UNIT 4 OVERVIEW OF AIRPORT MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS

AIRPORT
➢ Air terminal
➢ Air field
➢ Aerodrome - space used for landing and takeoff
1. Military aerodrome
2. Commercial aerodrome
3. Private aerodrome
➢ Usually have paved runways and maintenance facilities

3 MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE AIR TRANSPORT SYSTEM

➢ Airport - including its commercial and operational concessionaires, tenants, and partners, plus the airways control
system.
➢ Airline
➢ User (passenger)

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT

➢ Earliest airplane takeoff and landing sites
1. Open grassy fields
2. Dirt-only field - eliminated the drag from grass
3. Concrete surface

Aerodrome: any area of land and water used for aircraft operation regardless of the facilities.

➢ Bader Field, Atlantic City, New Jersey (1999; newspaper) - first aviation facility to be called an “airport”.
➢ Taliedo Airport, Milan (1910; opened) - one of the world’s first aerodrome.
➢ S. Darius and S.Girenas Airport in (Kaunas, Lithuania) (1915; opened) - one of Europe’s first airport.
➢ Croydon Airport in South London - earliest military airfield turned into facilities
➢ Le Bourget, near Paris - earliest military airfield turned into facilities
➢ Konigsberg, Germany - its the location of the first permanent airport and terminal solely for commercial aviation.
➢ 1930’s
■ approach lighting came to use.
■ these lights standardized under the ICAO
■ indicate proper direction and angle

➢ 1940’s
● slope-line approach system
● consisted of two rows of lights that formed a funnel indicating an aircraft’s position
➢ 1960’s
● Airport construction boomed, increase of jet air traffic
● Fields were constructed out of reinforced concrete using a slip-form machine that produces a
continual slab with no disruptions along the length. (truck)
● Modern landing fields are thickest in the area where the plane touches down in order to support
the force of the landing gear touching down.

FUNCTIONAL ROLES OF AN AIRPORT

➢ Airside Operations
● Oversee the airfield, ramps, safety, and security of the airport.
● Works to make sure the entire airside environment runs as efficiently as possible.
● Coordinating response to airside incidents, accidents, and emergencies.
 ● Allocating of aircraft parking and aircraft escorts
● Conducting runway and taxiway inspections.
● Policing airside driving.
● Vehicle escorts for companies and contractors requiring airside access.
● Day-to-day management of wildlife to reduce the risk of bird interference on aircraft.
➢ Landside Operations
● Have a customer-serviced role overseeing the terminals, concourses, roadways, and properties
surrounding the airport.
● Conduct the day-to-day operations inside the terminals and parking decks.
● Terminal operations falls under this category
● Crucial to what the passenger experiences while going through the airport.

TYPES AND CATEGORIES OF AIRPORTS

➢ Commercial Service Airports
● Non-primary Commercial Service Airports - small airports
● Primary Commercial Airports - country or major airports
➢ Cargo Service Airports - transporting goods
➢ Reliever Airports - small airports but they are used if major airport is full.
➢ General Aviation Airports - recreational

PARTS OF AN AIRPORT
➢ Hangars - used for storing and maintenance of an aircraft
➢ Terminal - where everything starts
➢ Control Tower - coordination or communication, giving signals when to take off and land
➢ Helipad - used to accommodate small aircraft
➢ Apron or Ramp - where aircraft refuel and cleaned, also where aircraft park and where aircraft embark.
➢ Taxiway - where aircraft roam around until they received a go signal to takeoff
➢ Runway - take off or land
➢ Parking - used for vehicles, usually inside the terminal

AIRPORT OPERATIONS
➢ Encompasses all of the processes involved in an airport to ensure your experience runs as smoothly as possible.
➢ Very diverse industry with a plethora of opportunities to be explored.

FOUR SEGMENTS OF AIRPORT OPERATIONS

➢ Landside operations - something to do to all of the operations inside the airport
➢ Airside operations - landing, navigation, emergency operations
➢ Billing and invoicing operations - aeronautical and non - aeronautical (financial transactions)
➢ Information management - distribution of daily flight information

AIRPORT OPERATIONAL DATABASE (AODB)

