Transportation Engineering

Unit 5: Airport Engineering

Reference Books
“Airport Planning and Design” by
Khanna, Arora, S.S.Jain

Planning and Design of Airports” by

Robert Horonjeff , Francis X.McKelvey, William J.Sproule, Seth B.Young
Airport Engineering

1. Introduction of Air transportation

2. History and international organizations role in
development of airports
3. Aircraft types and its characteristics
4. General layout of an airport and its component parts
functions
5. Site selection of an airport as per ICAO
6. Orientation of runway by wind rose diagrams
7. Basic runway length determination including corrections
8. Geometric design
9. Types of airports as per landing & take-off and its
dimensions
 Role of Air Transport

Advantages
1. Speed
2. Encourages tourism
3. Gives fillip to trade and business
4. Ability to serve remote and inaccessible areas
5. Military use
6. Relief and rescue operations
7. Aerial photography
8. Agricultural spraying
9. Safety

Disadvantages
1. High cost
2. Noise pollution
3. High energy consumption
 Introduction of Air transportation
• First power driven plane in 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in USA
flying record achieved by Wright brothers
• Since its beginning in the early 20th century, civil aviation has become
one of the most fascinating, important, and complex industries in the
world
• The civil aviation system, particularly its airports, has come to be the
backbone of world transport and a necessity to 21st century trade and
commerce
• International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) a UN specialized
agency
• ICAO brings together States and key industry organizations to
determine areas of strategic priority, develops policies and standards,
coordinates global monitoring, analysis and reporting initiatives, and
delivers targeted assistance and capacity building
• For statistical purposes ICAO has divided the world into six regions:
Asia and Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin American, Caribbean,
and the Middle East.
• Slightly more than 60 percent of all traffic is generated in North America
and Europe, the relative growth rates of traffic in the Asian and Pacific
region, as well as in the Middle East, is expected to dominate worldwide
air transportation growth, reflecting the growth of importance of this
area in the political, social, and economic sectors.
• The magnitude of the impact of the commercial air transportation
industry on the world economy is tremendous, contributing more than
$2.6 trillion in economic activity, equivalent to 8 percent of the world
gross domestic product, and supporting 29 million jobs
• Airports Authority of India (AAI) manages a total of 125 Airports, which
include 11 International Airports, 08 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic
Airports and 25 Civil Enclaves at Defence Airfields. AAI also provides Air
Traffic Management Services (ATMS) over entire Indian Air Space and
adjoining oceanic areas with ground installations at all Airports and 25
other locations to ensure safety of Aircraft operations
 Runway configurations
• Single runway

• Parallel runway

• Intersection runway

• Open V runway
 Orientation of runway by wind rose diagrams
• Wind velocity
• Wind direction
• Cross wind component
• Duration
 Types of Airports
• An Airport is a facility, consisting of civil works, building,
installations and equipment intended to be used for the arrival,
departure and movement of aircraft
• Airports are of two types
– Civil Airports
– Military Airports
• Classification Based on service,
– International Airports
– National/Domestic Airports
• Classification Based on landing and take off
– STOL: Short Take-off and Landing Airport, runway length less than 600m
– VTOL: Vertical Take-off and Landing Airport, (Heliport)
– CTOL: Conventional Take-off and Landing Airport
– RTOL: Reduced Take-off and Landing Airport, runway length 1000-1200m
 Major steps in site evaluation/selection
1. Broad determination of the land area required
– Runway length, orientation, no.of runways
2. Evaluation of factors affecting airport location
3. Site inspection
– Operational considerations
– Social considerations
4. Environmental study
– Air & Water quality, Noise levels, ecological process etc.
5. Review of potential sites
– Office study and field investigation results review and omission of unfit sites
6. Preparation of outline plans and estimate of costs and revenues
– Field surveys, airport layout, broad cost estimates of capital/operation expense,
7. Final evaluation and selection
– Based on Operational, social and cost efficiencies
8. Report and recommendation
 Evaluation of factors affecting airport location
• Aviation activity- consult aircraft operators, potential operators
and pilot organizations
• Development of surrounding area
• Atmospheric conditions
• Accessibility to ground transport
• Availability of land
• Topography (cut/fill quantities, construction cost)
• Environment
• Presence of other airports
• Availability of utilities (power, gas, fuel, telecom etc.)
 Site selection of an airport
• The emphasis in airport planning is normally on the expansion and
improvement of existing airports. However if an existing airport
cannot be expanded to meet the future demand or the need for a
new airport is identified in an airport system plan, a process to
select a new airport site may be required
• The scope of the site selection process will vary with size,
complexity, and role of the new airport, but there are basically
three steps
– Identification
– Screening and
– Selection
 Site selection of an airport
• Identification—criteria is developed that will be used to evaluate different
sites and determine if a site can function as an airport and meets the
needs of the community and users. One criterion will be to identify the
land area and basic facility requirements for the new airport. Part of this
analysis will be a definition of airport roles if more than two airports
serve the region. Other criteria might be that sites are within a certain
radius or distance from the existing airport or community, or that sites
should be relatively flat. Several potential sites that meet the criteria are
identified.
• Screening—once sites are identified, a screening process can be applied
to each site. An evaluation of all potential sites that meet the initial
criteria should be conducted, screening out those with the most obvious
shortcomings. Screening factors might include topography, natural and
man-made obstructions, airspace, access, environmental impacts, and
development costs. If any sites are eliminated from further
consideration, thorough documentation of the reasons for that decision
is recommended. The remaining potential sites should then undergo a
detailed comparison using comprehensive evaluation criteria. While the
criteria will vary, the following is typically considered:
– Operational capability—airspace considerations, obstructions, weather
– Capacity potential—available land, suitability for construction, weather
 – Ground access—distance from the demand for aviation services, regional
highway infrastructure, available public transportation modes
– Development costs—terrain, land costs, land values, soil conditions, availability
of utilities
– Environmental consequences—aircraft noise, air quality, groundwater runoff,
impact on flora and fauna, existence of endangered species or cultural artifacts,
historical features, changes in local land use, relocation of families and
businesses, changes in socioeconomic characteristics
– Compatibility with area-wide planning—impact on land use, effect on
comprehensive land-use plans and transportation plans at the local and regional
levels
• Selection—the final step is selecting and recommending a preferred site.
While a weighting of the evaluation criteria and weighted ratings or
ranking of the alternative sites is often used in selecting a site, caution
must be used in applying this technique since it introduces an element of
sensitivity into the analysis. The process should focus on providing
decision makers with information on the various sites in a manner that is
understandable and unbiased
• Short notes on width of runway
• Factors to be considered for the selection of an airport site
• Component weights of design takeoff weight and design landing
weight
• Factors affecting cruising speed of an aircraft
• ICAO classification of airports based on runway length and
pavement strength
• Imaginary surfaces considered during design and orientation of
various geometric elements of an airport
• What is meant by cross wind component
• ICAO-head quarters
• IAAI-
• ICAO, IAAI guidelines for Airport site selection