APA Issue 3, 2021
PARKING PUZZLE ACI Asia-Pacific’s Samantha Solomon explores the role of simulations in airplane parking projects before, during and post pandemic.
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ike all in the aviation sector, the impact of the pandemic has not left global consulting firm Beca untouched. Over the course of the pandemic, the New Zealand-company has seen airport design projects terminated, postponed, or reduced in scope. Prior to the pandemic, expansion and modernisation projects were bountiful as airports, especially in the fastest-growing region of the world, Asia, were dealing with rapid growth, requiring optimal apron layout designs. Unlike now, the most common problem was trying to accommodate higher volumes of new technology aircraft. “In 2019, we were commissioned to design six remote stands on the north side of Pier B at Auckland Airport,” recalls 27-year Beca veteran airport designer, Wayne Napier. The project called for stands with one Code E/F on the main stand centre line and two alternative lines for Code C (up to Boeing 737-size aircraft), otherwise known as MARS (Multiple Aircraft Ramping System) replicated along six stands. Whilst the stands would initially serve
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as remote stands, the design team had to consider future boarding bridge operations. “What would have taken weeks to design, we were able to achieve in a few days with simulation software,” notes Napier. This is just one of many examples where software has saved an enormous amount of time. Originally designed to calculate the swept paths of aircraft, CAD-based design application AviPLAN, created by software company Transoft Solutions, has become one of the go-to tools for parking optimisation projects. The software simulates aircraft manoeuvring, ground services activities, airbridge operations and jet-blast contours and then brings the project to life through animated video. Used by airport teams and consultants alike, AviPLAN is commercially available software for the design of taxiways and aircraft parking stands. By using AviPLAN, Napier, a long-time user and advocate of the software, was able to streamline the design and planning aspect of the remote stand project and easily replicate one stand design across six.
