2. Introduction
Airport Engineering encompasses the
planning, design, and construction of
terminals, runways, and navigation aids to
provide for passenger and freight service.
An airport is a facility where passengers
connect from ground transportation to air
transportation
AIRFIELD is an area where an aircraft can
land and take off, which may or may not be
equipped with any navigational aids or
markings
3. Air transportation
One system of transportation which tries to
improve the accessibility to inaccessible areas
Provides continuous connectivity over water
and land
Provide relief during emergencies and better
compared to others some times
Saves productive time, spent in journey
Increases the demand of specialized skill work
force
4. Air transportation
Helps tourism, generates foreign reserves
Requires heavy funds during provision and
maintenance
Highly dependent on weather conditions
compared to other modes
Requires highly sophisticated machinery
Adds to outward flow of foreign exchange
Purchase of equipment, airbuses etc.
Safety provisions are not adequate.
Providing a support system during the flight is
complicate
Specific demarcation of flight paths and territories
5. Development of Air Transport
1903 – first successful flight by Wilbur and
Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina
1909 – Louis Bleriot crossed English channel
to England
1911 – Post was carried by air in India from
Allahabad to Naini (pilot: Henri Pequet)
crossing Ganga
1912 – Flight between Delhi and Karachi
1914 – Air passenger transport began in
Germany
6. Development of Air Transport
1918 – first international service between
France and Spain
1919 – London – Paris flight
1919 – International Commission on Air
Navigation (ICAN) was established
1919 – 6 European airlines formed in Hague
the International Air Traffic Association (IATA)
to control the movement of air traffic and have
a coordinated approach
7. 1928 – Havana Convention on civil aviation
1929 – Warsaw convention on civil aviation
1944 – international civil aviation convention
1944 – Chicago convention, establishing
provisional ICAO (international civil aviation
organization)
1945 – International Air Transport Association
(IATA) established in meeting at Havana, Cuba
1947 – ICAO was established as a body of
United Nations
8. 27, July 1949 – worlds first jet airliner made its
journey from hatfield airport
1954 – Boeing Dash 80 type prototype, B707
first flight
1969 – concorde first flight
2006 – Airbus A328 made first flight (one of the
biggest passenger air craft i.e., 800 persons)
9. Air Transport in India
1911 – post was carried by air in India from
Allahabad to Naini
1912 – flight between Delhi and Karachi
1927 – Civil Aviation Department was
established
1929 – Regular air service between Delhi and
Karachi
1932 – Tata airways ltd was setup
1933 – Indian trans-continental airways ltd
was formed
10. 1938 – 153 aircrafts were registered
1946 – Air transport licensing board was
established
1947 – Tata changed its name to Air India Ltd
1948 – Air India International ltd was
established by government
1953 – Air Transport Corporation bill was
made, provision for establishing two
corporations, one for the domestic services
and other for the international services.
11. 1972 - The International Airport Authority of
India (IAAI) was setup
to coordinate the international aviation from
different locations of the country
1981 -Vayudoot service was started. It merged
into Indian Airlines in 1993
1985 - Air taxi policy
1994 -Airport Authority of India (AAI) was
formed by merging International Airport
Authority of India (IAAI) and National Airports
Authority (NAA).
