Page 23 - Planning and Design of Airports

4 Airp o r t Pl anning

The presence of civil aviation has affected our economic way of
life, it has made changes in our social and cultural viewpoints, and
has had a hand in shaping the course of political history.
The sociological changes brought about by air transportation are
perhaps as important as those it has brought about in the economy.
People have been brought closer together and so have reached a bet-
ter understanding of interregional problems. Industry has found new
ways to do business. The opportunity for more frequent exchanges of
information has been facilitated, and air transport is enabling more
people to enjoy the cultures and traditions of distant lands.
In recent years, profound changes in technology and policy have
had significant impacts on civil aviation and its supporting airport
infrastructure. The industry continues to grow in numbers of aircraft,
passengers and cargo carried, and markets served, from nonstop
service on superjumbo aircraft between cities half-way across the
planet, to privately operated “very light jets” between any of thou-
sands of small airports domestically. Growth encouraged from tech-
nological advancements countered with increased constraints on the
civil aviation system due to increased capacity limitations, security
regulations, and financial constraints have resulted in ever increasing
challenges to airport planning and design.
Civil aviation is typically considered in three sectors, commercial
service aviation (more commonly known as air carriers or airlines),
air cargo, and general aviation. Although the lines between these tra-
ditional sectors are becoming increasingly blurred, the regulations
and characteristics regarding their individual operations are often
mutually exclusive, and as such, those involved in airport planning
and design should have an understanding of each sector.

Commercial Service Aviation
Commercial service aviation, supported by the world’s airlines, is by
far the most well known, most utilized, and most highly regulated
segment of civil aviation. It is the segment of the industry responsible
for providing public air transportation between the world’s cities.
In the United States, domestic commercial air service accommo-
dated nearly 650 million enplaning passengers in 2008, flying
approximately 570 billion passenger-miles, reflecting a slight decline
following the most recent surge in the growth of air transportation
since the mid-twentieth century, and forecasted to carry more than
1 billion passengers by 2020, as illustrated in Fig. 1-1.
Intercity travel, of course, is not solely available through commer-
cial service aviation. Intercity travel may be accommodated using
either private modes of transportation, most commonly via private
automobile travel, or through other modes of public transportation,
such as bus, rail, or ship. Private automobile travel, accounts for