International Airports

INTRODUCTION

Airports today are facing increasing competition, security and safety concerns, government regulation, and passenger expectations. At the same, they are under pressure to keep prices low and quality high.

Efficient airport operations management is critical to staying ahead of the competition. That’s why all airports need a comprehensive technology and business platform for optimizing.

For most passengers, there’s a certain sensory rush at lift-off. At its core, the sensation is gravity-defying. Which is why it takes such specialized engineering skill to ensure each takeoff occurs without incident. At Stantec, we work hard to keep every leg of the passenger journey safe and efficient. We design runways, taxiways, and aprons; lighting and navigational aids; refueling systems; and perform safety area studies and upgrades; utility engineering, and pavement management studies with the passenger first and foremost in our minds.

Airport pavements have traditionally been designed and constructed to a higher standard and tolerance than other pavements. However, growth in aircraft traffic and the introduction of larger aircraft have impacted pavement performance and service life. We work closely with airports on all aspects of asphalt and concrete pavements for runways, taxiways, and aprons, providing design specifications, maintenance programs, and construction management and quality control along the way. Like every other piece of an airport, we’re always looking for better ways to do things. As part of our research and development initiative to explore the potential benefits of using Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA) on airport construction projects, we recently prepared a special study at Logan International Airport on the environmental benefits and construction efficiencies of using WMA pavements.

Keeping airports open and safe during these projects is essential. We create logical and realistic phasing plans that reduce impacts to airport operations, make safety a priority, and enable airports to go further with their services in the long run.

CAPTION 1 INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS

The Memory Trap," an espionage thriller written British author Anthony Price, contains this wry quote about airports: "The Devil himself had probably re-designed Hell in the light of the information he had gained from observing airport layouts." Whether you agree with Price or not, the observation captures the essence of the modern flying field: its complexity, its immensity and, of course, its density of people.

Any major airport has lots of customers, most of them passengers. For example, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Figure 1.1, handles nearly 100 million passengers a year. That's almost 20 times the number of people living in Atlanta itself and the same number of people living in a sizable country, like Ethiopia or Vietnam. Moving those people to their ultimate destinations requires 35 different airlines, which collectively make up the airport's 2,500 daily arrivals and departures. That implicates a lot of planes, a lot of passengers and a lot of airport personnel to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Figure 1.1 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

In many ways, modern airports operate like a cities. A governing body provides strategic direction and oversees day-to-day management. Police and fire support squads protect life and property. Waste removal crews collect garbage from airport facilities and airplanes. And various city-like departments handle administrative duties, ranging from human resources and public relations to legal and finance.

Additional to those activities, airports must also produce the resources necessary to care for a fleet of commercial aircraft. Airlines need space for airplanes, facilities for routine maintenance, jet fuel and places for passengers and flight crews while staying on ground. Air-freight companies need space for loading and unloading their cargo airplanes. And pilots and other crew members need runways, aircraft fuel, air traffic information, facilities for aircraft storage and maintenance, and places to eat and relax while on the ground.

Take into account the security concerns that arose after the Sept. 11 attacks, as well as changeable weather patterns, and you can see why job descriptions for airport managers often contain these kinds of definitions: "You must have strong leadership and organizational skills, as well as excellent communication and interpersonal skills."

Luckily, our journey over the next couple of pages will give us a glimpse into the hidden world of airports without all of the attendant stress and nail-biting.

1.1 Types of Airports: From Small to Ridiculously Big

Most of us think AIRPORT, not airport, when we hear the term. We imagine massive sites covering hundreds of acres and filled with hangars, terminals, more than one control tower and lots of parking garages. In reality, many airports don't fit this description. Some are nothing more than a strip of grass, dirt or pavement placed in the middle of a farm or field. These so-called rural airstrips often serve just one or two pilots and don't have any other structures beyond the crude runway itself. Small community airports, on the other hand, may supplement a single airstrip with a few hangars and facilities to train student pilots, although they usually don't have operating control towers.

A regional community airport offers more, including a control tower and an automated weather observation system in order to provide pilots with real-time weather data. Such a facility usually has multiple Tee hangars (Figure 1.2.) and tie-down spots for permanently based or visiting pilots to house or stow their aircraft. A terminal building, with a pilot's lounge, restrooms, vending area and conference rooms, is often available, as is a fuel farm to provide either kerosene-based jet fuel or aviation gasoline (avgas), which is similar to automobile gasoline (mogas) but with some additives to make it perform better in spark-ignited internal combustion engines common in light aircraft. Because of its larger size, a regional community airport can accommodate a wider range of aircraft, from small prop planes to regional jets that seat no more than 18 passengers to larger three-engine jets, such as the Boeing 727, capable of seating up to 189 passengers.

Figure 1.2 Tee hangar organization

In the U.S., most smaller airports fall into the category of general. They don't handle military flights or common commercial transport but instead provide facilities and resources for personal flying, business flying, instructional flying and certain commercial flying activities, such as aerial photography and skydiving. Airports that handle passenger planes operated by companies such as Southwest, Delta and United Airlines and cargo planes operated by FedEx, DHL and other similar entities belong to the commercial aviation category. These large facilities are almost always situated near major urban areas, and they can handle national and international flights and support jumbo jets, such as 747s.

