-wise process for completing an HIA was followed. Results151 stakeholders participated in the study. Overall, participants were dissatisfied with community engagement for the proposed airport. While there were some unanticipated positive community level impacts resulting from the engagement process (community members becoming involved in community activism), by and large community members identified mostly negative impacts including anxiety, disempowerment, poor social connection, lack of trust and aggravation of health inequities. ConclusionPotentially affected individuals and communities may feel disenfranchised by transformative infrastructure change ‘over their heads’. Missed opportunities to achieve benefits of well-executed community engagement not only lead to feelings of disempowerment and frustration among stakeholders but can potentially negatively impact on individual and community health and well-being. Health impact assessments that effectively assess planning and engagement processes can play a role in mitigating these impacts.

Development and planning of sustainable airports

Air transport is considered an important part of the transportation infrastructure and it has a great impact on urbanisation as well as long‐term economic growth. Airports significantly add to local economy and facilitate a country's integration into the global economy and also provide social benefits to the society. However, together with the socioeconomic benefits, airports adversely affect to the surrounding environments, ecology and society. Some of the main concern, that is, emission from aircraft, noise while take‐off and landing of aircraft, land use, waste disposal and energy consumption, are raised with respect to airport's functioning which requires the attention of the regulatory authorities. The authorities to find the balance approach for the development of airports and to minimise the unfavourable consequences. Therefore, the efforts to be made to develop the “sustainable airports”. “Sustainable development” practises in the airports, improves the social, financial and operational benefits of the airport and also lessen the negative impacts on the environment. After understanding the concept of “Sustainability”, next challenge is to make airport sustainable. The main objective of the article is to find, how to make airport sustainable, when it is called that the airport is a “sustainable airport”. After reviewing the relevant literatures, it may be concluded that “sustainable airports” can be developed by incorporating the sustainability concept in to the airport planning and then taking care of the airport sustainability issues and barriers and airport sustainability components, that is, policy making, commerce, social responsibility, environmental and service quality.

Spatio-temporal mapping of ecotourism activities in Buleleng conservation zone: a methodological review

In Bali, economic benefits from tourism in 2017 is IDR 50,241.07 billion and unfortunately still dominated by districts in the south and the east of Bali, e.g., Badung, Denpasar, and Karangasem. Better coastal environment conditions in Buleleng District, environmental problems related to water quality and domestic waste management in the south and the east of Bali, as well as Buleleng new airport planning in 2025, will undoubtedly be a turning point to economic competitiveness in this area. This review represents brief information of the methodology that can be used to identify and to map ecotourism activities spatially and temporally. With this review, the purpose is to give information and solution related to several methodologies, which can be used to address constraints that can lead to inappropriate expectation concerning the outcomes of the study of spatio-temporal mapping of ecotourism activities.

Research on planning and design of airport airfield area

Airport status in city construction, regional layout, and transportation systems is analyzed. Influence of operation and management in military-civilian airports is pointed out from the perspective of airport planning and design and operation management. The airfield planning and design are analyzed from the capacity of runway, taxiway, and apron. The displaced threshold can meet the needs of the aviation business, while taking reconstruction and expansion of airport.

Using Airport Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) to develop a comprehensive digital library for Erbil International Airport

Based on the principle and general implementation process of GIS and the characteristics of airport pavement management, this paper describes the implementation process of GIS for Erbil Airport planning and design. To organize the spatial entities effectively, some layers are set according to the characteristics of spatial entities. The spatial database is established, and then the function design of GIS software is presented including map exploring, map locating, spatial query, rendering style of map and output of map. Airport mangers are finding that an integrated geographic information system (IGIS) can help them to better manage both air- and ground-side operations. In this paper the section on the ground was the case study, representng the AGIS in building infrastructure layers of Erbil international airport buildings and pavement. The results were a map includg multi layers; each layer has information that contains a comprehensive database. Even more the digital library for Erbil International Airport involves general information about aircraft noise pollution and studying its effect on the surrounding area of the flight track generating a noise pollution map. Digital library also helps in controlling pavement characteristics changes and determining airports’ future developments.

