1. AIRPORT PLANNING
AND DESIGN
By Srinivas

2. Introduction
 Airport Engineering encompasses the
planning, design, and construction of
terminals, runways, and navigation aids to
provide for passenger and freight service.
 An airport is a facility where passengers
connect from ground transportation to air
transportation
 AIRFIELD is an area where an aircraft can
land and take off, which may or may not be
equipped with any navigational aids or
markings

3. Air transportation
 One system of transportation which tries to
improve the accessibility to inaccessible areas
 Provides continuous connectivity over water
and land
 Provide relief during emergencies and better
compared to others some times
 Saves productive time, spent in journey
 Increases the demand of specialized skill work
force

4. Air transportation
 Helps tourism, generates foreign reserves
 Requires heavy funds during provision and
maintenance
 Highly dependent on weather conditions
compared to other modes
 Requires highly sophisticated machinery
 Adds to outward flow of foreign exchange
 Purchase of equipment, airbuses etc.
 Safety provisions are not adequate.
 Providing a support system during the flight is
complicate
 Specific demarcation of flight paths and territories

5. Development of Air Transport
 1903 – first successful flight by Wilbur and
Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
 1909 – Louis Bleriot crossed English channel
to England
 1911 – Post was carried by air in India from
Allahabad to Naini (pilot: Henri Pequet)
crossing Ganga
 1912 – Flight between Delhi and Karachi
 1914 – Air passenger transport began in
Germany

6. Development of Air Transport
 1918 – first international service between
France and Spain
 1919 – London – Paris flight
 1919 – International Commission on Air
Navigation (ICAN) was established
 1919 – 6 European airlines formed in Hague
the International Air Traffic Association (IATA)
to control the movement of air traffic and have
a coordinated approach

7.  1928 – Havana Convention on civil aviation
 1929 – Warsaw convention on civil aviation
 1944 – international civil aviation convention
 1944 – Chicago convention, establishing
provisional ICAO (international civil aviation
organization)
 1945 – International Air Transport Association
(IATA) established in meeting at Havana, Cuba
 1947 – ICAO was established as a body of
United Nations

8.  27, July 1949 – worlds first jet airliner made its
journey from hatfield airport
 1954 – Boeing Dash 80 type prototype, B707
first flight
 1969 – concorde first flight
 2006 – Airbus A328 made first flight (one of the
biggest passenger air craft i.e., 800 persons)

9. Air Transport in India
 1911 – post was carried by air in India from
Allahabad to Naini
 1912 – flight between Delhi and Karachi
 1927 – Civil Aviation Department was
established
 1929 – Regular air service between Delhi and
Karachi
 1932 – Tata airways ltd was setup
 1933 – Indian trans-continental airways ltd
was formed

10.  1938 – 153 aircrafts were registered
 1946 – Air transport licensing board was
established
 1947 – Tata changed its name to Air India Ltd
 1948 – Air India International ltd was
established by government
 1953 – Air Transport Corporation bill was
made, provision for establishing two
corporations, one for the domestic services
and other for the international services.

11.  1972 - The International Airport Authority of
India (IAAI) was setup
 to coordinate the international aviation from
different locations of the country
 1981 -Vayudoot service was started. It merged
into Indian Airlines in 1993
 1985 - Air taxi policy
 1994 -Airport Authority of India (AAI) was
formed by merging International Airport
Authority of India (IAAI) and National Airports
Authority (NAA).

12. Airport Authority of India
 Controls overall air navigation in india
 Constituted by an act of parliament and it came
into being on 1st April, 1995
 Formed by merging NAA (National Airport
Authority) and IAAI (International Airport Authority
of India)
 Functions of AAI
 Control and management of the Indian airspace
extending beyond the territory limits
 Design, development and operation of domestic and
international airports
 Construction and management of facilities

13. Functions of AAI
 Development of cargo ports and facilities
 Provision of passenger facilities and information
systems
 Expansion and strengthening of operating area
 Provision of visual aids
 Provision of communication and navigational aids
(ex: Radar systems)

14. Aircraft components
Reference: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/airplane.html

15. Aircraft components

16. Aircraft components

17. Aircraft components

18. Aircraft characteristics
 Engine Type and Propulsion
 Atmospheric propulsion and trans-atmospheric
propulsion
 Propulsion may be through any type of engine
 Piston engine, jet engine (turbo jet, turbo propulsion or ram jet)
or rocket engine etc.
 Piston – most conventional form, fuel is converted to
mechanical or electrical energy
 Jet – these have a capacity to provide a jet with a height thrust,
which is used for movement.
 Different types of jet engines exist. In case of turbo, jet known
as turbo propulsion is used. Here not simple thrust is used,
instead huge amount of air is sucked, and is transformed into
jet.
 Rocket engines used in trans-atmospheric propulsion systems
 Speed, power increases from piston to rockets

19. Type of propulsion
Engine Speed limit kmph
Piston 250 to 750
Ram jet 1280 to 2400
Rocket 4600

20.  Operative altitude of aircraft depends up on
 Type of engine
 Propulsive power available to aircraft
 Piston engines – low altitudes
 Turbo jet or turbo propulsions – low to high
altitudes
 Ram jets – used in missiles at middle altitudes
 Where other type of movements are less
 Rocket jets – outside atmosphere

21.  Size of air craft:
 One of the important aspect
 Here not just the size of main body, but the size of
overall wing space is considered important
 By ICAO, FAA guidelines, air craft wing space is
considered but not main body for classifying the
airport.
 It is important to look at different aspects of size.

