Airport terminal design (lecture note)

Week 6: Airport Terminal Design

ZEIT 3805: Airport Operations and Systems

By Sarah Shuchi, PhD

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• Introduction to airport terminal design• Configuration of terminal buildings • Overall design of a passenger terminal

- Passenger building: specific facilities

- Terminal design principles• Traditional vs modern design concept

Lecture outline

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INTRODUCTION TO AIRPORT TERMINAL

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Introduction

Main functions of airport terminals

• To provide a convenient facility from ground transport to air transport, and vice-versa.

• Airport terminal is a complex system

Domestic airport

Regional airport

International airport

Airports

Arriving Departing

Transit

Passengers

Need to handle 6-7% per annum growth. How to handle this rapid growth?

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• Three primary components of an airport complex - Landside, terminal building and airside facilities

Introduction

Components of an Airport terminal

Air side facilities Land side facilities

Terminal Building

• Runway• Apron• Taxiway• Gate• Control tower

• Curb front pedestrian facilities • Public transportation (including

bus and rail)• Parking facilities• Entry exit roadways

Passenger movement Baggage handling

• Passengers embark and disembark from the aircrafts.

Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam

In 1920

In 1967

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Introduction

Development of Heathrow Airport

Heathrow (now)

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TERMINAL CONFIGURATIONS

History of Terminal Configuration

Unit Terminal Concept Unit Terminal

Combined Unit Terminal

Multiple-unit terminal

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Terminal Configurations

Five basic types of configurations

Terminal configuration

Finger pier Satellite (with or without pier),

Midfield (linear or X-shaped)

LinearTransporter

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Pier/Finger Pier Terminal configuration

• Widely adopted, introduced in 1950s.

• High aircraft capacity and simplicity in design.

• maximize the number of A/C parking spaces with fewer infrastructures.

• Preferable when the level of transfer traffic is low.

New York/LaGuardia Airport

Brisbane International Airport

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Finger pier (disadvantages) Terminal configuration

• Long walking distances.

• Add constraints with the mobility of aircraft movement in the apron

Osaka, Kansai Airport

Washington Reagan

Techniques to tackle these issues

• Short finger piers

• Incorporating people movers

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Satellite Terminal configuration

• Extension of T-shaped finger piers.

• A single terminal to process passengers.

• Connected to this are numerous concourses that lead to one or more satellite structures.

Satellite layout Tampa

Terminal 1, Paris/de Gaulle

Disadvantages• Requires high quality

transportation system.

• High capital, maintenance and operating cost

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Linear Terminal configuration

• A linear building with relatively thin structure.

• Centralized passenger processing.

• Also can be curvilinear.

Dallas forth- Worth International Airport

Linear configuration at Darwin International Airport

Disadvantages• Longer walking distances for transfer

passengers.

• Primarily applicable for low-activity

• Requires duplication of terminal facilities/amenities

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Transporter Terminal configuration

• Passengers are transported to and from the building to the parked airplane.

• Specially designed buses carry passengers between the terminal and the aircraft.

• Minimizes walking distances.

• Airplane taxiing time to and from the runway is decreased

Disadvantages

• This is an expensive option for airport operators.

• Inconvenient delays for short haul passengers.

Washington/Dulles Airport

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Midfield concourse Terminal configuration

Pittsburgh Airport

• Independent passenger buildings.

• Typically between two parallel runways and separated from the other passenger buildings by major taxiways.

• Two basic shapes: linear and x-shaped.

Denver International Airport

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O’Hare International Airport, Chicago


Hybrid Configurations

Melbourne International Airport, Australia

• Combination of different configuration types.

• Meet variety of existing needs

• Adapt easily to future needs

• Maximize quality of service

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• Design requirements are normally defined in terms of :

Importance of selection

Number of aircrafts

Passenger numbers

Major Operational problems

Financial loss

Variety of traffic

Need of several stakeholders

Commercial services

• High cost of restoration• Limited options for alteration

• The building eventually closed in 2001 when American Airlines bought TWA

• Radical and compact plan

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• And also causes operational difficulties for example, Kansas City Airport.

Kansas City Airport

• Particularly not suitable for transfer passengers.

• Major airline moved to St. Louis after economic deregulation.

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• Passenger building widely separated• Massive economical losses• Cost of underground ‘people mover’ is

high.

Stansted Airport, UK


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• There is no single solution, there are many factors involved.

• Depends on the specific circumstances, the site, the types of traffic and the needs of several stakeholders.


Evaluation of Configuration

• Which configuration is the best?

Key considerations

Walking distances

Aircraft taxiing around the buildings

FlexibilityTraffic pattern

Priorities of stakeholders

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Overall Design of Passenger Terminal

• Efficient design requires careful consideration of the followings:

Terminal design

Sharing of facilities

Multifunctional and common used facilities- Reduces overall design load Provides flexibility

Performance objectives

Economic objectives

Quality of service or economic efficiency?

Management of operations

Role of hub airport

Shifting loads among various functions

Design of Passenger building

Design standards for any particular part of a passenger building are not universal.

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QueuesTerminal design

• Rule of thumb: 0.6 m per person

• Snake queue: more efficient• Wise use of space

Straight queue or snake queue?

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Check-in facilitiesTerminal design

• Airport Check-in are service counters found at commercial airports handling commercial air travel.

Typical check-in counters

Self check-in kiosks at Canberra Airport

Standards are changing.• Electronic ticketing and self check-in

reduces processing time.

Halifax Stanfield International Airport, Canada

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Security and border checkpoints Terminal design

• The most important aspect of airport operations.• Dramatic changes after 9/11.• Led to many changes in design and operation of terminals.