Spatial panel model for examining airport relationships within multi-airport regions

Abstract For better airport planning and air traffic management, local airport authority in a multi-airport region (MAR) often needs to consider the impacts of competition and collaboration with nearby airports on its own airport traffic. This paper proposed a dynamic spatial panel regression model to test the regional effects on airports in a MAR. The proposed model is applied to four closely situated airports in the Pearl River Delta region (PRD), China, to analyze their interactions, identify the determining factors, and evaluate the impact of these factors on airport capacity. PRD is one of the most prosperous areas in Asia, and competition among the four airports has intensified, due, in part, to the rapid growth of Guangzhou airport and Shenzhen airport. Together with the fact that Hong Kong airport reached 98% of its runway capacity in 2016, it is of great interest to understand the interactions among the airports in this region. The findings show that airport degree, flight frequency, airport capacity utilization, income, population, GDP, and fuel price are significant factors affecting airport’s capacity. Furthermore, there is a spatially lagged effect in income and population, and a time-lagged effect in airport capacity, GDP, and fuel price.

Urban Development and Airports in Northern and Central Italy: Main Trends and a Focus on Parma Giuseppe Verdi Case Study

The paper aims at highlighting some major trends in the air transport system in Northern Italy, and then at presenting examples of urban development and planning issues related to airports, focusing on the case study of “Giuseppe Verdi” airport in Parma. In the last years there has been a significant increase in air passengers in Northern Italy, with a sharp growth in International and European traffic. Parma airport, despite being built in late nineteenth century, has one of the lowest traffic in Italy and suffers an important financial crisis. The case study can therefore be useful to analyse the dynamics of many so-called “service” airports, questioning their possible development and necessary integration at the National and International level, justified by the presence of key managerial, commercial, industrial and also tourist centres. Furthermore, the case study of Parma is useful to single out conflicts and incoherencies between airport planning and urban planning, which are unlikely usual in current competitive and bottom-up planning system, and to draft possible improvements.

Peculiarities of airports development strategy in Ukraine in context of environmental friendly land management

The article deals with the features of airport forecasting, planning and design in the context of ecological and efficient land management. Methodical approaches to the assessment of the risks and consequences of the operation of the airport in the initial stages of the project are analysed. The problems of formation and management of the surrounding area of the airport are considered here by the examples of some international airports: Kai Da - Hong Kong, Kiev Zhuliany - Ukraine. The article offers a detailed zoning plan for the aerodrome neighbourhood of Kyiv International Airport (Ukraine). The principles of zoning of territory around the aerodrome in conjunction with the aerodrome (heliport, permanent runway) and land use are substantiated, the necessity of displaying the specified territory in the State Land Cadastre of Ukraine and in the databases of accounting of the quantity and quality of lands of other countries is proved.

Peculiarities of airports development strategy in Ukraine in context of environmental friendly land management

The article deals with the features of airport forecasting, planning and design in the context of ecological and efficient land management. Methodical approaches to the assessment of the risks and consequences of the operation of the airport in the initial stages of the project are analysed. The problems of formation and management of the surrounding area of the airport are considered here by the examples of some international airports: Kai Da - Hong Kong, Kiev Zhuliany - Ukraine. The article offers a detailed zoning plan for the aerodrome neighbourhood of Kyiv International Airport (Ukraine). The principles of zoning of territory around the aerodrome in conjunction with the aerodrome (heliport, permanent runway) and land use are substantiated, the necessity of displaying the specified territory in the State Land Cadastre of Ukraine and in the databases of accounting of the quantity and quality of lands of other countries is proved.

Performance Evaluation of Terminal Airspace System Safety, Delay and Predictability of Muritala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos, Nigeria

This paper outlines a multi-dimensional user-oriented performance metrics approach in evaluating the operation of the terminal airspace system to aid in the airport and airspace planning and decision making. Safety, delay and predictability metrics contribute to the analytical framework. From the findings, the occurrence of air incidence has a high severity level at departure, and arrival phases of flight, higher likelihood at the radar room and much of the incidences were as a result of faulty equipment and inherent absence of modern airspace infrastructure. Also, in Lagos terminal airspace, the number of incidences has no close correlation with the level of traffic complexity. Total schedule arrival delay ranges from 1 - 392 minutes representing an average of 7.8 - 17.9 minutes per aircraft that arrived Lagos airport at that period. Besides, the total approach contact time ranges from 1 - 57 minutes, translating to 4.6 - 7.1 minutes per aircraft. However, variability in arrival time of 1 - 5 minutes is common from published airline arrival scheduled time. In the same vein, the variability of 1 - 5 minutes is common from approach contact times of aircraft. These figures indicate sound arrival predictability signature for Lagos airport. Also, departure time variability above 30 minutes is familiar from the ATC clearance time for the various routes under study. However, there is about or more 25% variability of more than 15 minutes, and this indicates possible inconsistency of predicting departure times from the times Air Traffic Control (ATC) clearance was acquired. Above all, the predictability of departure times in Lagos airport is weak compared to those of the arrival. Taken by it, this may be a sign of airspace congestion or ATC deficiencies at the Lagos airport. This is an indication of the lack of users’ confidence in Nigeria’s air transport industry to deliver just-in-time service.