12. Airport Authority of India
Controls overall air navigation in india
Constituted by an act of parliament and it came
into being on 1st April, 1995
Formed by merging NAA (National Airport
Authority) and IAAI (International Airport Authority
of India)
Functions of AAI
Control and management of the Indian airspace
extending beyond the territory limits
Design, development and operation of domestic and
international airports
Construction and management of facilities
13. Functions of AAI
Development of cargo ports and facilities
Provision of passenger facilities and information
systems
Expansion and strengthening of operating area
Provision of visual aids
Provision of communication and navigational aids
(ex: Radar systems)
15. Selection of site for airport
Air traffic potential
Atmospheric and meteorological conditions
Availability of land for expansion
Availability of utilities
Development of surrounding area
Ground accessibility
Presence of other airports
Regional plan
Soil characteristics
Use of air port
16. Selection of site for airport
Air traffic potential
Magnitude of passenger and freight traffic expected
Adequate access
Sufficient airspace
Circling radius should be taken care
Sufficient land
Various facilities, terminal buildings, security systems
17. Atmospheric and meteorological conditions
Visibility
Fog, smoke, haze
Affected by wind
Development of area (industrial)
Causes reduction in frequency and hence in capacity
handling
Wind
Direction and intensity
Associated topographical features (hills, valley)
Windward/leeward side
Locating development w.r.t site of airport
18. Availability of land for expansion
Future prediction of air traffic
Land for parking vehicles, providing facilities
Land cost at later stage
Availability of land at later stage
Availability of utilities
Water, power etc.,
Sewerage, communication etc.
Generation of powerplants
19. Development of surrounding area
Residential or sensitive area
Industrial development
Height of development
Zoning laws
Noise pollution
Movement of air pollution
Birds and hits at engines
20. Economy of construction
Alternate sites to be examined
Availability of local construction material
Terrain even or not
Problematic areas
Water logging areas
21. Ground accessibility
Travel time in air vs on ground
Easily approachable using all modes
Proximity to areas of trip generation
Facilities for private vehicle users
Efficient transport system
22. Presence of other airport
Traffic volume
circling radius
Types of air crafts in different airports
May cause
Accidents, reduction in capacity
23. Characteristics of soil
Strength of soil sub grade
Drainage of soil
Level of water table and its impact
Valley side may have flooding
Soil with good amount of pervious material like
sand or gravel is considered good
24. Use of airport
Civil or for military
Adaptability for other usage during emergencies
Surrounding area obstructions
Clear air space for take off and landing
High rise buildings not allowed
High trees are cleared off
Zoning laws are made to take care
26. Engine Type and Propulsion
Propulsion may be through any type of engine
Piston engine, jet engine (turbo jet, turbo propulsion or ram jet)
or rocket engine etc.
Piston – most conventional form, fuel is converted to
mechanical or electrical energy(250 to 750kmph)
Jet – these have a capacity to provide a jet with a height thrust,
which is used for movement(1280 to 2400 for turbo, 4000-6000
for rocket)
Speed, power increases from piston to rockets
Operative altitude of aircraft depends up on
Type of engine
Propulsive power available to aircraft
27. Size of air craft:
One of the important aspect
Here not just the size of main body, but the size of overall
wing space is considered important
Size of Aircraft involves
Fuselage length -From nose of the aircraft to the tail of the
aircraft
Gear tread (distance between main gears)
Wheel base -Distance between nose gear (pilots location) and
main gear(at wings connection)
Wing span decides
Width of taxi way
Clearance between two parallel traffic ways
Size of apron and hanger
28. Aircraft weight &wheel
configuration
Pavement thickness, design, materials etc., depend on
the weight and wheel distribution of aircraft.
Different types of weights
Maximum gross take-off weight
Total amount of weight when it is taking off from runway
Maximum standard landing weight
Fuel consumed during transport will be deducted from take-off
weight
Operating empty weight
Operating at zero pay load
Pay load
Load for which revenues are generated (passengers + freight)
Zero-fuel weight
Air craft reaching destination and fuel is getting empty
29. Wheel configuration defines how the weight
will be transferred to the bottom
More the no of wheels, lesser the stress, hence
less thickness enough.
Different wheel combinations available based on
size of aircraft.
Single tandem, duel tandem and multi axle
tandems are used based on the size and weight
of air craft.
Some wheel configurations are shown in the next
slide.
30.
31. Minimum turning radius
While making a turn, the nose gear is steered and
hence it makes an angle with the axis of main
gear called angle of rotation.
The point of intersection of axis of main gear and
line through axis of steered nose gear is called
point of rotation.