The United States has one of the world's most extensive aviation systems, with almost 20,000 small, medium and large airports. Nearly 18 percent of these make up the national airport system, which means they are eligible for federal assistance to go toward improvements that increase safety and security or that mitigate environmental impact. The national system includes a network of just over 500 commercial airports, all of which receive public funding and handle at least 2,500 passenger boardings a year.

In the early days of aviation, airports were called "flying fields" because planes took off and landed in large fields. You might think long, narrow strips of land were desirable, but most pilots looked fore open areas that were equally long as wide. Such a configuration enabled them to orient their plane in either direction to take advantage of prevailing winds. Today, many modern airports, such as Love Field in Dallas, Texas, still have field in their name. Others have legacy names containing field. For example, some people still refer to San Diego International Airport as Lindbergh Field, after famed aviator Charles Lindbergh.

Commercial airports require huge amounts of land for runways and other facilities. As a result, few have been built in North America and Europe since the 1950s because metropolitan areas simply don't have any suitable sites. Even airports built on the outskirts of a city in the 1950s now find themselves hemmed in by urban and suburban development. This leaves planners with no choice but to renovate existing structures or expand within long-established property lines.

With that said, some cities have managed to add a commercial airport in the last couple of decades. Denver, for example, began construction of its international airport in 1989 and, after numerous construction delays, opened the facility in February 1995. Since then, it's grown to be the fifth-busiest airport in the United States, with more than 145,000 passengers passing through its gates each day.

Building a commercial airport on the scale of Denver's requires years of planning and a lot of complex decisions. Here are some of the things airport planners must take into consideration:

Air transportation forecast: Planners use computer simulations and predictive modeling to make forecasts about an airport's anticipated traffic. They need to take into account the number of arrivals and departures on a daily basis, but they also need to know the size of the aircraft that could potentially use the facilities because larger aircraft require longer runways. For example, large jets such as the Boeing 747 or Airbus A380 need at least 3,300 meters to take off. Based on this forecasted demand, planners make recommendations about the number and length of runways, as well as the size of airport terminals, all of which determines the amount of land required for the project.

Site location: Most commercial airports are located near major cities so workers and passengers can get to the facility easily. And yet most metropolitan areas have little or no land available for development on such a large scale. To find a site that can accommodate current needs and future growth, planners may seek property on the outskirts of a city, especially if rail and highway systems can provide adequate service between the airport and downtown areas.

Altitude: An airport's elevation can have an impact on its overall design. Air density is lower at high elevations, so longer runways are needed for an aircraft to achieve the necessary lift. For exemple Denver International Airport is situated at 1,655 meters above sea level, making it one of the highest airports in the U.S. Airfields in other countries must accommodate even higher elevations.

Topography: Runways require a smooth, level landscape with no obstructions. Planners must find naturally flat areas of land, or they must make them so by flattening hills or filling in swamps. These latter activities can increase construction costs considerably.

Meteorological conditions: Airports built near an ocean experience much different weather patterns than those located inland or in mountains. For example, pilots flying into San Francisco's airport must often deal with thick banks of fog. In Orlando, they may deal with towering thunderstorms and wind shear. Airport planners must account for prevailing weather conditions when laying out runways and other structures.

Environmental impact: Airports can have a big impact on the environment. They produce air and noise pollution and can impinge upon wetlands and rivers. The planning process often requires years of negotiation and stakeholder engagement to find and approve a site that satisfies the needs of community members.

Once a site is chosen, planners must then design and lay out the airport's major structures. Much of their efforts center on how to best configure runways and terminals for the most efficient flow of traffic on the ground and in the airspace during departures and landings.

1.2 Airport Runways

At its most basic level, an airport has just two parts, an airfield and a terminal. The airfield consists of runways and ramps, also known as taxiways, that connect to the terminal. When laying out runways, engineers borrow conventions used in navigation and surveying, fields that indicate direction with a compass reading. For example, the 0/360 position on a compass marks north; 90 degrees marks east; 180 degrees marks south; and 270 degrees marks west. Every runway has a different number, painted at each end to designate its orientation. A runway facing due west on one end and due east on the other would be marked 26 and 8 respectively. A runway with a northwest/southeast orientation might be marked 30 on one side (short for 300 degrees), 12 on the other (short for 120 degrees).

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which provides guidelines for airport layout, specifies more then 20 different ways to arrange runways, although many of these are variations on four basic configurations Figure 1.3.:

Single runway: When using this layout, airport engineers will orient the runway so aircraft can take advantage of prevailing winds.

Parallel runways: The distance between the two runways depends on the size and number of aircraft using the airfield. Close parallels have less than 760 meters between runways; intermediate parallels are between 760 and 1300 meters apart; and far parallels are greater than 1300 meters apart..

Open-V runways: Two runways that converge but don't intersect make an open-V layout. This arrangement gives air traffic controllers greater flexibility as they maneuver planes on the runways. For example, if no wind is blowing, they'll use both runways. But if the wind becomes strong in one direction, they'll shut down one runway and use the one that allows planes to take off into the wind.

Intersecting runways: Runways that cross each other are common at airports where the prevailing winds can change throughout the year. The intersection point can be in the middle of each runway, near the threshold (where aircraft touch down) or far from the threshold (where aircraft lift off).

