FIGURE 2.18 LOCATION OF GARDENS AT BEIJING DAXING AIRPORT

Figure 2.184Location of gardens at Beijing Daxing Airport

• Beijing Daxing Airport (China) On, the contrary the new Beijing daxing Airport can be a good example. The Daxing airport traditional Chinese garden spaces, located in proximity to the gates as seen in Figure 2.18Location of gardens at Beijing Daxing Airportso the passengers could spend their time in the garden spaces without being worried about missing their flight. These gardens are located at the head of each of the five wings.

Decentralized airport terminals however may have few options open for their passengers to redeem their boredom in engaging in certain activities. Usually, the airports with winged piers have centralized terminal planning.5

4 The base plan has been obtained from the official website of (China Southern Airlines, n.d.) and has been modified for research purpose 5 Form based analysis has been done in Chapter 3

2.3.3 TYPE OF AIRCRAFT

The mix of aircraft expected to use an airport, specifically their physical size, geometry, and passenger capacity, can significantly affect terminal planning. Airports serving a large variety of aircraft types and sizes require more flexible and complex gate/concourse configurations than those serving predominantly one class of aircraft, which are more conducive to the provision of standardized areas and facilities at and adjacent to aircraft gate positions. Terminals at airports serving widebody aircraft require the ability to accommodate the large passenger surges, which normally occur when these aircraft load and unload. Similarly, airports with a significant amount of commuter or small regional aircraft, require careful consideration.

Many commercial service airports serve a variety of non-scheduled operations such as charter flights, group tour flights, and air-taxi operations. At some airports, a relatively high volume of airline charter or other non-scheduled operations may warrant consideration of separate, modest terminal facilities (ACRP-25, 2010).

Having the ability to “swing” the use of aircraft gates between international arrivals and domestic departures/arrivals provides additional flexibility and higher utilization of the gate resource. This flexibility requires a separate sterile corridor to each gate with doorways that prevent the mixing of international arrivals with domestic passenger flows(Nuefville & Odoni, 2002).

The table below lists the variations in seating capacities of a few airplanes:

AIRP L ANE CAP ACITY

Boeing 717

Boeing 737

Boeing 777

Airbus a320 134

85-215

301-368

140-180

Airbusa330

Airbusa380 250-440

853

Table 2.3 Airplane seating capacity

2.3.4 LOCATION OF THE AIRPORT

The location airport decides what kind of passengers it would cater too and that affects the design of the terminal to a greater extent. There are various types of passengers such as business or leisure, originating, or transit (ACRP-25, 2010). The typology of the passengers depends upon whether the airport is located in a metropolitan city or a travel destination or a smaller developing city. It also acts as a deciding factor upon how much time the passenger spends at that particular airport. For example, a person traveling for business will not tend to arrive at the airport way too early to spend his/her time inside the airport. A business person will prefer to spend as little time as possible and will not spend much time in the seating areas and if they do so it will preferably be in the airline or airport lounge services. Thus, for cities of economic importance, the load factor on holdrooms tend to be lesser.

The type of retail and other engagement facilities also is dependent on where the airport is located and what type of destination it is. For instance, big international hubs tend to have more retail. While on the other hand, the load factor of the holdrooms increases substantially due to the lesser amount of retails or other activities. In countries such as France and Japan, and often in the developing world, the airport terminal is seen as part of the national infrastructure – like roads and hospitals – rather than merely as a means of making money (Ashford, 2019). Here commercial exploitation of the traveler, who may be isolated in the airport for long periods, is less obvious. In place of burger bars and amusement arcades, one finds spacious, well-planted lounges and wide, uncluttered corridors. Hence, there seems to be little commercial manipulation that could keep the passengers engaged.

Likewise, the forms of traffic have seasonal patterns different from other categories of traffic. Vacation travel may be concentrated in a few months, for instance. It becomes difficult to estimate the overall space required for facilities in passenger buildings. And the need to recognize the distinct local patterns for the traffic becomes crucial.

The design of the holdroom and the load factor is subjected to the above factors and differ from airport to airport. Also, these factors are relative and indefinite which increases the uncertainty enhancing the need for flexibility rather than having a set of defined parameters for a fixed time frame.

2.4 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.4.1 BOOKS AND PAPERS

The technical and design and knowledge about the construction of airports are well illustrated in a bunch of books. All the authors have tried to compress the eternity of airport design be it; runways or hangers or signage or material into their books, however in that effort to they made it difficult for the readers to take up a single topic to detail and focus upon. It often becomes difficult if you want to focus and understand in detail any single aspect of design or an airport.

However, many authors in their conference papers have tried to addresses various aspects of singularity, which would be quite helpful.

• ACRP Report 25 (ACRP: Airport Cooperative Research Program) The book explains in detail the process of terminal planning and planning considerations. It talks about sustainability and facilities for passengers covering every aspect. It has a detailed analysis and surveys fora better understanding of the design process.

• A look into the future of airports This paper provides a summary overview of the current issues that have been identified by the aviation community in the areas of airport planning, design, and construction; the key issues that make it difficult to predict future market forces that radically change the growth of the aviation industry. This paper did not attempt to provide answers or solutions but instead identified a full range of topics that need to be thoughtfully addressed by the airport and aviation community.

• Active Waiting: Potentials of waiting areas at airports This paper observes and analyzes the relation between spatial elements and the behavior of passengers at a waiting area within an airport terminal, through the lens of the active waiting concept. According to them, the experience of waiting can be achieved through three stages of habitation, which is lingering, tarrying, and the state of dwelling. The expected result from this study is to discover the potentials of the waiting area at an airport.

2.4.2 RESEARCHERS TAKE ON FLEXIBILITY

The concept of flexibility was studied by few authors (ACRP-25, 2010; Butters, 2010; Chambers, 2007; de Neufville, 2008; de Neufville & Belin, 2002; de Neufville & Odoni, 2003; Edwards, 2005; Gil & Tether, 2011; Kwakkel et al., 2010) in various fields of airport planning