A detailed airside capacity study is key for capacity declaration purposes and following slot allocation.

 

Project Overview

Before opening of Doha’s new airport Hamad International Airport, Qatar Airways wanted to have an independent party to evaluate the airside capacity of the airport including, the runway system, aircraft ground flow operations and aircraft stand/gate requirements. The outcome of this study was used to support the declared capacity determination of the airport.

 

Services provided

In order to gather detailed information and specific knowledge on the airpace /airport system, meetings and discussions with all relevant stakeholders (Airport Authority, Qatar Civil Aviation Authority, Qatar Airways Corporate Planning, etc.) have been performed. In the following, a deep analysis of airspace structure and historical flight movement data has been conducted in order to identify and understand the traffic flow and define a typical busy day to be used as baseline for the capacity calculations with CAST Aircraft.

 

Considering the traffic and peak structures of the selected typical busy day ARC conducted a simulation based determination of capacity values for all relevant parts of the airspace/airport system, i.e.:

  • Assessment of Airspace / Runway Capacity
  • Assessment of Gate/Aircraft Stand Capacity
  • Taxiway Capacity Check

 These calculations have been done for several conditions and variation to get accurate knowledge on each relevant operational scenario such as:

  • Single vs. two runway operations
  • Segregated or parallel operations
  • Operations with or without certain stand groups
A CAST Aircraft simulation model was used as main tool for the above capacity calculations. The simulation analysis gave insight into different Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to assess each infrastructure component but also the overall operational quality were determined. 2D/3D visualization has been provided for qualitative evaluation and result presentation.

 

Results and Benefit

The detailed simulations and calculations provided Hamad International Airport’s stakeholders with a clear overview of the potential of the airside under various operating conditions. The study provided valuable insights and recommendations for determining the declared capacity.

In addition to these results, ARC compared the capacity values at Hamad International Airport with other international airports with similar runway configurations (international benchmark). In this context, measures to increase capacity have also been proposed.

The services for this project have been provided in cooperation with IATA.