Figure 1.3. Runway types

To determine the length of a runway, airport planners take into consideration a number of factors, including airport elevation, temperature, wind velocity, airplane operating weights, takeoff and landing flap settings and runway surface condition. A typical runway at a commercial airport, which must be able to accommodate jumbo jets, is between 3000 and 3700 meters long.

Length is not the only consideration. The runway surface itself must be much thicker than a normal highway to handle the extra weight of modern aircraft. Imagine a fully loaded Boeing 777 touching its wheels to the ground. That's 299,370 kilograms coming down hard on the runway surface! Runways have to be specially constructed to take that strain without cracking or, worse, buckling. When the Denver International Airport was built, it took 1.9 million cubic meters of concrete to create five 3,658-meter runways, plus taxiways and aprons. First, 1.8 meters of compacted soil is put down; then, a 30 centimeter deep layer of soil is spread, topped by a 20 centimeter thick cement-treated base; that was followed by 43 centimeters of concrete paving.

Runway Lighting

Airports use standardized lighting schemes to make sure all pilots can differentiate runways from highways when they are landing at night or in low visibility. Rotating beacon lights, which flash green and white, indicate a civilian airport. Green lights mark the threshold, or the beginning, of a runway, while red lights mark the end. Along the length, white or amber lights define the edges. And blue lights differentiate taxiways from runways.

1.3. Airport services

At a busy airport like Atlanta's Hartsfield International, 2,500 flights take off and land every day. That means that, each day, as many as 250,000 people move through the airport and need certain services. Airports provide those services in their concourses and terminals, the heart of any airport. There you will find the space for airlines to handle ticket sales, passenger check-in, baggage handling and claims.

Airport terminals come in many sizes and designs. At small airports, a single building holds a common ticketing and waiting area with several exits (gates) leading to aprons, where aircraft park and boarding takes place. At large airports, this simple design can be expanded, which results in a linear or curvilinear terminal, often a very long construction with plenty of room to accommodate ticketing and check-in and multiple gates for access to aircraft. In the 1950s, the linear concept evolved into the pier-finger terminal. In this configuration, passengers are processed in the main terminal and then directed down one of several piers, where aircraft await in gates known as finger slots. Concourses, the open areas formed where the main terminal building and the various piers meet, provide spaces for shops, restaurants and lounges.

The terminal complex at Atlanta's Hartsfield airport covers 529,547 square meters of space available to handle all of the necessary aviation activities. The complex includes the domestic and international terminals and seven concourses. Within these concourses, there are 114 food and beverage vendors (most of these are owned and staffed by private companies), 90 retail and convenience stores (also owned and staffed privately) and 56 staffed service outlets (places where you can get your shoes shined or connect to the Internet).

Hartsfield's concourses also lead to the gates. There are 207 gates in all (167 domestic and 40 international). The gates are where the airplanes park for passenger boarding and deplaning. Passengers wait in the immediate area of each gate to board the plane. Gates are rented by each airline from the airport authority, and some airlines may rent a whole terminal building in their "hub" airport, in which case the rental fee alone can run into the millions of dollars.

Routine airplane maintenance, such as washing, deicing and refueling, is done by airline personnel while the plane is parked at the gate. In some cases, other maintenance tasks might be performed at the gate, possibly with passengers onboard the plane – it's not uncommon to sit on a plane at the gate while maintenance personnel replace something like a hydraulic brake line on an aircraft.

Loading and Unloading Aircraft

Commercial airplanes are rarely flown empty, which means they must receive a few important items before they take to the skies. Cargo carriers load their planes with different types of freight (packages and mail, perishable items, even human remains). Passenger airlines load civilian passengers, their luggage (and sometimes their pets), snacks and drinks. And, of course, both types of aircraft require fuel.

When you think of the size of an airport and the enormous volume of people it serves, you can imagine that providing these diverse logistics services, as they are called in the industry, can be a daunting challenge. Consider baggage handling as an example The first step, which occurs as part of the check-in process, is generating a bar code that includes information about your flight, including layovers and final destination. An airline attendant attaches this code to your bag and then places it on a check-in conveyor, which carries it away. A machine on the other side of the desk, armed with an array of scanners capable of reading the bar code regardless of its angle, reads the encoded data and then routes the bag accordingly. Based on these instructions, your bag follows a continuous chain of conveyors, which both move it along rapidly and change its orientation as necessary. Additional scanners along the way check and double-check the bar code to make sure your bag continues to follow the right path. Eventually, your bag reaches human handlers, who load it onto a trolley and drive it to the plane, where it is loaded into the hold.

At the same time, an airline must keep track of all of the people flying on their planes. During the check-in process, an agent must scan an e-ticket or manually input passenger data, noting any upgrades (to first class, for example) or special needs (wheelchairs, infants). For international flights, agents must also enter a passenger's passport information. All of this data, plus a code for the final destination, appears on a boarding pass, which is printed out and given to the passenger.

At the gate, during boarding, the passenger hands the pass to another airline agent, who scans the barcode and confirms that person on the flight manifest. All passengers then pass through a door and onto a boarding bridge, or jet bridge, an enclosed, movable connector that links the gate area to the aircraft. When all passengers have boarded the aircraft, the agent prints a copy of the manifest so a member of the flight crew can check that all passengers successfully boarded. Once all passengers have been accounted for, the airline issues a final manifest, which can be used to notify relatives in the unlikely event of an air disaster.