Preparing Singapore Changi Airport for the effects of climate change

Airports play an important role in economic growth and are essential hubs for connectivity and trade. With the growth of urban areas, air traffic is increasing consistently, marking the development of regions such as South-East Asia and others. Following cities, most of the major airports are situated in densely populated areas, next to rivers, in deltas and alongside coasts. Many of these urbanised areas are vulnerable to water extremes, which are increased by the effects of climate change, such as sea-level rise, higher temperatures and greater weather extremes. To protect vital infrastructure and ensure future service continuity for airport operations, it is necessary to develop resilience to such risks. Several airports have recognised the threat posed by floods and have started work on flood protection efforts. Some airports are seizing the opportunity to implement climate resilient airport planning. This paper presents one of these frontrunner airports: a whole-of-government adaptation pathway for Singapore Changi Airport.

Prediction of Domestic Passengers at Kualanamu International Airport Using Long Short Term Memory Network

Domestic passenger forecasting provides key input into decisions of daily operation management and infrastructure planning of airports and air navigation services and for aircraft ordering and design. Planning for the future is one of the most important keys to success, forecasting is the way. The goal of this study to predict the number of domestic passengers at Kualanamu International Airport. The time-series data were employed from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS). The result is then discussed in the context of the potential use of the proposed for a new perspective for the predicting of domestic passengers at Kualanamu International Airport, Indonesia. The machine learning approach using long short term memory (LSTM) presents a useful way of observing the domestic passenger predict the passenger time series.

Estimating the geographic distribution of originating air travel demand using a bi-level optimization model

The historical air travel demand plays an important role in the analysis of, for example, major changes in airport use, airport and airline marketing, and airport planning. We provide a bi-level optimization model as a relatively quick and less expensive alternative to survey method to estimate the originating air travel demand and its geographic distribution at an airport. The lower-level model estimates the geographic distribution of originating air travel demand and model coefficients. The upper-level model estimates the airport access distance threshold which is used to model traveler’s airport choice behaviors in the lower-level model. We adopt an Evolutionary Algorithm (EA) to solve the bi-level optimization model. A General Reduced Gradient solution algorithm is used within the EA to solve the lower-level model. We present a real-world case study in which we apply the model to estimate the originating air travel demand and its geographic distribution on the contiguous United States. The model estimates are generally close to the statistics from the American Travel Survey. The comparisons of the model estimates with the statistics from the Washington-Baltimore regional air passenger survey show mixed results. Possible reasons for the estimation errors are identified.

Acceptance of biometric technology in airport check-in

Airport operators have been constantly searching for different ways to improve operational indicators, as well as to increase the quality of services offered to airport passengers. Therefore, changes are required in airport planning, either in its master plan or operational improvement. In this context, we highlight airport technology, which increasingly contrbutes for changes in the airport system. Besides, airport technology is being introduced at airports to provide passengers with faster, safer and more efficient processing in order to contribute to a better airport performance. However, existing knowledge on innovation to enhance passengers experience is limited. This study contributes to fill this gap by analyzing the possibility of airport passengers to use biometric technology. Different types of airport technology, which are being developed to offer passengers a faster, smother, safer and more efficient process, are in the spotlight. This paper discusses the likelihood to use biometric technology in check-in procedures, technology non-existent in Brazilian airports, through discrete choice model, specifically the binomial logit. Using a database of 760 passengers interviewed at three different Brazilian airports, the results showed that 82.94% of passengers would use this new technology.

