UNIT 3

AIRPORT PLANNING AND

DESIGN

SIVAPRAKASH G. M.Tech(NITT)
Assistant Professor

SRM University
Chennai

Air Transportation

Advantages:
Rapidity Fastest mode among different modes of transport
Continuous journey travel over land and water
Accessibility origin and destination can be accessed easily

Limitations:

Operating costs
Capacity
Flexibility
Weather conditions
Flight rules

SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Characteristics of Air Travel

Type of Propulsion Piston engine, Turbo propeller, Turbo jet

Size of aircraft Wing span, Wheel tread, Wheel base, Length, Tail
width, maximum height

Minimum Turning Radius depends on the wheel base

Minimum Circling Radius
Speed of Aircrafts Crusing speed, Air speed
Capacity of Aircrafts Number of passengers, cargo, fuel
Weight and Wheel Configurations influences thickness of

runway, aprons and hangers

Jet blast ejects hot exhaust gases which affects the flexible
pavement

Fuel Spillage occurs at loading, apron and hangers

Noise- more noise incase of jet engines
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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Airport Planning:
In 1911, first air flight was operated between Allahabad to
Naini
In 1932, formation of Tata Airline
In 1947, First International Service from India
In 1960, Boeing 707 between India & London
Concerned with three aspects:
Adequate access to the metropolitan area
Securing sufficient airspace for access to the air
Sufficient land for carrying out ground operations

SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

General aspects - Improvement of existing airport

Capacity of existing airport
Adequacy of aprons and servicing facilities, terminal building
for handling passengers and cargo, capacity of runways and
taxiways to handle peak hour traffic

Improving the existing capacity

Construction of new runways, high speed exit taxiways, traffic
control devices, revising the plan of terminal building and
loading apron

Traffic forecast
Future volume of traffic (passengers and the aircrafts)

Planning a new airport

If not favourable for improvements, propose for a new airport
SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Airport Master Plan

Airport
Requirements

Accessing the existing facilities

New facilities required according to the existing
demand

Site
Selection

For new airport and expansion of existing airport

Analysis of available sites, airspace requirements, land
costs and political implications

Airport
Layout Plan

Land Use Plan pattern within and outside the

boundary
Terminal area plan size and locations of buildings
Airport access plan routing for various modes

Financial
Plan

For examining the revenue generation and analysis

anticipated costs and for generating funds from
anyother ways
SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Airport Site Selection:

Atmospheric and Meteorological conditions - Presence of fog, smoke

reduces visibility leads to reduced traffic capacity of aircraft

Availability of land for expansion

Availability of utilities water, electric power, telephone, sewer and
sewage disposal plant
Development of surrounding area commercial areas(industries)
Economy of construction
Ground accessibility
Presence of other airports
Regional Plan
Soil characteristics
Surrounding obstructions landing and takeoff operations in runways
Topography contours, trees, streams
Use of airport civil or military
SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Survey to be conducted for site selection

Traffic Survey
To determine present and future traffic volume

Meteorological Survey
Direction, duration and intensity of wind, rainfall, temperature, fog

Topographical Survey
To prepare contour map showing natural features such as hills, streams,
man made objects

Soil Survey
To understand the bearing stratum with soil type, ground water table for
the design of runway and taxiway and for drainage

Drainage Survey
To determine the quantity of storm water, surface and sub-surface runoff
and to locate the outlets for the water

Material Survey
To ascertain the availability of suitable construction material at reasonable
cost and mode for transporting these materials
SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

Layout of Airport and its components

Runway
Runway
Apron
Passengers
Rest Room

Baggage
Check in
Service
Counter

Shopping

Waiting
Lounge

Security
Check

Cafeteria

Office

Ticket Sales

Shopping

Road
Parking Lot SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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Components of AIRPORT

Terminal Buildings

Apron
Runway
Taxiway
Hanger
Terminal buildings
Roads
Parking Lot

Passengers & baggage

handling counters for booking
Baggage claim section
Enquiry counter
Space for handling &
processing mail, express and
light cargo
Public telephone booth
Waiting hall for passengers
and visitors
Toilet facilities
Restaurants
First aid room

Components and Facilities

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RUNWAY DESIGN

Runway Design deals with the number of runways and its

orientation and pavement design
Number of runways will depend on the volume of air traffic
Its orientation will depend on the direction of the wind

Arrangement of the runways with following condition:

To avoid delay in the landing, taxiway and take off operations
To grant the shortest taxi distance possible from the terminal area to
the ends of runways
To make provision for adequate taxiways
To provide adequate separation in the air traffic pattern

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Runway Orientation:

Preliminary Information required:

Map of the area in the vicinity of the airport showing contours at
suitable intervals
Records of direction, force and duration of the wind in the vicinity
and fog characteristics of the area for as long a period as possible

Head wind:

During landing, it provides a

breaking effect and the aircraft
comes to a stop in a short length of
the runway

During take off, it provides greater

lift on the wings of the aircraft
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Contd..,