22. Size of Aircraft
 Size of Aircraft involves
 Fuselage length
 From nose of the aircraft to the tail of the aircraft
 Fuselage is the area which compasses the fuel which is to
be transported along the aircraft, which is used along the
path, at the same time it also encompasses the payload and
that is the passengers and the freight that will also be
placed within the fuselage length.
 Height and width (at tail)
 Since additional wings are provided at tail in lateral, vertical
directions
 Gear tread (distance between main gears)
 Wheel base
 Distance between nose gear (pilots location) and main
gear(at wings connection)

23.  Wing span
 Measured at the location of wings to the furthest ends
of wings
 Wing span decides
 Width of taxi way
 Clearance between two parallel traffic ways
 Size of apron and hanger
 Width of hanger gate

24. Aircraft characteristics
 Length of aircraft decides
 Widening of taxi way on curves
 Sizes of apron and hanger
 Height of aircraft or empennage height
 It decides the height of hanger gate
 The gear tread and wheel base
 Min turning radius of the aircraft.

25. Aircraft characteristics – weight
&wheel configuration
 Pavement thickness, design, materials etc.,
depend on the weight and wheel distribution of
aircraft.
 Different types of weights
 Maximum gross take-off weight
 Total amount of weight when it is taking off from
runway
 Maximum standard landing weight
 Fuel consumed during transport will be deducted from
take-off weight
 Operating empty weight
 Operating at zero pay load

26. Weight and wheel distribution
 Pay load
 Load for which revenues are generated (passengers +
freight)
 Zero-fuel weight
 Air craft reaching destination and fuel is getting empty
Note: (maximum is taken considering biggest aircraft allowed at
airport

27.  Wheel configuration defines how the weight
will be transferred to the bottom
 More the no of wheels, lesser the stress, hence
less thickness enough.
 Different wheel combinations available based on
size of aircraft.
 Single tandem, duel tandem and multi axle
tandems are used based on the size and weight
of air craft.
 Some wheel configurations are shown in the next
slide.

29. Minimum turning radius
 While making a turn, the nose gear is steered and
hence it makes an angle with the axis of main
gear called angle of rotation.
 The point of intersection of axis of main gear and
line through axis of steered nose gear is called
point of rotation.
 Max angle varies between 50 to 60 degrees
 The line joining the centre of rotation and the tip of
farthest wing of aircraft is known as minimum
turning radius.
 The amount depends on size of aircraft

31. Minimum circling radius
 Related to movement of aircraft with in the air
 Radius in space required for the aircraft to take
a smooth turn
 It depends on
 Type of aircraft (size, power propulsion system
etc.,)
 Air traffic volume
 Weather condition
 It is the total radius which is provided at the top
of the air port in which the aircraft will be
circling if it is not allowed to land.

32. Speed
 Air speed
 Speed of air craft in air relative to medium.
 Indicated speed
 Indicated by the instrument onboard
 2% lower than actual true speed
 The reason is it is relative speed what is true, to
get the correct value of speed 2% is reduced for
resistance in air.

33. Capacity of air craft
 No of passengers and amount of cargo it can
handle
 Dependant on
 Size
 Propulsive power of aircraft
 Speed of air craft

34. Noise
 Big problem if nearer to developed areas
 Major sources of noises are
 Engine
 Machinery (more during landing)
 Primary jet (more during take-off)
 Disturbances are more during take off
 Since the inception of jet engines the noise
has been reduced to a great extent

35. Vortices at tail end
 Vortices form at tail when moving at high
speed
 Have a tendency to break tail if they are heavy
and eddies are formed
 Vortices are made of 2 counter rotating
cylindrical masses of air extending along the
path
 These are formed near tail ends of wings or
tail end of aircraft
 The velocity of wind in these vortices will be
very high

36. Jet blast
 This aspect belongs to aircrafts having jet engines
 This is the blast that comes out of jet engine at the
rear of air craft to provide a force for movement
 If we consider the case where air craft is standing
and jet blast is coming from back side, it is so hot
and creates severe conditions
 The severity depends on
 Height of tail pipe
 Angle of tail pipe
 Hence, blast fences are needed to control the
damage to the pavements

37. Fuel spillage
 Spilling of fuel occurs when the engine is
shutdown or loosing speed
 It is spilled fuel from the engine or other
locations into the aircraft. This may cost the
speed when it is moving on runways or
taxiways or apron.

