Week 6: Airport Terminal Design
ZEIT 3805: Airport Operations and Systems
By Sarah Shuchi, PhD

• Introduction to airport terminal design
• Configuration of terminal buildings
• Overall design of a passenger terminal
- Passenger building: specific facilities
- Terminal design principles
• Traditional vs modern design concept
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Lecture outline

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INTRODUCTION TO AIRPORT
TERMINAL

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Introduction
Main functions of airport terminals
• To provide a convenient facility from ground transport to air
transport, and vice-versa.
• Airport terminal is a complex system
Domestic
airport
Regional
airport
International
airport
Airports
Arriving Departing
Transit
Passengers
Need to handle 6-7% per annum growth.
How to handle this rapid growth?

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• Three primary components of an airport complex
- Landside, terminal building and airside facilities
Introduction
Components of an Airport terminal
Air side facilities Land side facilities
Terminal
Building
• Runway
• Apron
• Taxiway
• Gate
• Control tower
• Curb front pedestrian facilities
• Public transportation (including
bus and rail)
• Parking facilities
• Entry exit roadways
Passenger movement Baggage handling
• Passengers embark and disembark from the aircrafts.

Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam
In 1920
In 1967

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Introduction
Development of Heathrow Airport
Heathrow (now)

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TERMINAL CONFIGURATIONS

History of Terminal Configuration
Unit Terminal Concept Unit Terminal
Combined Unit Terminal
Multiple-unit terminal

Terminal Configurations
Five basic types of configurations
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Terminal
configuration
Finger pier
Satellite (with or
without pier),
Midfield (linear
or X-shaped)
Linear
Transporter

Pier/Finger Pier
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Terminal
configuration
• Widely adopted, introduced in 1950s.
• High aircraft capacity and simplicity in
design.
• maximize the number of A/C parking
spaces with fewer infrastructures.
• Preferable when the level of transfer traffic
is low.
New York/LaGuardia Airport
Brisbane International Airport

Finger pier (disadvantages)
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Terminal
configuration
• Long walking distances.
• Add constraints with the mobility of aircraft movement in the
apron
Osaka, Kansai Airport
Washington Reagan
Techniques to tackle these issues
• Short finger piers
• Incorporating people movers

Satellite
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Terminal
configuration
• Extension of T-shaped finger piers.
• A single terminal to process passengers.
• Connected to this are numerous
concourses that lead to one or more
satellite structures.
Satellite layout Tampa
Terminal 1, Paris/de Gaulle
Disadvantages
• Requires high quality
transportation system.
• High capital, maintenance
and operating cost

Linear
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Terminal
configuration
• A linear building with relatively thin
structure.
• Centralized passenger processing.
• Also can be curvilinear.
Dallas forth- Worth International Airport
Linear configuration at Darwin
International Airport
Disadvantages
• Longer walking distances for transfer
passengers.
• Primarily applicable for low-activity
• Requires duplication of terminal
facilities/amenities

Transporter
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Terminal
configuration
• Passengers are transported to and from the
building to the parked airplane.
• Specially designed buses carry passengers
between the terminal and the aircraft.
• Minimizes walking distances.
• Airplane taxiing time to and from the runway is
decreased
Disadvantages
• This is an expensive option
for airport operators.
• Inconvenient delays for short
haul passengers.
Washington/Dulles Airport

Midfield concourse
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Terminal
configuration
Pittsburgh Airport
• Independent passenger buildings.
• Typically between two parallel runways and separated from
the other passenger buildings by major taxiways.
• Two basic shapes: linear and x-shaped.
Denver International Airport

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O’Hare International Airport, Chicago
Terminal
configuration
Hybrid Configurations
Melbourne International Airport, Australia
• Combination of different
configuration types.
• Meet variety of existing needs
• Adapt easily to future needs
• Maximize quality of service

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Terminal
configuration
• Design requirements are normally defined in terms of :
Importance of selection
Number of aircrafts
Passenger numbers
Major Operational problems
Financial loss
Variety of traffic
Need of several
stakeholders
Commercial
services
• High cost of restoration
• Limited options for alteration
• The building eventually closed in 2001
when American Airlines bought TWA
• Radical and compact plan

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Terminal
configuration
Importance of selection
• And also causes operational difficulties for
example, Kansas City Airport.
Kansas City Airport
• Particularly not suitable for transfer
passengers.
• Major airline moved to St. Louis after
economic deregulation.