Cross Wind components:

Centre-line of runway

Vsin
Cross wind
component

If cross wind component is in excess, it will

interrupt the safe landing and take off
operations

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Contd..,

Wind Coverage:
The percentage of time in a year during which the cross wind
component remains within the limit of 25kmph is called the wind
coverage of the runway.
The orientation of the runway should be such that the minimum
wind coverage of about 95% is obtained and for busy airports, it is
possible to obtain wind coverage upto 98% or even 100%

Wind Rose:
Average wind data for 5 to 10 years are collected and represented
graphically in the form of a chart known as Wind Rose.
The plotting of the wind rose diagrams can be done in 2 ways:
Type I : Showing direction and duration of wind
Type II : Showing direction, duration and intensity of wind

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Calm period i.e., less than 6.4 kmph = 100 86.5 = 13.5 %
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Type I Wind Rose

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Type II Wind Rose

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Type II Wind Rose

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Basic Runway Length

Basic Runway Length of the runway under the following

assumed condition:

Airport site at MSL

Temperature at airport site is standard (ie., 15C)
Runway is levelled in longitudinal direction
No wind is blowing
Aircraft is fully loaded to its capacity
There is no wind blowing enroute to destination
Enroute temperature is standard

For determination of runway length, following 3 conditions

are considered:
Normal landing case
Normal take off case
Engine failure case

1. For jet engine greater among all 3 cases

2. For piston engine greater among 2
except normal take off case
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Normal Landing:
Stop

60% of Landing
distance
Landing distance

Normal Take off:

10.5 m

Lift of distance
Distance to reach
height of 10.5 m

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Engine Failure Case:

1.

In case of an engine failure at lower speed, sufficient distance should

be available to stop the airplane rather than continue the take off.
2. If fails at high speed, pilot has to continue take off and later he can
take turn and come back to the runway

Decelerate stop distance

LOD

Stop
way

Accelerate stop
distance

Runway

Stop
way

Clear
way

150 m
(min.)

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Corrections to Basic Runway Length

To get actual length of the runway, 3 corrections are to be

applied to calculated basic runway length
Correction for elevation:
As per ICAO recommendation, BRL should be increased at the rate
of 7% per 300m rise in elevation of airport above the MSL
Correction for temperature:
After the BRL is corrected for the elevation of airport, it is further
increased at the rate of 1% for every 1C rise in airport reference
temperature above the standard atmospheric temperature at that
elevation
Airport reference temperature =
where T1 = monthly mean of the average daily temperature for the
hottest month of the year
T2 = monthly mean of the maximum daily temperature for
the same month
Standard temperature at MSL = 15C
Standard temperature at airport site = 15 (0.0065 * elevation of site)

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Contd..,
Check for correction in elevation and temperature

Correction for gradient:

The maximum difference in elevation between the highest and lowest points of
runway divided by total length of runway is known as effective gradient

According to FAA, after correcting for elevation and temperature, the length is
further increased at a rate of 20% for every 1% effective grade
Correction for gradient = 20% * Effective gradient * corrected BRL

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1.

Date

Data given below refers to daily temperature for hottest month of

year 1988 for a given airport site. Determine the airport reference
temperature
Temperature
Max

Average

Date

Temperature
Max

Average

42.5

25.5

16

43.8

26.2

42.5

25.5

17

43.8

25.2

42.9

25.7

18

44

26.3

43

25.9

19

44.8

26.3

43

25.9

20

44.1

26.3

43

25.9

21

44.3

26.9

42.8

25.8

22

44.5

26.3

43

25.9

23

44.3

26.5

43

25.9

24

44.6

26.5

10

43.1

25

25

44.6

26.9

11

43.3

26.3

26

44.7

27

12

43.5

26.4

27

44.7

27

13

43.3

26.3

28

44.7

27

14

43.5

26.3

29

44.8

26.2

15

43.6

26.3

30

44

SIVAPRAKASH,
27.2 AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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The length of runway under standard condition is 1620

m. The airport site has an elevation of 270m. Its
reference temperature is 32.94 C . If the runway is to be
constructed with effective gradient of 0.2%, determine
corrected runway length
Ans: (i)
Correction for elevation = 102 m
Corrected length = 1722m
(ii)
Correction for temperature = 340 m
Corrected length = 2062 m
(iii) Correction for gradient = 82.48 m
Corrected length = 2150 m
2.

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Airport Classification

Based on runway length:

Basic Runway
Length
Max

Min

Runway
Pavement
width (m)

2100

45

1.5

2099

1500

45

1.5

1490

900

30

2.5

899

750

22.5

2.5

749

600

18

2.0

Airport
Type

According to ICAO,
Max
Longitudinal
Grade (%)

Based on wheel load characteristics:

Airport Type

Single wheel load

(kg)

Tyre pressure(kg/cm2)

45000

8.5

34000

7.0

27000

7.0

20000

7.0

13000

6.0

7000

5.0

2000

2.5SRM, CHENNAI
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Geometric design of runways

Length

1.