38. Influencing characteristics of
aircraft on design of airport
 Engine type and propulsion
 Size
 Aircraft weight and wheel configuration
 Minimum turning radius
 Minimum circling radius
 speed capacity
 Noise
 Vortices at tail ends
 Jet blast
 Fuel spillage

39. Engine type and propulsion
decides
 Size of the aircraft
 Speed
 length of the runway (more speed ->longer runway)
 Weight (more if bigger propulsion system)
 Carrying capacity (depends on size)
 Noise (depends on propulsion system)
 Circling radius (high power, and speed crafts have
high radius)
 Range (distance it can move without refueling)
 Maintenance facilities
 Ballast pads (required for jet propulsion)

40.  Size of aircraft influences
 Load carrying capacity
 Other facilities like apron, terminal area etc.
 Bigger the size larger are facilities to be provided at airport
terminal building
 Wing span will increase with size
 It has effect on taxiway width
 Separation between traffic lanes
 Size of gate, apron size, width of hanger etc.
 Length
 Widening of taxiway on curves, apron, hangers, width of exit
way
 Height : further influences height of hanger gate
 Wheel base, gear tread also changes

41.  Aircraft wheel configuration
 Thickness of runway, taxiway, apron
 Distribution of load to ground
 Turning (difficult for more weight in case of sharp
curves)
 Stability (depends on the support system
provided and also depends on wheel
configuration)

42.  Minimum turning radius
 Radius of taxiways
 Taxiway is the connecting pavement which is provided
between the runways and aprons
 Minimum circling radius:
 Defines the minimum distance between 2 near by
airports
 For larger aircrafts it will be in kms hence more
distance is required between 2 airports
 Adjustments of timings of landing and takeoff
 Airport capacity(decrease with increased air circle
time)
 Zoning laws related to height of obstruction

43.  Speed
 Reduces journey time
 Increase in frequency of operations
 Improving and broadening the air network system
 Capacity
 Processing terminals
 Passenger and baggage handling facilities
 Cargo processing
 Size of apron, special equipments etc.

44.  Vortices at tail ends
 Hazardous to aircraft
 Stresses at fuselage and other joints
 Pressure under wings producing lifts and drags
 Jet blast
 Inconvenience to passengers
 May do harm to airport runways and other
components of airport
 Fuel slippage
 Badly effects bitumen pavements
 Causes slip of wheels

45. Selection of site for airport
 Air traffic potential
 Magnitude of passenger and freight traffic expected
 Adequate access
 Sufficient airspace
 Circling radius should be taken care
 Sufficient land
 Various facilities, terminal buildings, security systems
 Atmospheric and meteorological conditions
 Availability of land for expansion
 Availability of utilities

46.  Development of surrounding area
 Ground accessibility
 Presence of other airports
 Regional plan
 Soil characteristics
 Surrounding obstructions
 Use of air port

47.  Atmospheric and meteorological conditions
 Visibility
 Fog, smoke, haze
 Affected by wind
 Development of area (industrial)
 Causes reduction in frequency and hence in capacity
handling
 Wind
 Direction and intensity
 Associated topographical features (hills, valley)
 Windward/leeward side
 Locating development w.r.t site of airport

48.  Availability of land for expansion
 Future prediction of air traffic
 Land for parking vehicles, providing facilities
 Land cost at later stage
 Availability of land at later stage
 Availability of utilities
 Water, power etc.,
 Sewerage, communication etc.

49.  Development of surrounding area
 Residential or sensitive area
 Industrial development
 Height of development
 Zoning laws
 Noise pollution
 Movement of air pollution
 Birds and hits at engines

50.  Economy of construction
 Alternate sites to be examined
 Availability of local construction material
 Terrain even or not
 Problematic areas
 Water logging areas
 Reclaimed areas

51.  Ground accessibility
 Travel time in air vs on ground
 Easily approachable using all modes
 Proximity to areas of trip generation
 Facilities for private vehicle users
 Efficient transport system

52.  Presence of other airport
 Traffic volume
 circling radius
 Types of air crafts in different airports
 Type of operating facility
 Instrumental flight rules, design flight rules
 Separation distance between radii
 May cause
 Accidents, reduction in capacity

53.  Characteristics of soil
 Strength of soil sub grade
 Drainage of soil
 Level of water table and its impact
 Sub-soil drainage effects
 Valley side may have flooding
 Soil with good amount of pervious material like
sand or gravel is considered good

54.  Use of airport
 Civil or for military
 Adaptability for other usage during emergencies
 Surrounding area obstructions
 Clear air space for take off and landing
 High rise buildings not allowed
 High trees are cleared off
 Zoning laws are made to take care

55. Factors affecting the size of
airport
 Size of airport
 Defined by the space for operators, controlling systems,
facilities, manpower etc.
 Controlled by peak aircraft traffic, aircraft characteristics
 Elevation of airport size above MSL
 density and air pressure reduces
 Effects runway requirements, lift, drag etc.
 Aircraft performance varies altitude, air density, pressure ,
temperature
 Meteorological conditions
 Wind, temperature
 Effects runway orientation, length and no of runways reqd.
 Performance characteristics of aircraft
 Volume of air traffic (peak hour volume, size of aircraft,
nature of air traffic, runways, taxiways etc.,)