Page 72 - Planning and Design of Airports

50 Airp o r t Pl anning

specifications, ranging from materials from which the airframes are
built, to the engines that power the aircraft. Of great challenge to air-
port planning and design, historically has been to adapt the airport
environment to accommodate changes in aircraft physical and per-
formance specifications. For example:
• The introduction of “cabin-class” aircraft, such as the Doug-
las DC-3, in the mid-1930s resulted in the need for airports to
construct longer, paved runways from the shorter grass strips
that previously existed.
• The introduction of aircraft equipped with turbofan and tur-
bojet engines in the late 1950s added requirements for longer
and stronger runways, facilities to mitigate jet-blast, and pol-
icies to reduce the impact of aircraft noise at and around the
airport.
• The introduction of “jumbo-jet” or “heavy” aircraft, such as
the Boeing-747, in the late 1960s added new requirements for
runway specifications, as well as terminal area design require-
ments for accommodating large volumes of passengers and
cargo.
• The proliferation of regional jet aircraft, introduced because
of more efficient engine technologies, resulted in the need for
airports to modify many terminal areas that had accommo-
dated larger jets or smaller turbo-prop aircraft.

Most recently, the introduction of the world’s largest passenger
aircraft, the Airbus A-380, as well as the smallest of certified general
aviation jet aircraft, continues to affect design specifications of airport
airfield and terminal areas.
Table 2-1 provides a summary of some of the important aircraft
characteristics of some of the aircraft that make up the world’s com-
mercial airline fleet. Many regional airlines use smaller aircraft with
less than 50 seats, while the world’s major airlines use very large air-
craft, with potential configurations for more than 800 seats.
Table 2-2 provides a summary of important aircraft characteris-
tics for common general aviation aircraft. While it should be noted
that aircraft designed primarily for air carrier purposes are also often
used for general aviation activity (e.g., the Boeing 737 is often config-
ured for personal or business use and marketed as the Boeing Busi-
ness Jet), most general aviation aircraft are smaller than typical com-
mercial airline aircraft. Some of the aircraft listed in Table 2-2 are part
of the fleet of “very light jets” that have emerged into the market
since 2007.
Many of the values provided in Tables 2-1 and 2-2 are only approx-
imate and tend to vary by specific model, as well as by each individ-
ual operation. For more precise values appropriate references, such