After takeoff, the flight crew may offer food and beverage service. The food that passengers eat while onboard the airplane is usually provided by private companies contracted by one or more airlines at an airport. The food is prepared in a building that is off the airport grounds, shipped to the airport by truck and loaded onto the plane by the catering company's personnel. For example, LSG Sky Chefs is one of the catering contractors at Denver International Airport. They prepare and load thousands of meals per day for various airlines.

Aircraft Fueling

Airplanes almost always have to refuel between flights, and jumbo jets love fuel. A 747 can consume about 3800 liters of fuel on an international flight, say from Malaysia to the United Kingdom. "Filling up the tanks" takes tens of thousands of liters of fuel, which means that a busy airport can sell millions of gallons of gas every day. In some airports, fuel trucks carry all fuel from the storage depot to the airplane for refueling. In others, fuel is pumped through underground pipes directly to the terminals.

Jets do not use the same type of fuel you pump into your car. Their engines need something with a bit more kick, something with good combustion characteristics and a high freezing point. Today's aviation fuels are made from different grades of kerosene. Jet A-1 fuel has a flash point (the lowest temperature at which the liquid can evaporate enough to combust) of 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) and a freezing point of minus 53 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 40 degrees Celsius). Jet A fuel, available only in North America, has the same flash point but a higher freezing point, because of the low temperatures you can find there.

Airplane De-/Anti-icing procedure

Can be requested via the ramp agent. The aircraft is checked on the parking position prior to departure according to the “Clean Aircraft Concept” and the results are forwarded to the cockpit crew.

Fan blade de-icing

Fan blades will be de-iced (normally using Hot Air) on the parking position prior to departure under the supervision of authorized airline staff.

Running engines

Generally engines do not have to be shut down on remote de-icing positions.

De-Icing procedures

One step procedure

This procedure is mainly used or recommended for the de-icing of aircrafts i.e. to remove frozen contamination from aircraft surfaces and is usually recommended during weather condition “frost” and normally a type 1 fluid is used.

Two step procedure

During the first step frozen contamination is removed from aircraft surfaces using Type 1 de-icing fluid and during the second step the aircraft surfaces are being protected against re-freezing using Type 2 anti-icing fluid. The protection lasts for a certain period of time (holdover time).

This procedure is recommended during any freezing precipitation and is provided by the airport.

Airport Safety and Security

Airport security changed radically after Sept. 11, 2001. Before the terrorist attacks, private companies provided airport screening services. These companies worked under the guidance of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and although their representatives scanned passengers using metal detectives and X-rayed bags, limited federal security requirements existed for cargo and baggage screening. After 9/11, the U.S. government established the Transportation Security Administration to improve and strengthen aviation security. By November 2001, the TSA was rolling out a number of new security measures: armed air marshals, reinforced cockpit doors and no-fly lists identifying people who could pose a threat and designating them for enhanced screening or, as appropriate, prohibiting them from boarding an aircraft.

Today, the TSA screens 100 percent of checked baggage for explosive devices. Most airports integrate this screening process into their baggage claim solutions. Using combinations of software, conveyance systems and screening technologies, airports can now conduct full in-line screening without interrupting or delaying the movement of luggage from the ticket counter to the aircraft.

The TSA also subjects passengers to much more rigorous screening procedures that can involve pat-downs and whole-body scans. The latter involves so-called advanced imaging technology machines, which have been installed at more than 200 airports since 2008. The machines come in two types, based on the type of electromagnetic radiation they use to make a scan. Backscatter machines send low-energy X-rays to bounce off a passenger's body. Millimeter wave (mmv) scanners emit energy more akin to microwaves. Both see through clothing to produce a 3-D image of the person standing in the machine, revealing any threats he or she may be trying to conceal. In either machine, the scanning process is the same. Passengers must remove everything from their pockets, as well as belts, jewelry, lanyards and cell phones. Then they step up a small ramp and, stand in the center of the machine, raise their arms, bent at the elbows, and remain motionless as the device completes a scan. For backscatter machines, the process takes about 30 seconds. For mmv scanners, it takes about 10 seconds.

Airports have also increased their on-site police forces since 9/11. At Los Angeles International Airport, for example, the police crew has grown from 100 police officers before the terrorist attacks to 430 today. This makes the airport force almost as large as others performing their duties out on the city streets. Some airport police are members of the city or municipality assigned to the airport, while others are from private security companies. Either way, their highest priority is preventing a threat to a plane or to the airport itself. They question people who are photographing aircraft, conduct random searches of cars to turn up illegal guns and drugs, monitor traffic on the tarmac and around the terminals and investigate reports of theft at security inspection points. Many airports also use bomb-sniffing dogs to check out unattended bags, garbage cans and vehicles.

Airports complement their police forces with separate crews to handle fire and emergency medical services (EMS). An airport may have several fire/EMS stations on the ground because the FAA requires that emergency crews be able to reach the midpoint of a runway within 3 to 5 minutes. The crews are usually employees of the city or municipality and are stationed at the airport. At their disposal are specially designed and equipped fire and rescue vehicles capable of extinguishing jet-fuel fires with thousands of gallons of foam. These 44-ton, six-wheel vehicles can accelerate from 0 to 80 kilometers per hour in less than 35 seconds and come equipped with a variety of turrets, nozzles and booms to attack a fire efficiently and protect escaping passengers

Ground Transportation

An airport can not exist in isolation. It depends on a massive surface-transportation system so that people can get to and from the airport, park and get from place to place within the airport structure itself. While your first thought about an airport is air travel, ground transportation is pretty crucial, too.

