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Airfield Capacity and Delay

There are many factors that influence the capacity of an airfield, and some are more
significant than others. In general, capacity depends on the configuration of the airfield,
the environment in which aircrafts operate, and the availability of aids for navigation and
air traffic control.

The most important factors that influence the capacity and delay are as follows.

1. The configuration, number, spacing and orientation of the runway system.

2. The configuration, number and location of taxiways and runway exits

3. The arrangement, size, and number of gates in the apron area

4. The runway occupancy time for arriving and departing aircrafts

5. The size and mix of aircrafts using the facilities

6. Weather, particularly visibility since air traffic rules are different in good weather than
in bad weather

7. Wind conditions which may preclude the use of all available runways by all aircrafts

8. Noise abatement procedures which may limit the type and timing of operations on the
available runways.

9. The strategy which the controllers choose to operate the runway system, within the
constraints of wind and noise abatement.

10. The number of arrivals relative to the number of departures

11. The number and frequency of touch-and-go operations by general aviation aircrafts.

12. The existence and frequency of occurrence of wake vortices which require greater
separation when a light aircraft follows a heavy aircraft than when a heavy aircraft
follows a light one.

13. The existence and nature of navigational aids

14. The availability and structure of airspace for establishing arrival and departure routes.

15. The nature and extent of the air traffic control facilities.
Airfield Capacity and Delay- the Relevant Components

The airfield components for which capacity and delay need to be analyzed are:

(i) The Runways,

(ii) Taxiways

(iii) Apron areas.

Capacity and delay have been evaluated by the use of analytical and computer simulation

models. The focus here is on analytical, often referred to as mathematical models.The


delay to aircrafts at runways, used exclusively for arrival of aircrafts, can be calculated as
follows.

The mean service time may be the runway occupancy time or the time separation in the
air immediately adjacent to the runway, whichever value is the largest. The model for
departure delay is identical to that for arrival, except for a change in subscripts.

The following equation is therefore used for calculating the departure delay:

The delay to aircrafts at runways, used exclusively for departure of aircrafts, can be
calculated as follows.

For mixed operations, arriving aircrafts are given priority, and the delay to these aircraft
is calculated by the equation used to calculate the arrival delay.
However, the average delay to departure can be found from the following equation:

During busy periods, the second term in the equation (Eq.8-3) would be expected to be
zero, if it is assumed that aircrafts are in a queue at the end of the runway and are always
ready to go when permission is granted. It must be emphasized that the above equations
are only valid when the mean arrival or departure rate is less than mean service rate.

Apron-Gate Capacity
Gate capacity can be defined as the maximum number of aircrafts that a fixed number of
gates can accommodate during a specified period of time when there is a continuous
demand for service. The factors that affect Gate capacity are as follows.The number and
the type of gates available for use The mix of aircrafts demanding apron gates and the
gate-occupancy time for various aircrafts.The percentage of time gates may be used
Restrictions in the use of any or all gates.It has been observed that the gate-occupancy
time of aircrafts vary between 40 to 60 minutes.The basis for gate-capacity analysis is
that the gate time demanded by aircrafts should be less than or equal to the gate time
available for these aircrafts. Two analytical models have been developed for determining
the capacity of gates at an airport. One model assumes that all aircrafts can use all the
gates at an airport. This is termed as Unrestricted gate-use strategy. The other model
assumes that aircraft of a certain size or airline can only use gates that are specifically
designed for these aircrafts or airline. This is called a restricted gate-use strategy.
When there are no restrictions on the use of gates, the capacity of thegates can be
calculated as follows.

Taxiway Capacity
The model developed for determining the Taxiway capacity pertains to Taxiways crossing
an active runway. This capacity is a function of the mix of aircraft using the active
runway, the distance of the taxiway from the departure end of the runway, and the
nature of operations on the active runway – departures, arrivals or mixed operations.

The capacity of Taxiways crossing an active runway for a runway operation rate of 56 to
75 operations per hour is shown in the following figures.

Evaluation of throughput capacity of Taxiways is not dealt with here as this capacity is
always greater than that of the runway and the gate systems.

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