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Heathrow hassle, Terminal 5• Passengers were unable to check-in baggage and 68 flights had to be

cancelled.• Inadequate car parking space.• Shortage of BAA security staff.• Inadequate training.

Baggage handling systemTerminal design

A type of conveyor system installed in airports that transports checked luggage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swjVnmJ8v3Q

IATA Check-point of the Future



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A more or less standard process has evolved over the years for designing passenger terminals at airports. It consists of four steps:

1) Forecasting traffic levels for peak hours;

Passenger Terminal Design principlesTerminal design

2) Specification of level-of-service (LOS) standards;

3) Flow Analysis and determination of space requirements

4) Configuration of server and space.

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Forecasting Terminal design

• Basic concept: Estimate past trends and project forward.

• To produce peak-hour demand scenarios for the design day.

Design day = Average week day of the peak month

15 to 20 percent variation with real data Forecast is unreliable/uncertain

Constantly changing situation

Technological

Deregulation

Political Economic

Industrial

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• These standards provide the basis for translating the forecasts into an architectural program.

• LOS is higher when passengers have more space.

Specification of LOSTerminal design

Adapted from IATA, 1995

LoS F

LoS C

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• When planning terminal processing facilities and corresponding passenger queuing areas, TWO important variables jointly dictate the new LoS.

New LoS new conceptTerminal design

• The new LoS framework is reflected in a space-time concept to be used for defining the LoS at processing facilities and corresponding waiting areas.

Minimum Space Maximum waiting time

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The passenger flow in the terminal can be subdivided in three sub-processes:

Passenger flowTerminal design

Departure Arrival Transfer

Disembark Customs Baggage claim

Customs and quarantine Depart airport

Arrival Passenger activities

Passenger entry

Check-in

Security Check

Liquids Aerosol & Gels

ScreeningCustoms & Immigration Boarding

Departure passenger activities

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Flow AnalysisTerminal design

SimulationCAST Terminal - Passenger Terminal Simulation

• Multi-agent simulator to analyze various terminal layouts and strategies.

• Determine the number of facilities required.

• Optimization of capabilities in the early planning stages.

Queuing theory Computer simulations

Graphical analyses

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Configuration of Space requirementsTerminal design

• Formulas for translating number of traffic into space requirement is arithmetically simple.

Design load for an activity

Level of Service (LoS)

Dwell time

- Depend on design peak hour/ design hour- Airport facilities are designed to

accommodate the loads

• LoS standard ‘C’ is generally used.• LoS ‘C’ for design year is LoS ‘A’ at the

opening time.

• Typical length of time passengers stay in a waiting for service.

• It indicates how fast a space can be reused by another passenger.

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Major design considerationsTerminal design

Passenger FlowWalking distance

Level of Service

Way-findingAmbience

Processing timeAmenities

Retail experience

Efficient public transportation

Security

What are the key factors to build efficient and attractive terminal building?

Traditional vs new design concept

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Traditional vs New conceptWhy new design concept?

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LOS Standards

Standard design: Traffic forecast Flow analysis Service space

Rigid structure

Long term point forecast

Established clients

Flexible structure

Forecast uncertainty

Variable clients

Low-cost carrier terminals

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Designed with the needs of low cost airlines in mind.

Terminal building:• Simple boxy warehouse-like design.• Low-height ceilings.• Baggage handling is much simplified

Amenities:• Fewer choice in terms of restaurants, duty-free.• Decoration being mostly airline ads.

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Modular airport• Simple geometry • Modular approach• Allow room for extension

Southampton Airport

Flexible design concept

Madrid Barajas Airport

• Open plan design• Easy removable partitions

Vancouver Airport

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Design development

Business Process Model analysis

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Activity analysis

Design evaluation

Identify design factors

Areas of uncertainty

Step 1Spatial layout

Physical structure

Operational

Strategic

TacticalLayers of change

Alternate layouts

Evaluate alternative layouts

Automation of layout generation

Identify passenger processing activity

Spatial adjacency obtained

Grouping passenger

activity

Determine spatial

allocation

Develop preliminary layout

Custom plug-in to create input model

Floor plan generator

Parametric spatial layout

Flexibility level

Flowgraph model

Flexible design parameters

Grasshopper model

Research outcome

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Shuchi, S; Drogemuller, R and Buys, L (2016), A conceptual design framework to incorporate flexibility in airport terminals, Journal of Airport Management (Accepted) Shuchi, S (2015), A novel concept for airport terminal design integrating flexibility, PhD thesis, Creative Industries Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, QLD 4000, Australia. Shuchi, S; Drogemuller, R & Kleinschmidt, T (2012), Flexible airport terminal design: towards a framework, Proceedings of the IIE Asian Conference 2012, Tang, Loon Ching & Watson, Gregory H. (Eds.), Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering, NUS, Singapore, pp. 348-356. Shuchi, S & Drogemuller, R (2012), Using process models to support design of airport terminals, Proceedings of ECPPM 2012: eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Gudnason, Gudni & Scherer, Raimar (Eds.), CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Reykjavik, Iceland, pp. 213-220. Shuchi, S & Drogemuller, R (2012), Process based synthesis to evaluate design flexibility in airport terminal layout, Proceedings of ANZAScA Conference, Skates, Henry (Ed.), Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, pp. 1-8. Shuchi, S and Drogemuller, R (2012); Airport information modelling, presentation at the Airports of the Future Grand Showcase, 30-31 May, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC), Australia. Shuchi, S and Drogemuller, R (2011); Flexible design framework for airport design, presentation at the Airports of the Future Project Grand Showcase as part of the ‘The Second International Colloquium on Airports and Spatial Development’, 9 - 11 February, Queensland University of Technology, QLD 4000, Australia.

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Airport terminal design (lecture note)

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