The busiest airport in the world is Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport. You can take an extensive tour of Atlanta's ground transportation services on the airport's website, but here are you can find some highlights of how ground transportation is critical:

Roads allow access to and from the airport: In Atlanta, four interstate highways move traffic to and from Hartsfield. There's also a station for MARTA trains, which are part of the city's rapid transit system.

Parking allows short and long-term storage of automobiles. Parking can be on or off airport grounds, and some parking systems are run by private vendors under airport regulation. Hartsfield has more than 30,000 public parking spaces for its domestic terminal about 3,500 for its international terminal.

Passenger drop-off and pickup areas make it easier for passengers to get into the terminals, although they are often plagued by traffic congestion because so many people are trying to get in and out.

Rental car companies serve airports. Hartsfield has a dedicated rental-car facility with two four-story parking decks and 8,700 parking spaces. The center has a 200,000 square-meters service center where arriving passengers can rent vehicles from 15 rental-car companies.

Shuttle services provide passengers with transportation to local hotels and off-site parking facilities.

Private transportation is available in the form of limousines, vans and taxis.

Public transportation, such as municipal buses and subwaysmay, have stations at an airport. Besides the MARTA station at Hartsfield, 13 bus lines serve the airport.

Internal subway trains and trams may be available to help passengers get to the terminal gates from the concourse.

In many ways, airports act as transportation hubs for entire regions. A person flies, say, from Washington, D.C., to Atlanta. After he arrives, he takes the SkyTrain from the main terminal to the rental car center. He rents a car, then drives downtown for a business meeting. In a little more than two hours, he has completed a trip that would have taken him 9.5 hours in a car. But think of the people, processes and modes of transportation he has engaged to make his quick trip. It's a highly complex system with hundreds, if not thousands, of moving parts and interconnecting strands. Managing all of this,

Airports and Epidemics

Because of their roles in the global transportation network, airports can help spread diseases by making it easy for infected people to move from state to state or country to country. In a recent study, MIT researchers determined how influential the 40 largest U.S. airports would be in the transmission of contagious diseases originating in their home cities. Kennedy Airport topped the list in terms of contagion influence, followed by airports in Los Angeles, Honolulu, San Francisco, Newark, Chicago (O'Hare) and Washington (Dulles).

Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, although it serves more passengers with the greatest number of flights, ranked eighth. Why? Because an airport's contagion influence doesn't depend solely on number of passengers but on its strategic position within the global transportation network. For example, the Honolulu Airport, with its location in the Pacific Ocean and its connections to distant hubs, can contribute more significantly to the spread of viruses and bacteria than Atlanta's airport.

Travelers with disabilities

All International Airport strives to be accessible to all travelers. Detailed information about services and facilities to assist travelers with disabilities can be found in guides for Travelers with Disabilities.

Many services such as skycaps, sighted guides, and wheelchairs are provided by the airlines. Travelers with hearing or speech impairments can call the Airport’s for Voice Relay. Travelers with disabilities or medical needs who have questions about the policies or procedures at security checkpoints can call specified telephone numbers.

Lost and found

The Airport’s Lost and Found for items found in the terminals, restrooms and concessions is located in the Communication Center.

The Communications Center is open 24/7 and can be reached at a specified phone number or online.

Passengers also may contact several sources for assistance in recovering lost items:

For lost suitcases and items left on aircraft they can contact the airline’s baggage claim office;

If they left an item at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint, they can contact the TSA’s Lost and Found at the Airport;

They can also check with the transportation company for items left in taxis, buses, vans, rental cars, and other public vehicles.

Airport Management

Not surprisingly, airports are huge businesses. For example Denver's airport cost about $5,5 billion to build, and operating costs are $170 million per year. But its economic impact on the state is huge. According to the Colorado Department of Transportation, Denver International Airport generates $22.4 billion for the state every year.

Commercial airports are publicly owned and generally financed through municipal bonds. Airports typically own all of their facilities and make money by leasing them to airlines, air-freight companies, and retail shops and services, as well as by charging for services like fuel and parking and through fees and taxes on airline tickets. The revenues pay off the municipal debt and cover the operating costs. Airports often require other sources of funding as well, such as airport bonds and government grants. But most airports are self-sustaining businesses once they become operational.

About 80 percent of employees at airports work for private companies, such as airlines, contractors and concessions. Most of the remaining 20 percent work directly for the airport as administrators, terminal and grounds-maintenance personnel and safety crews. Air traffic controllers are employees of the federal government. Airports have their own departments of finance, personnel, administration and public relations, much like any city or municipality.

Whether or not you find heaven or hell in the complex world of a commercial airport largely depends on your personality and the circumstances of your travel. A business person trying to make an early-morning meeting tomorrow will likely curse the airport today if her flight is delayed or she has to make a mad dash across two miles of terminal to catch a connecting flight. Someone taking a month-long vacation to Hawaii may be much more forgiving about these realities of flying and may even see the airport as a great place to observe people and study human nature. Either way, airports will continue to be all-important nodes in the international transportation system, at least until someone perfects teleportation.

