The impact of newer larger aircraft on airport management

The Impact of New Larger Aircraft on Airport Management
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Abstract
The aviation industry is one of the industries that have experienced tremendous technological changes in the recent past. The changes have impacted the size of aircrafts manufactured and there is still room for an increase in the development of large aircrafts. Unfortunately, the growth in size of aircrafts manufactured is unparalleled to the available resources at the airport, especially considering the land resource allocated to the airports. The demand for new large aircrafts (NLAs) has resulted from the tremendous growth in the number of people that are using aviation industry for transport purposes. Since the early millennium, the number of people using air transport has been growing and is expected to keep growing as globalization takes shape. According to Kasthurirangan (2008), the airbus industry predicts that the average number of seats in the aircraft will increase by 4.6 percent between the years 2009 to 2019. This is statistical estimation has a tremendous impact on airport management. The increase in the size of the aircraft translates to significant changes in the management, especially considering that the management has to make enough early preparations to receive the NLAs. This paper explores the impact of NLAs on airport management. The key areas of focus for the paper is on the airport design and frequency of pavement replacement and repairs, effects on aprons and taxiway separations, effects on gate capacity, and the effects on aircraft servicing operations.
The Impact of New Larger Aircraft on Airport Management
Introduction
Over the last years, the airlines industry has experienced significant changes in the number of people using the industry for transport. Aircraft manufacturers have responded by increasing the size of the aircraft. The new large aircraft (NLA) first made its appearance in 2006 when the manufacturers released the a-380 aircraft with a seat capacity of 550 people (Mircovic & Tosic, 2014). The introduction of NLA is a direct interruption to the original airport design and operations. NLAs imply that the airport design will have to adjust and change the manner they operate and handle aircrafts at the airport. Among the notable changes that the management is to undergo is to change the gate capacity, taxiway and apron operations, servicing and repair of aircrafts and taxiway and aprons, in addition to the handling of services at the gates. The expected key impact of NLA is on the airport operations and infrastructure.
Impact of NLA on Airport Design and the Frequency of Airport Pavement Replacement and Repairs
According to Milner (1998), the three leading aircraft industries that have been interested in the NLA are Airbus, McDournel, and Boeing. NLAs possess unique characteristics that were unforeseen by the airport designers. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has defined NLA as any aircraft with the ability to carry weight of about 12,500 pounds. The traditional airport designers did not anticipate such changes in the air transport, implying that the introduction of these airlines is a direct pressure for changes in the airport design for servicing these aircrafts. ...