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Terminal
configuration
• Passenger building widely separated
• Massive economical losses
• Cost of underground ‘people mover’ is
high.
Stansted Airport, UK
Importance of selection

• There is no single solution, there are many factors involved.
• Depends on the specific circumstances, the site, the types of traffic
and the needs of several stakeholders.
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Terminal
configuration
Evaluation of Configuration
• Which configuration is the best?
Key considerations
Walking distances
Aircraft taxiing around
the buildings
FlexibilityTraffic pattern
Priorities of
stakeholders

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Overall Design of Passenger
Terminal

• Efficient design requires careful consideration of the followings:
Terminal
design
Sharing of
facilities
Multifunctional and common used facilities
- Reduces overall design load
Provides flexibility
Performance
objectives
Economic objectives
Quality of service or economic efficiency?
Management
of operations
Role of hub airport
Shifting loads among various functions
Design of Passenger building
Design standards for any particular part of a passenger building are not
universal.

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Queues
Terminal
design
• Rule of thumb: 0.6 m per person
• Snake queue: more efficient
• Wise use of space
Straight queue or snake queue?

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Check-in facilities
Terminal
design
• Airport Check-in are service counters found at commercial airports
handling commercial air travel.
Typical check-in counters
Self check-in kiosks at Canberra Airport
Standards are changing.
• Electronic ticketing and self check-in
reduces processing time.
Halifax Stanfield International Airport,
Canada

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Security and border checkpoints
Terminal
design
• The most important aspect of airport operations.
• Dramatic changes after 9/11.
• Led to many changes in design and operation of terminals.

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Heathrow hassle, Terminal 5
• Passengers were unable to check-in baggage and 68 flights had to be
cancelled.
• Inadequate car parking space.
• Shortage of BAA security staff.
• Inadequate training.
Baggage handling system
Terminal
design
A type of conveyor system installed in airports that
transports checked luggage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swjVnmJ8
v3Q
IATA Check-point of the Future

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A more or less standard process has evolved over the years for
designing passenger terminals at airports. It consists of four steps:
1) Forecasting traffic levels for peak hours;
Passenger Terminal Design principles
Terminal
design
2) Specification of level-of-service (LOS) standards;
3) Flow Analysis and determination of space requirements
4) Configuration of server and space.

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Forecasting
Terminal
design
• Basic concept: Estimate past trends and project forward.
• To produce peak-hour demand scenarios for the design day.
Design day = Average week day of the peak month
15 to 20 percent
variation with real data Forecast is unreliable/uncertain
Constantly
changing situation
Technological
Deregulation
Political
Economic
Industrial

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• These standards provide the basis for
translating the forecasts into an architectural
program.
• LOS is higher when passengers have more
space.
Specification of LOS
Terminal
design
Adapted from IATA, 1995
LoS F
LoS C

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• When planning terminal processing facilities and corresponding
passenger queuing areas, TWO important variables jointly dictate the
new LoS.
New LoS new concept
Terminal
design
• The new LoS framework is reflected in a space-time concept to be used
for defining the LoS at processing facilities and corresponding waiting
areas.
Minimum Space Maximum
waiting time

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The passenger flow in the terminal can be subdivided in three sub-
processes:
Passenger flow
Terminal
design
Departure Arrival Transfer
Disembark Customs
Baggage
claim
Customs and
quarantine
Depart airport
Arrival Passenger activities
Passenger
entry
Check-
in
Security
Check
Liquids Aerosol
& Gels
Screening
Customs &
Immigration
Boarding
Departure passenger activities