Flight Delays

One of the major reasons for delays is bad weather. Another major cause is less atmospheric: Many U.S. airports are operating above capacity, which causes air traffic delays. One good solution is to build more runways, except that it takes approximately 10 to 15 years to build new runways because of the laws and regulations that govern their construction. A big focus for reducing delays is on increasing the efficiency of our air traffic control system.

Caption 2 CRAIOVA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

2.1 Airport’s history

In 1938, on January 27th, Carol the second – King of Romania, enacted the foundation of "an airport in Craiova, to also serve as a military aerodrome, in case of war…". Intended for the transportation of both passengers and cargo by plane, the airport in Craiova begins its activity on a land strip, sized 1000 x 200 m. No comfort, no services. First facilities of the airport are to be seen in the early 50s: concrete strip and the means of approach and landing, the services being provided by four persons – the airport commander, a driver, a radio telegrapher and a Security employee.

On the 6th of May 1957 was opened the first airline, Craiova – Bucharest, using Russian planes type LI-2.The 1989 Revolution and the switch to the market economy in Romania lead to ceasing the regular internal courses in 1995, thus the Airport in Craiova serviced charter flights only.

In 1959 was made the building where today is the airport’s control tower and the dispatching, planes like the Antonov-2 and Ilyushin-14 started to be used until 1962, when they were replaced by newer modern planes. Those types of aircraft served the flight Craiova – Bucharest until 1972.

Also in the period 1959-1972, the runway was extended to the dimensions 2500 x 60 m and they have built a taxiway of 380 x 14 m and a boarding debarkation apron of 75 x 110 m, both being of concrete.

Between 1972 and 1989, the route Craiova-Bucharest was served by aircrafts type Antonov -24 and Ilyushin-18, was built the technical body, the passengers waiting room, the emission center and the protocol lounge of the airport.

The 1989 revolution and the transition to the market economy in Romania, led to the decrease of the number of flights for the TAROM company, that meant the ceasing of the number of domestic flights starting with 1994.

Since 1995, Craiova Airport was opened to the domestic and international traffic, serving only charter flights.

Starting with the 29th of March 2007, Carpatair company’s flights on Craiova Timișoara route were officially launched to the 15 destinations in Italy, Greece and Germany.

In March 2011, Craiova Airport has changed its status from internal to international, following the audit assessment of the Transport and Infrastructure Ministry.

Starting from 24 June 2012, they inaugurated the direct flight Craiova-Rome (Fiumicino) with the Carpatair airline.

Even during the economic crisis, R.A. Craiova Airport continued its upward trend with whom it started the year both as regards the number of passengers and aircrafts and especially as regards the turnover and the profit. The growths from the first half of this year were due to the implementation of a new and better management system at the level of a regional airport.
Since May 2013, Wiz air had performed regular flights on the route Craiova-Milan and starting with October, it had a new destination to London-Luton.

So, the entire developing region from the South-Est of Romania provides the fastest and most comfortable means of transport to other destinations from Europe, being able to host at the moment a flow of 350 passengers per hour and being also the only one that serves the 2,3 million inhabitants of Oltenia.

The airport is located at a 7 km distance from the center of Craiova, along the Craiova -Bucuresti route; the airport serves the whole region of Oltenia, being the closest airway for the five districts: Dolj, Gorj, Mehedinți, Olt and Vâlcea.

The Romanian Civil Aeronautical Body, as per the authorized certificate issued in 2006, annually certifies the Airport. The Airport can provide air operators with the aerodrome infrastructure for the taking off, landing, ticking over and standing place of the airships compatible with the physical features of the aerodrome, as well as the passenger and luggage emplanement / landing, within internal and international air transport.

The main goal of Craiova Airport is the constant increase in the quality of the services that are carried out at the airport, the conditions provided at departures, arrivals, and during the ground operation or the parking of the aircrafts that have domestic and international flights. At the same time, it offers airport services for the transit of persons, goods, postal services and those that target the public national interest, also aiming at the natural resources of the environment.

There is also a great focus on the assurance of the highest level of safety and security according to the international standards. The airport’s politics aims at a continuous improvement of the airport’s systems and equipment and based on the logistic complementarity, we are seeking the connection with other transport systems (road, rail) thus offering an interregional and traffic communication as fluent as possible. The increasing number of tourists that prefer the air travel to all the other means of transport represents a part of the potential clients for the fights from/to Craiova Airport. At this moment, the most important segment of clients is represented by the businesspersons, which the local authorities have in mind when talking about the future development of the airport. Here we can refer either to the persons in the national and multinational companies from the area, or to the ones that come from Ford company or the business tourism’s practitioners.

Up to the present, following a 8 million euro investment the airport was endowed with separate terminals for arrivals and departures, internationally standardized equipment, comfortable waiting rooms, green spaces and parking places as well as areas destined to the installation of the economic agents.

They also have built a PSI shed with water tank of 225 cubic meters and a fire ring for the boarding/disembarkation apron, an investment of approximately 900.000 euro.

2.2. Modernization and perspectives

At this moment, Craiova Airport has a contract with WizzAir Company, which operates with destinations as:

England: London;

Italy: Bologna, Milano, Roma;

Spain: Barcelona, Valencia.

