Airports Council International (ACI) World has published guidance for airports on making the most of existing capacity while planning to expand to meet growing global demand.
ACI’s forecasts show that, having reached 8.8 billion in 2018, global traffic is forecast to double by 2037. Over the long term it is projected to grow at 3.7% a year, reaching 19.7 billion by 2040.
Many airports suffer from limitations in airspace capacity and the Best Practice Recommendations for Airport Operators on Aligning Airspace and Airport Capacity paper is intended to help airports understand key issues related to airspace and airport capacity and the options available to operators.
“This paper aims to explain the key issues related to the alignment and possible mismatch between the airspace and airport capacity available to airport users, and focuses on issues around sustainable and responsible growth,” explained ACI World director general Angela Gittens.
The guidance includes information on key stakeholder roles, the evolution of technology, implementation of new processes and systems, and the alignment of strategies and visions between airport operators, air navigation service providers (ANSPs) and aircraft operators. The content comes under three headings: capacity alignment and optimization; new processes and technologies, and airport-ANSP cooperation.
Capacity was identified by the ACI World Governing Board as a strategic issue and the ACI World Safety and Technical Committee has formed an Airspace and Airport Capacity Alignment Task Force to analyze the relationship between airspace and ground capacity at airports.