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Flow Analysis
Terminal
design
Simulation
CAST Terminal - Passenger Terminal
Simulation
• Multi-agent simulator to analyze various
terminal layouts and strategies.
• Determine the number of facilities
required.
• Optimization of capabilities in the early
planning stages.
Queuing theory
Computer
simulations
Graphical
analyses

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Configuration of Space requirements
Terminal
design
• Formulas for translating number of traffic into space requirement is
arithmetically simple.
Design load for an
activity
Level of Service
(LoS)
Dwell time
- Depend on design peak hour/ design hour
- Airport facilities are designed to
accommodate the loads
• LoS standard ‘C’ is generally used.
• LoS ‘C’ for design year is LoS ‘A’ at the
opening time.
• Typical length of time passengers stay in a
waiting for service.
• It indicates how fast a space can be reused
by another passenger.

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Major design considerations
Terminal
design
Passenger Flow
Walking distance
Level of Service
Way-finding
Ambience
Processing time
Amenities
Retail experience
Efficient public
transportation
Security
What are the key factors to build efficient and attractive
terminal building?

Traditional vs new design
concept
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Traditional vs
New conceptWhy new design concept?
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LOS
Standards
Standard design: Traffic forecast Flow analysis Service space
Rigid
structure
Long term point
forecast
Established
clients
Flexible
structure
Forecast
uncertainty
Variable
clients

Low-cost carrier terminals
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Designed with the needs of low cost airlines in mind.
Terminal building:
• Simple boxy warehouse-like design.
• Low-height ceilings.
• Baggage handling is much simplified
Amenities:
• Fewer choice in terms of restaurants, duty-free.
• Decoration being mostly airline ads.

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Modular airport
• Simple geometry
• Modular approach
• Allow room for extension
Southampton Airport
Flexible design concept
Madrid Barajas Airport
• Open plan design
• Easy removable partitions
Vancouver Airport

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Design
development
Business Process Model analysis
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Activity
analysis
Design
evaluation
Identify design
factors
Areas of
uncertainty
Step 1
Spatial layout
Physical structure
Operational
Strategic
TacticalLayers of
change
Alternate
layouts
Evaluate
alternative
layouts
Automation of layout generation
Identify
passenger
processing
activity
Spatial
adjacency
obtained
Grouping
passenger
activity
Determine
spatial
allocation
Develop
preliminary
layout
Custom plug-in to
create input
model
Floor plan
generator
Parametric
spatial layout
Flexibility level
Flowgraph model
Flexible design
parameters
Grasshopper model
Research outcome

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Shuchi, S; Drogemuller, R and Buys, L (2016), A conceptual design framework to incorporate flexibility in airport
terminals, Journal of Airport Management (Accepted)
Shuchi, S (2015), A novel concept for airport terminal design integrating flexibility, PhD thesis, Creative Industries
Faculty, Queensland University of Technology, QLD 4000, Australia.
Shuchi, S; Drogemuller, R & Kleinschmidt, T (2012), Flexible airport terminal design: towards a framework,
Proceedings of the IIE Asian Conference 2012, Tang, Loon Ching & Watson, Gregory H. (Eds.), Department of
Industrial & Systems Engineering, NUS, Singapore, pp. 348-356.
Shuchi, S & Drogemuller, R (2012), Using process models to support design of airport terminals, Proceedings of
ECPPM 2012: eWork and eBusiness in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, Gudnason, Gudni & Scherer,
Raimar (Eds.), CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, Reykjavik, Iceland, pp. 213-220.
Shuchi, S & Drogemuller, R (2012), Process based synthesis to evaluate design flexibility in airport terminal
layout, Proceedings of ANZAScA Conference, Skates, Henry (Ed.), Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, pp. 1-8.
Shuchi, S and Drogemuller, R (2012); Airport information modelling, presentation at the Airports of the Future
Grand Showcase, 30-31 May, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC), Australia.
Shuchi, S and Drogemuller, R (2011); Flexible design framework for airport design, presentation at the Airports of
the Future Project Grand Showcase as part of the ‘The Second International Colloquium on Airports and Spatial
Development’, 9 - 11 February, Queensland University of Technology, QLD 4000, Australia.
Publications

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