After an investment of 5 million Euro, at present, the Airport has separate terminals for arrivals and departures, internationally standardized security equipment, comfortable waiting rooms, duty-free shops, parking spaces and developed green areas, but also areas meant for the economic agents. Most of the funds have been directed to the partial rehabilitation of the take off strip.

The managers of the International Airport Craiova started the discussions with several partners from Germany, Italy, Israel and Canada for the repairing of the airport’s movement infrastructure – especially the take-off/landing strip, the roll strip and the boarding/ landing platform, and also for the accomplishment and endowment of a cargo area. Regarding this matter, Craiova Airport has a big advantage, as it has absolutely no obstacle in the east side, which offers the possibility to extend the take off/land strip from 2.500 m to 3.500 m or even to 4.000 m.

The main concern of the Airport Management is the improvement of conditions during departures, arrivals, the transit of persons, goods, as well as the services regarding the national public interest. A special attention is given to the improvement of the protection and insurance of safety and security, in accordance with the international standards. The modernization process also takes into account the building of a new basis, which could be used for emergencies by means of the medical emergencies helicopters.

For the next development stage, the administration has envisaged an extension of the waiting rooms and luggage rooms also, estimated at 3 million euros. The modernization works implying five floors for the Airport Tower will also be completed.

The Airport policy aims at the insurance of a continuous improvement of the airport's systems and equipment. Based on the principle of a logistic complementarities, the management of the International Airport Craiova intends to connect to other transportation systems (auto, railway) providing this way a fluent interregional communication.

The maximum potential of the Airport is far from being reached! The increasing number of tourists who prefer the airline travelling to other means of transport, the big number of Oltenian people who work abroad are just a few examples of potential clients for the flights in Craiova International Airport.

In addition, the businesspersons are one of the most important segment of clients that the County Authorities intend to consider in the future development of the Airport. We can either talk about the people belonging to the national or multinational companies existing in the area, or the ones that are to come around Ford Company – to mention one single example, or the practitioners of the Business Tourism.

Moreover, this is a place where Romanian spirituality is gorgeously represented by Brancusi's sculptures, by the 14th century monasteries, by natural waters famous for their curative properties, archeological reservations, antique fortresses or spectacular landscapes down the Jiu or the Danube defile…

Perspectives

There were initiated several meetings with different partners from Germany, Italy, Spain, Israel, Canada, and Great Britain, in order to reach the objectives concerning the domestic and international flights of the civil aviation, a special attention being given to the improvement of the passengers comfort as well as to the security of the flights.

Here we would like to present you some of these objectives:

The building and endowment of a cargo space (in this regard, Craiova Airport has a big advantage because it doesn’t present any obstacles in the eastern part);

The building of a new base that could be used in emergency situations by means of the emergency medical helicopters;

At the same time, it was submitted the project „The rehabilitation of the movement infrastructure at RA Craiova Airport” that is about to be financed from irredeemable European funds by means of the Transport Sectorial Operational Programme 2007-2013 , Priority Axis II, Key Intervention Domain, 2.4 The modernization and Development of the Air Transport Infrastructure, a project that comprises:

the rehabilitation of the airport movement infrastructure, especially the take-off/landing runway and the boarding-disembarkation apron;

the building of a lighting system category II, with electric generators for the backup supply power, being in advanced stage the modernization project of the proximity means by installing a modern runway lighting system level II (with axis lights and the necessary facilities for the increase of the safety and the reduction of the airport operating minimums, with visual systems of high precision type PAPI, with director thread of acceptable lengths for operation at minimums of category II);

the extension of the stationary platform from 4 to 10 parking seats for aircrafts, reaching a surface of 15.000 square meters.

2.3 Facts and Figures

Craiova International Airport (IATA: CRA, ICAO: LRCV) is located in south-western part of Romania, 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Craiova municipality, one of Romania's largest cities. The airport area is the headquarters of Avioane Craiova (formerly known as IRA Craiova), the company which built the Romanian IAR-93 and IAR-99 aircraft.

Table 2.1 Airport’s general characteristics

Airport Security

At Craiova Airport, the security system is in accordance with the ICAO rules, six X-ray being available (RAPISCAN) with the possibility to process 300 passengers/h and having two separate passenger and luggage flows for departures and arrivals.

Luggage Handling Equipment

Craiova International Airport has the capacity to serve a handling assistance for 150 passengers in maximum 20 minutes, disposing of all necessary facilities.

Equipment for handling assistance:

3 electric trucks with 4 trailers for the luggage transportation;

1 GPU 115 V and 28,5V;

1 GPU 115V and 28,5V with air starter;

2 GPU 28,5V;

3 self propelled telescopic passengers stairs;

1 towed passengers steps;

2 airport passengers/crew minibuses;

1 truck with trailer;

2 ambulance cars;

1 luggage belts;

1 lavatory vehicle;

equipment and personnel for the ground, operations, which allow the execution of the operations for disembarking/embarking -150 passengers/luggage/20 minutes in accordance with ICAO rules, both day and night (the target of the airport aims at reaching a 20 minutes Processing of 150 passengers);

Craiova International Airport doesn't dispose of tow bars, for this operation being necessary tow bars certificated by the aircraft's owner;

For the cargo operations, Craiova International Airport is authorized with equipment only by the aircraft's owner,

All ground operations are specified in Craiova Airport's Handling Manual.

