Page 212 - Planning and Design of Airports

Geometric Design of the Airfield 177

are called general utility stage II. Utility airports are further grouped
for either visual and nonprecision instrument operations or precision
instrument operations. The visual and nonprecision instrument oper-
ation utility airports are the basic utility stage I, basic utility stage II,
or general utility stage I airports. The precision instrument operation
utility airport is the general utility stage II airport.
A basic utility stage I airport has the capability of accommodating
about 75 percent of the single engine and small twin engine aircraft
used for personal and business purposes. This generally means aircraft
weighing on the order of 3000 lb or less is given the airport reference
code B-I, which indicates that it accommodates aircraft in aircraft
approach categories A and B and aircraft in airplane design group I.
A basic utility stage II airport has the capability of accommodating
all of the airplanes of a basic utility stage I airport plus some small
business and air taxi-type airplanes. This generally means aircraft
weighing on the order of 8000 lb or less is also given the airport refer-
ence code B-I. A general utility stage I airport accommodates all small
aircraft. It is assigned the airport reference code of B-II. A general util-
ity stage II airport serves large airplanes in aircraft approach categories
A and B and usually has the capability for precision instrument opera-
tions. It is assigned the airport reference code of B-III.

Transport Airports
A transport airport is defined as an airport which is designed, con-
structed, and maintained to accommodate aircraft in approach cate-
gories C, D, and E [6]. The design specifications of transport airports
are based upon the airplane design group.

Runways
A runway is a rectangular area on the airport surface prepared for the
takeoff and landing of aircraft. An airport may have one runway
or several runways which are sited, oriented, and configured in a
manner to provide for the safe and efficient use of the airport under a
variety of conditions. Several of the factors which affect the location,
orientation, and number of runways at an airport include local weather
conditions, particularly wind distribution and visibility, the topogra-
phy of the airport and surrounding area, the type and amount of air
traffic to be serviced at the airport, aircraft performance requirements,
and aircraft noise [2].

Runway Configurations
The term “runway configuration” refers to the number and relative
orientations of one or more runways on an airfield. Many runway
configurations exist. Most configurations are combinations of several