➢ Aim to provide a centralized and accurate database of real-time information related to airport operations
➢ Serves as a hub for data related to flights, passengers, baggage, gates, and other resources
➢ Allows airports to optimize their resources, reduce operational costs, and improve the overall passenger journey.
➢ Key feature for the functioning of an airport
➢ Database is connected to the rest of the airport modules: airport information systems, revenue management
systems, and air traffic management.
➢ Graphical display
➢ Backbone of the airport
➢ FUNCTIONS:
1. Reference-data processing
2. Seasonal scheduling
3. Daily flight schedule processing
 4. Processing of payments
➢ SOFTWARE PROVIDERS:
1. Amadeus IT Group
2. Leidos
3. SITA
4. Rockwell Collins
5. Siemens

LANDSIDE OPERATIONS
➢ Terminal operations and airline departure control
1. Passenger check-in
2. Customs
3. Baggage handling
4. Screening
➢ Services integrated into the airport management software
1. Passenger facilitation services
2. Border control
3. Common use services (self-service check-on systems)

SERVICES
➢ Passenger facilitation services
1. Passenger processing (check-in, boarding, border control)
2. Baggage handling (tagging, dropping and handling)
3. Arrival operations include boarding control and baggage handling
➢ Border control (customs and security services)
1. Perimeter security, terminal security, and border control
2. Biometric authentication and integration into government systems to all customs officer to view the status
of a passenger.
➢ Baggage handling
1. Tracking until destination is reached and returned to the owners
➢ Common Use Service
1. Digital self-service

OTHER SERVICES
➢ Terminal management
1. Maintenance and monitoring of systems for assets, buildings, electrical grids, environmental systems, and
vertical transportation organization
2. Facilities staff communications and management
➢ Staff management
1. Provide the necessary information about on going flights
➢ Reporting
1. Allow staff to see data on screen
2. Includes reports from airlines, aircraft, operators, hourly activity of passengers and aircraft movement
types.
3. Includes aircraft’s timetable, routes, and destinations, as well as traffic distribution
AIR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT
➢ Airside operations compromise control and facilitation of aircraft handling and parking
➢ Air traffic control equipment and management solutions for air navigation
➢ Aeronautical Fixed Telecommunication Network (AFTN) Systems
1. Handle communication and exchange data
2. Serves as communication between airports and aircraft
3. AFTN systems hold the following information:
● Aircraft registration and runway used
● Actual time of landing and departure
● Number of circuits
● Number and type of approaches
● New estimates of arrival and departure
● New flight information
➢ ATC Tower
1. Air traffic management is performed from an ATC tower
2. Air Traffic Control Tower is a structure that delivers air and ground control of the aircraft
3. Ensures safety by guiding and navigating the vehicles and aircraft
4. Performed by visual signaling, radar and radio communication in the air and in the ground
5. Main focus of the tower is to make sure that all passengers aren’t at risk

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL TOWER

➢ It has control room that serves as a channel between landside (terminal) and airside operations
➢ Control room personnel are tasked with ensuring the security and safety of the passengers as well as ground
handling.
➢ It has CCTV monitors and air traffic control systems that maintain the order in the terminal and on the apron.

APRON HANDLING
➢ Deals with aircraft servicing
➢ Includes passenger boarding and guidance, cargo and mail loading, and apron services
➢ Apron includes aircraft guiding, cleaning, drainage, deicing, catering, and fueling

INVOICING AND BILLING

➢ Each flight an airport handles generates a define revenue for the airport paid by the airline operating the aircraft
➢ Calculated using the following data:
1. Aircraft registration
2. Parking time at the airport
3. Airport point of departure and/ or landing
4. Times at the different points of entry or departure
➢ The data is entered or integrated from ATC. Based on this information, and the airport calculates the charges and
send the bill.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT - AIRPORT INFORMATION SYSTEM (AIS)

➢ Includes all types of software that collect, distribute, and update information from around the airport, including
public address systems and flight information display system.
➢ Receives data from airlines and terminals, data on time and gates of arrival that must be sent to the passenger
➢ Can display marketing information or any other non-flight-related types.

AIRPORT INFORMATION SYSTEM (AIS)

➢ Airport announcement system or public address (PA) System
1. Inform passenger and airport staff about any changes and processes of importance
2. Voice messages broadcasting through loudspeakers
➢ Automatic Terminal Information Service (ATIS)
1. Broadcasting weather reports, the condition of runway, or other local information for pilots and crews.
WORLD AIRPORT STAR RATING
➢ Skytrax World Airport Star Rating was introduced 20 years ago, and has become a global bench mark of
quality evaluation for the airport industry.
➢ 5-Star Airport symbol is our ultimate quality recognition for an airport, awarded to airports achieving high, overall
quality performance.
1. 5-Star rating
2. 4-Star rating
3. 3-Star rating
4. 2-Star rating
5. 1-Star rating

AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY

➢ Protection of civil aviation against acts of unlawful interference
➢ Events that led to the improvement in Aviation Safety and Security
1. 1931, Peru - first aircraft hijacking
2. Late 1960’s, Cuba - politically motivated hijacking
3. In 1969 - there were 87 hijacking worldwide. 71 were in Cuba, which typically granted political asylum
(for protection) to the hijackers.
➢ Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft
1. Tokyo Convention - signed September 14, 1963, and went into force on December 4, 1969
2. Concerned with cromes on board aircraft, particularly any crime that jeopardizes the safety of the
aircraft and it’s passengers

➢ Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft

1. The Hague Convention - signed December 16, 1970, and went into force on October 14, 1971
2. Concerned specifically with the offense of hijacking, with recommendation that it should be made an
extraditable offense for all member countries.
➢ Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation
1. Montreal Convention - signed September 23, 1971, and went into force on January 26, 1973.
2. Broadened the scope of The Hague Convention to include the crime of sabotage
➢ In 2001, September 11 attacks produced a sea change in much of the thinking surrounding airport security.
➢ In a period of 2 hours, a single terrorist organization wreaked an unprecedented level of destruction in the United
States by using hijacked airliners as missiles.
➢ November 2001, Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created with the purpose of protecting
transportation systems across the country from such threats.

SECURITY MEASURES IMPOSED BY TSA

➢ Installing detection systems in airports for explosives, drugs, certain materials, etc.
➢ Establishing the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, which pilots with firearms training and the right to carry
firearms while flying.
➢ Fortification of commercial aircrafts cockpits with reinforced doors to protect flight crew from weapons and
unauthorized entry.
➢ Employee random screening and stronger identification system
➢ Creating the secure flight program
➢ Watch lists

GLOBAL AVIATION SECURITY PLAN

➢ Five key priority outcomes
1. Enhance risk awareness and response
2. Develop security culture and human capability
3. Improve technology resources and foster innovation
 4. Improve oversight and quality assurance
5. Increase cooperation and support

THE 9 CLASSES OF DANGEROUS GOODS

1. CLASS 1 - explosives 6. CLASS 6 - poisons
2. CLASS 2 - flammable gasses 7. CLASS 7 - radioactive materials
3. CLASS 3 - flammable liquids 8. CLASS 8 - corrosives
4. CLASS 4 - flammable solids 9. CLASS 9 - miscellaneous hazardous materials
5. CLASS 5 - oxidizers (pesticides)

UNIT 5 GROUND HANDLING OPERATIONS: AIRSIDE OPERATIONS

GROUND HANDLING OPERATIONS

➢ Procedures can be classified as either terminal or airside operations

TERMINAL / LANDSIDE OPERATIONS

● Baggage Check - where passenger check-in there luggage before flying
● Baggage Handling - when they transport our luggage from check-in to the aircraft and going back to the terminal,
where we claim them.
● Baggage Claim - passenger collects their luggage upon arriving at the airport
● Ticketing and Check-in - issuance of ticket and checking passengers in for their flights
● Passenger loading/unloading - helping and assisting passengers embark and disembark our aircraft
● Transit Passenger Handling - assisting our passengers who has a connecting flight.
● Elderly and disabled person - providing helps like wheelchair assistance.
● Information System - offering flights information
● Government Controls - ensuring the compliance with regulations (immigration)
● Load Control - checking of the weight of the luggage
● Security - security check
● Cargo

AIRSIDE OPERATIONS
➢ Ramp Services (refueling, cleaning, parking)
● Supervision - overseeing the ramp activities
● Marshaling - guiding our aircraft using hand signals
● Start-up - preparing our aircraft engine before take off
● Moving/towing aircraft - transporting our aircraft to different locations in apron or ramp. They use tag or
tractors
● Safety / Measures - implementing guidelines and protocols for safety and maintenance
➢ On-ramp Aircraft Servicing
● Repair of faults - fixing any issues or minor problems
● Fuelling - add fuel to aircraft before flights
● Wheel and tire check
● Ground power supply - providing power on aircraft while its park
● Deicing - removing ice especially during cold weather (snow or winter)
● Cleaning of cockpit window, wings, nacelles (covering or housing of the aircraft especially the
engine) , and cabin windows