Aircraft De-Icing Capacity

Craiova International Airport is certificated for the de-icing operation, with a Ford car, with type I-II fluid. The deicing car can execute the de-icing and anti-icing operations for medium and big aircrafts with 3800l type I fluid (for de-icing) and 1000l type II fluid (for anti-icing), in accordance with Craiova Airport's De-Icing procedures and, at request, with the Company's De-icing Manual.

The Emergency Management

The airport has all the necessary equipment for the prevention, fire fighting and the rescue operations:

within AD-CAT 6 up to CAT 7 ( depending on the aircraft dimensions), with the help of 3 fire fighting vehicles, endowed with suitable equipment and 2 cars for medical assistance in case of emergency.

the provision of the prevention and firefighting services during the operational hours of the airport or outside the operational program hours, at the request of the air operators. The whole staff is trained for the prevention and firefighting, being authorized by AACR, at the ICAO standards.

Airport's Passengers Facilities

At Craiova International Airport, two separate terminals are available, disposing of all European facilities for passengers, and being in accordance with the internal and international requirements for the operation of the internal and direct international or transit flights. At the same time, the building of another terminal for the embarking/disembarking operations is in progress.

Aircraft Maintenance Capacity

Technical handling agents, who have the means of fulfilling all the air company’s requests, do maintenance at ramp.

Craiova International Airport offers the technical base for the operating of medium and long currier airplanes. (A318, A320, B737, F70, F100 and other aircrafts belonging to he same class) being also able to offer the turn around time of at most 25 minutes.

Air Traffic Control

Romatsa Craiova offers all operations for the flight’s planning and the weather information as concerns the domestic and international destinations, DSNA Craiova doesn't have the responsibility for the ground operations.

Ground transportation

The airport is connected to the city via bus route 9 (Metro-Central Market-Craiovița Nouă) of the public transport company RAT Craiova. There is a station in front of the airport with all-day service time. Tickets can be purchased from the bus drivers at a cost of 2.5 RON (€ 0.60). Taxis are also available at a cost of around 1.5 RON/km.

Airport traffic statistics

Graphic 2.1. Passenger Statistics/years

Table 2.2 Passenger statistics monthly comparison

Craiova international airport charging program

Landing Charge

UNIT RATE : 4.50 EURO/ton

Lighting Charge

UNIT RATE 1.50 EURO/ton

Parking Charge

UNIT RATE : 0.05 EURO/ton/hour

The parking charge is not applied within the first 2 (two) hours after landing.

Passengers Service

UNIT RATE: 5.33 EURO/passenger- international flights

3.33 EURO/passenger- domestic flights

SECURITY CHARGE: 5.15 EURO/passenger

CONCLUSIONS

Craiova International Airport serves both passenger traffic and the aircrafts’ movement in the south-western part of Romania. Craiova International Airport has a modern infrastructure, the main concerns being related to the continuous growth of the services’ quality, of the conditions for the arrival, departure and the ground handling of the aircrafts in national or /and international traffic, the provision of the airport services for the transit of persons, goods and postal services as well as national public interest services, also protecting the environment’s natural resources.

At the same time, we are giving a special attention to the highest level of safety and security according to the international standards. Our politics aims at the continuous improvement of the airport systems and equipments. Based on the principle of the logistic complementarity, we aim at connecting to other transport systems (road, rail) in order to assure a traffic and an interregional communication as fluent as possible.

Istanbul… In addition to its prime geopolitical location between the East

and West, it is Turkey’s most important city culturally and economically.

Selected as the European Capital of Culture in 2010, Istanbul is among

the largest cities of Europe, with a population of over 14 million residents

with more than 10 million visitors come to Istanbul every year. TAV

provides service at the most important point of passage of this metropolis,

Istanbul Atatürk Airport. Having grown to become one of the world’s

most important transfer hubs, Istanbul Atatürk Airport, because of its

geographic location and exceptional service quality, has now become

not only the largest airport in Turkey, but also one of the most popular

and admired airports in Europe. Today, flights are launched from Atatürk

Airport to 276 destinations in 110 countries with 128 airline companies

worldwide. Passenger satisfaction is our top priority at Atatürk Airport,

which now serves nearly 60,000,000 passengers per year. Experiencing

explosive growth within a short period of time, Istanbul Atatürk Airport

is now Europe’s 4th largest and the world’s 13th largest airport. Istanbul

Atatürk Airport is like a small city, serving more than 1,300 aircraft and

160,000 passengers daily.

TAV Airports continues to improve the variety and quality of the services

it provides and to offer passengers a reliable, fast and comfortable travel

experience at Atatürk Airport, which has secured a position for itself

amongst the leaders of the aviation industry as a result of continual

investment.

TAV Airports’ sustainable approach to all its operations minimizes the

environmental impact of the operational activities at Atatürk Airport whilst

enabling the regular improvement of services and introduction of new,

innovative services to meet the wide variety of passenger requirements.

As one of the most prominent airport operators in the world, TAV Airports

will continue to apply its innovative approach gained from an increasingly

globalized world to its operations in order to maintain the highest level of

passenger satisfaction.

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