Research on the Construction of Humanistic Airport

Humanistic airport is an important part of the construction objectives of “four types of airports”, namely safe airport, green airport, intelligent airport and humanistic airport. The construction of humanistic airport puts forward higher requirements for airport planning, design and operation management, emphasizing people-oriented and paying attention to passenger travel experience. The connotation, characteristics and problems in current planning, design and management of humanistic airports were analyzed. Drawing lessons from successful cases at home and abroad, this paper put forward suggestions and measures for the construction of China’s humanities airport.

Forecast to grow: Aviation demand forecasting in an era of demand uncertainty and optimism bias

Errors in forecasting airport passenger demand arise from uncertain economic climates and planners’ optimism, leading airport planners to make misinformed infrastructure investments. We use publicly available data to develop and test methodologies that enable airport planners to (1) predict the probability of a severe contraction in passenger volumes and (2) improve forecast accuracy by systematically incorporating past forecast errors of airport peers thus “grounding” optimistic forecasts. By incorporating past forecast errors from like airports into airport forecasting models, we build a methodology that is grounded in established demand forecasting practices and is able to significantly improve the accuracy of aviation demand forecasting models.

Meteorological Impacts on Commercial Aviation Delays and Cancellations in the Continental United States

AbstractWeather creates numerous operational and safety hazards within the National Airspace System (NAS). In 2014, extreme weather events attributed 4.3% to the total number of delay minutes recorded by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. When factoring weather’s impact on the NAS delays and aircraft arriving late delays, weather was responsible for 32.6% of the total number of delay minutes recorded. Hourly surface meteorological aviation routine weather reports (METARs) at major airports can be used to provide valuable insight into the likely causes of weather delays at individual airports. When combined with the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) Operations Network (OPSNET) delay data, METARs can be used to identify the major causes of delays and to create delay climatologies for a specific airport. Also, patterns for delays and cancellations for the study period of 2003–15 can be identified for the individual airports included in this study. These patterns can be useful for operators and airport planners to optimize performance in the future.

Analyzing the Departure Runway Capacity Effects of Integrating Optimized Continuous Climb Operations

Performing Continuous Climb Operation (CCO) procedures enable the reduction of the environmental footprint and the improvement of the trajectory efficiency when individually operated. However, its operation may affect negatively the overall operational efficiency at Terminal Manoeuvring Areas (TMAs). The estimation of capacity is a matter of paramount importance to all airport planning and analyzing the capacity effects of this particular operational technique on a certain scenario will definitely help on evaluating its potential applicability. In this paper, departure runway capacity at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport was operationally evaluated when introducing CCOs. The considered trajectories consisted of multiobjective optimized CCOs based on the optimal control theory, using the pseudospectral direct numerical method. These scenarios allowed addressing of the incremental variations of CCOs versus conventional departures, through fast time simulation, with the objective to assess the effects on the operations.

MODELLING TRAVELLER’S GROUND ACCESS MODE CHOICE OF DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

With increased demand for air travel, airports have become economic engines of the regional development that connect aviation systems with other modes of transportation facilitating the movement of people and cargo. Originating air passengers account for the majority of passenger trips to and from an airport and have different ground access needs. Since the air transportation is interrelated to ground transportation, studying ground access mode choice of airport users is a crucial part of airport management and system planning. The purpose of this study is to identify Dubai International Airport (DXB) ground access mode characteristics and users located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has not been studied previously. Although there are many different modes of transportation serving the airport, yet personal vehicles are the main mode used to arrive to the airport. Binary logistic regression models are developed to evaluate access mode choice for originating air travelers focusing on the mix between private vehicle and public transportation system (taxi, limousine, bus network, and Dubai metro) using data collected specifically for this study. A total of 1012 air travelers were interviewed and completed the questionnaire in December 2014. Models result showed that access mode choice is significantly affected by different socio-economic characteristics of travelers including income, nationality, household size, vehicle ownership; and different trip characteristics that include number of travelers and how often air travelers use public ransportation in their community.

Application of surveying and mapping technology in airport construction

Due to the accelerating urbanization process, land resources are tight, the construction environment becomes more and more complex and severe. In particular, the future airport will be built on the mountain or be constructed reclamation airport, the terrain and geological conditions of the airport construction are complex and the climate is harsh. These all raise higher requirements for the accuracy and safety of airport planning, design and construction. This paper combines the mapping technology with the key links of airport construction, and elaborates on the key technologies, which provides a good reference for related projects and is of great significance for improving the efficiency and quality of airport construction.