Sizing the Airport Passenger Departure Lounge for New Large Aircraft

Abstract

The introduction of new large aircraft (NLA) is expected to cause a significant impact on planning and design of airports. Besides the problems caused by its large dimensions on airport airside design, the increased passenger capacity featured by the NLA will require larger passenger-processing facilities. Given the high costs implied both by changes in existing facilities and by the construction of new areas, anticipating the changes with a reasonable precision might help airports save a considerable amount of money. One of the most affected passenger terminal facilities will be the departure lounge. Current studies carried on by major manufacturers indicate that the NLA might be able to carry as many as 800 passengers. This is double the capacity of the largest existing passenger aircraft, the Boeing 747. To accommodate all these passengers in the same lounge, many solutions have been proposed. Examples of such solutions are the construction of a second level to allow an increase in passenger storage capacity without the need for horizontal expansion, and the use of the satellite section of a pier-satellite terminal as a single NLA gate. The implications of high-capacity aircraft on the passenger departure lounge are discussed. Using deterministic queuing theory, some analytical methods are presented to evaluate possible solutions and to assess both the lounge area and the number of seats that minimize the overall cost of the lounge. The use of a spreadsheet to implement the methods is also explained.