Page 30 - Planning and Design of Airports

The Natur e of Civil Aviation and Airports 11

45,000
40,000 Total Hours (thousands)
Total Hours (thousands) 30,000
35,000

25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
Year
FIGURE 1-4 Total fl ight hours in general aviation aircraft in the United States.

“ultralight” aircraft, to helicopters. General aviation aircraft are
served by nearly 20,000 landing facilities in the United States alone.
General aviation activity has experienced a decline in activity
between 1980 and 2008, as illustrated in Fig. 1-4. Despite this recent
historical decline, general aviation activity is forecast to increase with
the proliferation of new aircraft technology which is expected to
reduce the cost of general aviation operations. This forecast growth in
general aviation, combined with new technologies, will pose interest-
ing challenges for airport planning and design.

Civil Aviation Airports
Airports serving civil aviation range from private nonpaved strips
that serve less than one privately operated aircraft per day to major
international airports covering tens of thousands of acres, serving
hundreds of thousands of flights and hundreds of millions of pas-
sengers annually. In the United States there are approximately 20,000
recognized civil airports, most of which are privately owned and
closed to general public use. Of the approximately 5200 airports
open to the public, approximately 700 are certified to accommodate
commercial air service, with the remaining serving general aviation
exclusively.
Airports currently serving at least 2500 enplaned passengers
using commercial air service are known as commercial service airports.
Primary airports are designated as those commercial airports serving
at least 10,000 annual enplaned passengers. Airports serving less than
2500 annual enplaned passengers are considered general aviation
airports. General aviation airports designed to accommodate smaller