➢ On-board Servicing Cleaning

● Catering - proving food and beverages to passengers
● In-flight entertainment - ensuring the entertainment is functional (checking of screens)
● Minor Servicing of cabin fittings - performing small repairs or adjustments (loosing seatbelt)
● Alteration of seat configuration - changing how seats arrange
 ➢ External Ramp Equipment (tools for loading and unloading)
● Passenger steps - help passengers board the aircraft
● Catering loaders - used to load food onto the aircraft
● Cargo loaders - machines help load luggage and cargo
● Mail and equipment loading - loading of mail and other equipment
● Crew steps on all freight aircraft - providing steps for crews (stairs and ladders)
➢ Ramp Coordinator or dispatcher
1. Employees who monitor departure control
2. Ensures coordination of operations to avoid unnecessary ramp delays
➢ Marshaling
1. Guiding our pilot or called commanders
2. Using hand signals (standardized by ICAO)

RAMP SERVICES
➢ Open area where airplanes park
➢ Loading and unloading
➢ Refueling
➢ Parking
➢ More accessible to users than the runway or taxiway

OTHER RAMP SERVICES

● Parking – Security - guiding aircraft to a safe parking spot
● Arrival – Aircraft Marshalling - giving signals
● Passenger Boarding Stairs/Bridge - equipment to help passengers
● Opening and closing of cabin and compartment doors
● Aircraft handling in strong winds - extra safety measures (additional wheel chocks;kalso)
● Fuelling and defueling - adding and removing fuel because of weight adjustment
● Cleaning of aircraft interior - cabin crew clean cabin in between flights
● Catering and other pantry suppliers
● Potable Water - supplying cleaning water
● Toilet service - removing waste
● Departure Activities - all activities before take off
● Start-up Procedure
● Loading - placing of luggage or cargo
● De-icing and Anti-icing on ground - removing of ice

RAMP SERVICES IN CHARGE

➢ Ramp Agent - responsible for overseeing direction of a variety of aircraft ground handling service.
➢ Ground Support Equipment (GSE)
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
1. Ensures a safe work environment by following all Air Traffic Services (ATS) rules.
2. Marshaling aircraft
3. Baggage handling
4. Cabin cleaning
5. Stocking of supplies
6. Servicing lavatories

PARKING – SECURITY
➢ Action shall be taken as to prevent unauthorized access to aircraft during ground stop.

TAXI AND PARKING

➢ Aircraft moves slowly on the ground from the runway to the parking gate or vice versa
➢ Done to avoid collision
ARRIVAL – AIRCRAFT MARSHALLING
➢ Process of guiding an aircraft safely on the ground when it arrives on the airport.
➢ Standardized by ICAO
➢ During the day signal man uses bats, its a bright paddles
➢ At night time they uses illuminated ones, bright light.
➢ Signal man - qualified person who assists the commander during arrival at and departure from the parking
area, or when the aircraft is passing close to obstacle.
➢ Wingman - signal man in judging the safe distance between aircraft and obstacles
➢ Position - signal man must stand in a fixed position, to the left and forward of the final position of the nose wheel
so that the commander clearly understand that this is the parking place.

MARSHALLING HAND SIGNALS

➢ Raising your right hand - all clear
➢ Both hands - flagman directs pilot
➢ Hands going up and down - chocks is already inserted
➢ Sidewards - removed chocks
➢ Iniikot yung kamay and pointing in different directions - start engine
➢ Hand going left - stop or cut engine
➢ Raising both hands - proceed straight ahead
➢ Down hands but moving up and down - slow down
➢ Pointing left - turn left
➢ Pointing right - turn right
➢ X signal - stop (emergency stop)

SERVICES
➢ Aircraft Ramp Servicing - departs on any airport (needs refueling, cleaning, or has issues) under the supervision
of airline station engineer.
➢ Fault Servicing - aircraft landed and quickly check minor issues reported by the pilot.
➢ Fueling - process of adding fuel. Bowsers, tracks that are readily available for water, equipment, refuel, etc.
➢ Wheels and Tires - visual physical check
➢ Ground Power Supply - Auxiliary Power Units (APU’s), small engines on aircraft that generates power.
➢ Toilet Holding Tanks - collecting waste from lavatory.
➢ Adding demineralized water

ON BOARD SERVICING
➢ On board Servicing
1. Exchanging of blankets, pillow, and headrests
2. Vacuuming and shampooing of carpets
3. Clearing of ashtrays and removal of all litter
4. Restocking of seatback pockets
5. Cleaning and restocking of galleys and toilets
6. Washing of all smooth areas, including armrests
➢ Catering
1. Catering food and beverages
2. Cleaning the galley
3. Done quickly especially after a flight
4. Secondary cleaning - after restocking
5. Standard Hygiene