The Future of Airports and New Larger Aircraft (NLA) Essay -- Aviation

The first airplanes carried only one individual. Today an average commercial airplane will carry approximately four-hundred to five-hundred people. However, recently new larger aircraft (NLA) have been designed to carry anywhere from five-hundred to eight-hundred persons. The need for NLA’s has been recognized as demand for air travel continues to increase. Furthermore, by deploying larger aircraft the problem of capacity will be addressed: more people on a plane will translate to a lower number of planes on the runway and while still accommodating the same number of passengers. The effects of these NLA’s are far-reaching and potentially detrimental to airport management. By utilizing appropriate airport planning, managers can overcome the pitfalls related to new larger aircraft. The first consideration which must be addressed is the runway. Is the length of the runway capable of supporting the NLA’s? What about the weight of the NLA’s, how will they effect maintenance? Do airports need to be redesigned to accommodate NLA’s? Thankfully, many of these types of questions have been answered. Although the maximum takeoff weight of the A380 will be over 1.2 million pounds, new and better wing and higher performance engines will allow the aircraft to operate from the same runway lengths as existing B747-400s†¦ However, accommodating the aircraft’s wingspan of close to 262 feet may require significant modifications to airfields at airports intending to serve the new large aircraft. Burns & McDonnell 2001 Of course, heavier aircraft will adversely affect a runway’s integrity. Maintenance cycles will need to be amplified in order to remain operable. The key will be acting before the runway becomes unusable. The next iss... ...ess, trouble-free adaptation† (Young and Well, pg. 473, 2011). This holistic approach aided the transition, yet the future will present new problems as demand will likely increase and NLA’s will be used more widely. Learning from those who have successfully accommodated NLA’s can help airport managers who have yet to engage the giants of the air. Works Cited Burns & McDonnell, (2001). What’s you NLA? How will new large aircraft affect your airport facility? Retrieved on March 27, 2012. http://www.burnsmcd.com/Resource_/Issue/283/PdfFile/aviationreport2.pdf Gomes de Barros, A., Wirasinghe, S., (1997). New aircraft characteristics related to airport planning. Retrieved on March 27, 2012. my.fit.edu/~dkirk/3241/Lectures/Atrgpap.pdf Young, S., and Wells, A., (2011). Airport planning and management. 6th Edition. New York, New York. McGraw-Hill Professional.