Max angle varies between 50 to 60 degrees
The line joining the centre of rotation and the tip of
farthest wing of aircraft is known as minimum
turning radius.
If the size of the aircraft inc. , turning radius also
inc.
32.
33. Minimum circling radius
Related to movement of aircraft with in the air
It is radius in space required for the aircraft to
take a smooth turn
It depends on
Type of aircraft (size, power propulsion system
etc.,)
Air traffic volume
Weather condition
It is the total radius which is provided at the top
of the air port in which the aircraft will be
circling if it is not allowed to land.
34. Speed
Air speed
Speed of air craft in air relative to medium.
Ground speed
Speed of aircraft on ground
Air speed = ground speed +or- Wind speed
35. Capacity of air craft
No of passengers and amount of cargo it can
handle
Dependant on
Size
Propulsive power of aircraft
Speed of air craft
36. Noise
Big problem if nearer to developed areas
Major sources of noises are
Engine
Machinery (more during landing)
Primary jet (more during take-off)
Disturbances are more during take off
Since the inception of jet engines the noise
has been reduced to a great extent
37. Vortices at tail end
Vortices form at tail when moving at high
speed
Have a tendency to break tail if they are heavy
and eddies are formed
Vortices are made of 2 counter rotating
cylindrical masses of air extending along the
path
These are formed near tail ends of wings or
tail end of aircraft
The velocity of wind in these vortices will be
very high
38. Jet blast
This aspect belongs to aircrafts having jet engines
This is the blast that comes out of jet engine at the
rear of air craft to provide a force for movement
If we consider the case where air craft is standing
and jet blast is coming from back side, it is so hot
and creates severe conditions
The severity depends on
Height of tail pipe
Angle of tail pipe
Hence, blast fences are needed to control the
damage to the pavements
39. Fuel spillage
Spilling of fuel occurs when the engine is
shutdown or loosing speed
It is spilled fuel from the engine or other
locations into the aircraft. This may cost the
speed when it is moving on runways or
taxiways or apron.
40. Engine type and propulsion
decides
Size of the aircraft
Speed
length of the runway (more speed ->longer runway)
Weight (more if bigger propulsion system)
Carrying capacity (depends on size)
Noise (depends on propulsion system)
Circling radius (high power, and speed crafts have
high radius)
Range (distance it can move without refueling)
Maintenance facilities
Ballast pads (required for jet propulsion)
41. Size of aircraft influences
Load carrying capacity
Other facilities like apron, terminal area etc.
Bigger the size larger are facilities to be provided at airport
terminal building
Wing span will increase with size
It has effect on taxiway width
Separation between traffic lanes
Size of gate, apron size, width of hanger etc.
Length
Widening of taxiway on curves, apron, hangers, width of exit
way
Height : further influences height of hanger gate
Wheel base, gear tread also changes
42. Aircraft wheel configuration
Thickness of runway, taxiway, apron
Distribution of load to ground
Turning (difficult for more weight in case of sharp
curves)
Stability (depends on the support system
provided and also depends on wheel
configuration)
43. Minimum turning radius
Radius of taxiways
Taxiway is the connecting pavement which is provided
between the runways and aprons
Minimum circling radius:
Defines the minimum distance between 2 near by
airports
For larger aircrafts it will be in kms hence more
distance is required between 2 airports
Adjustments of timings of landing and takeoff
Airport capacity(decrease with increased air circle
time)
Zoning laws related to height of obstruction
44. Speed
Reduces journey time
Increase in frequency of operations
Improving and broadening the air network system
Capacity
Processing terminals
Passenger and baggage handling facilities
Cargo processing
Size of apron, special equipments etc.
45. Vortices at tail ends
Hazardous to aircraft
Stresses at fuselage and other joints
Pressure under wings producing lifts and drags
Jet blast
Inconvenience to passengers
May do harm to airport runways and other
components of airport
Fuel slippage
Badly effects bitumen pavements
Causes slip of wheels