2.

3.

Actual length of the runway is determined after applying the

corrections to Basic Runway Length

Longitudinal and effective gradient

Type of
airport

Maximum longitudinal
gradient (%)

Maximum effective
gradient (%)

A, B, C

1.50

1.00

D and E

2.00

2.00

Rate of change of longitudinal gradient

Description

Small
Airport

Large
Airport

Maximum grade change such as a or b

2%

1.5%

Length of vertical curve L1 or L2 for

each 1% grade change

90m

300m

Distance between two successive

points of grade intersections

75 (a+b)

300 (a+b)

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Contd..,
4. Safety area

The runway safety area is an area which is cleared, drained and

graded. It includes structural pavement, shoulders on either
side of runway and additional width
240m

Extended
150m Safety
area
60m

Structural Pavement

Extended
Safety
60m area

Transverse gradient

5.

According to ICAO, transverse gradient should not exceed

1.5% for A, B, C type and 2% for D, E type

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Contd..,
6. Width

7.

Runway width varies from 45m to 18m depending upon the type
of airport

Sight distance

At intersections of two runways or 1 runway and 1 taxiway,

sufficient sight distance must be available.
SD = Half the runway length for A, B, C type

It should be such that surface upto a distance of 300m is visible from

3m height.

Turning Radius:

Inorder to change the direction of taxiway, a curve is provided

R = v2 / 125F
where R radius of curve, v speed and F
friction

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Visual Flight Rules (VFR)

This is applicable, when weather condition is
clear and traffic is not heavy
Partially control is taken by pilot

Instrument Flight Rules (IFR)

Air traffic control is fully taken by control
room
During poor weather condition and heavy air
traffic

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Runway Pattern
Single runway

Parallel runway

Intersecting runways

Divergent or open-V runways

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Single Runway:
Both landing and takeoff take place in both direction
Four exit taxiways and one interconnecting taxiway is
provided
The hourly capacity of single runway can be of range
45 100 within VFR limits and only 45 50 in IFR
condition

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Parallel Runway:
It is assumed that landing and takeoff can take place in
either direction
When runways are closely spaced (less than 1067m)
operation of runway is dependent on the operation of
another runway in IFR condition overall hourly capacity
is 54 64 operations/hour
When the runway separation is 1064 to 1524m, the
arrival on one runway is independent of a departure on
the other in IFR condition (75 80 operations/hour)
For parallel runways separations more than 1524m, the
runways can have independent operations even in IFR
conditions and the capacity may range 84 104
operations/hour
The hourly capacity for VFR condition, the range of 90
200 operations irrespective of runway separations
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Staggered Parallel Runway

For very busy airport, four parallel runways are provided
Overall capacity is 180 400 operations in VFR
condition and 110 130 operations for IFR condition
This system does not permit the take off aircraft from
crossing those railways that may be active in landing

The crossing is given for landing preferably and done by

air traffic control

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Runway at inclinations:
Based on wind direction, this pattern is suitable.
If the wind is strong, only one runway can be used.
When the wind is light, both the runways can be used.

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APRON
It is the paved area for parking of aircraft, loading and
unloading of passengers and cargo
It is located at close to terminal building and hanger
The size of apron depends on

Size of loading area

Number of gate position
Aircraft parking system

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Nose-in

Nose-out

Advantage
No
effect

Rear door is
close to terminal
building

Disadvantages:

Rear doors are

away from the
terminal building

Less power is
required
for
aircraft to take
off

exhaust

Frontal doors are

close to terminal
building

Advantage

Parallel Nose

Disadvantage
Exhaust effect is
towards terminal
building

Advantages

Both front and

rear doors are
near to terminal
building

Disadvantages
More space is
required
Exhaust effect is
towards adjacent
gate position

Advantages and Disadvantages

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Aircraft Parking System

Frontal System
Simple and economical
Suitable for small airport

Open Apron System

Parked in rows
Passengers have to walk long distance to reach outermost row

Finger System or Pier System

T-shape, Y-shape
Processing of passengers and packaging done easily
Aircrafts remain close to terminal building

Satellite System
Connected to underground tunned
Less manuverabillity
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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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HANGERS

Servicing overhauling or repairing of aircraft

Constructed using steel frames and covered with galvinised

iron

Size of hanger depends on size of aircraft and turning radius

Number of hangers depends the peak hour aircraft volume

Proximity to loading area

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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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Airport Visual Aids

Marking
Identification during day time

Lighting
Identification during night time and poor weather
condition

Runway Marking
Taxiway Marking
Runway Taxiway shoulder marking
Apron Marking

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Runway Marking
Runway Threshold marking
Runway touchdown or landing zone
marking
Runway edge strip marking
Runway centre line marking

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Taxiway Marking

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SIVAPRAKASH, AP, SRM, CHENNAI

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Lighting

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