APM241 Airport Capacity and Delay
Theoretically, capacity is defined as the airport’s capability to handle a certain volume of traffic.
The difference between throughput capacity and practical capacity is that throughput capacity deals with the level at which aircrafts can be handled for instance; bringing aircrafts in and out of the airfield without considering any delay that might be experienced. On the other hand, practical capacity deals with the number of takeoffs and landings that an aircraft can accommodate without a specified amount of delay.
The various factors that affect capacity and delay are: airfield characteristics, airspace characteristics, meteorological conditions, demand characteristics, and air traffic control.
Runaway configurations can affect capacity and delay through reducing or increasing capacity depending on their layout.
The required lateral separation of parallel runaways that allows simultaneous operations under IFR is 4300ft.
An aircraft fleet mix can have an impact on capacity at an airport because it determines the airport’s operational capacity. The bigger the variation in speed and size of the aircraft in the fleet the larger the space that is essential between aircraft. This results in reduced operational capacity.
Delay is defined as the period between the preferred time and the real that an operation takes place.
Congestive delay refer to a delay that takes place when there is a close relationship between demand and throughput capacity resulting in a delay of nine or more minutes for every aircraft operations.
The various approaches to reducing delay include increasing the capacity of the system, use of new infrastructures, and proper management of system demand.