The Future of Airports and New Larger Aircraft (NLA) Essay -- Aviation

The first airplanes carried only one individual. Today an average commercial airplane bequeath carry approximately four-hundred to five-hundred people. However, recently new larger aircraft (NLA) ready been designed to carry anywhere from five-hundred to eight-hundred persons. The need for NLAs has been recognized as demand for air travel continues to increase. Furthermore, by deploying larger aircraft the problem of capacity will be addressed more people on a plane will translate to a lower number of planes on the trail and maculation still cooperative the same number of passengers. The effects of these NLAs are far-reaching and potentially detrimental to airport management. By utilizing appropriate airport planning, managers can pass over the pitfalls link up to new larger aircraft.The first consideration which must be addressed is the runway. Is the length of the runway capable of supporting the NLAs? What about the weight down of the NLAs, how will they effect maintenance ? Do airports need to be redesigned to accommodate NLAs? Thankfully, many of these types of questions have been answered. Although the maximum takeoff weight of the A380 will be over 1.2 million pounds, new and better wing and higher performance engines willallow the aircraft to operate from the same runway lengths as existing B747-400s However, accommodating the aircrafts wingspan of close to 262 feet may require significant modifications to airfields at airports intending to serve the new large aircraft. Burns & McDonnell 2001Of course, heavier aircraft will adversely affect a runways integrity. Maintenance cycles will need to be amplified in order to remain operable. The key will be acting before the runway becomes unusable. The next iss... ...ess, trouble-free adaptation (Young and Well, pg. 473, 2011). This holistic approach aided the transition, thus far the future will present new problems as demand will possible increase and NLAs will be used more widely. Learning from th ose who have successfully accommodated NLAs can help airport managers who have yet to engage the giants of the air. Works CitedBurns & McDonnell, (2001). Whats you NLA? How will new large aircraft affect your airport facility? Retrieved on March 27, 2012. http//www.burnsmcd.com/Resource_/Issue/283/PdfFile/aviationreport2.pdfGomes de Barros, A., Wirasinghe, S., (1997). New aircraft characteristics related to airport planning. Retrieved on March 27, 2012. my.fit.edu/dkirk/3241/Lectures/Atrgpap.pdf Young, S., and Wells, A., (2011). Airport planning and management. 6th Edition. New York, New York. McGraw-Hill Professional.