This course covers passenger flow management at different stages of air travel. It includes 7 topics, such as terminal service systems components, passenger processing, and baggage handling. The total workload is 110 hours. Participants will receive a Certificate of Completion, but not take an exam. The document discusses passenger arrival patterns, check-in times, and security check capacity as key factors for terminal management. Specifically, it notes that security screening is often the main bottleneck, as its capacity depends on balancing the speeds of preparing, screening, and reclaiming belongings. Effective passenger flow requires coordinating these stages to keep people moving smoothly.

1. This course is prepared under the Erasmus+ KA-210-YOU Project titled
«Skilling Youth for the Next Generation Air Transport Management»
Terminal Service Systems
Management
Passenger flow management at different service stages
Allan Nõmmik

2. Passenger flow management at different service stages 2
Terminal Service Systems Management
Course Subject 1 Introduction to the course, Capacity definitions, Airport definitions
Course Subject 2 Terminal service systems components
Course Subject 3 Passenger processing
Course Subject 4 Baggage handling
Course Subject 5 Passenger flow management at different service stages
Course Subject 6 Emergency response planning
Course Subject 7 Developing terminal service strategies, terminal capacity planning
Total Workload 110 h
Course Evaluation No exam, only Certiticate of Completion will be provided.
Participant University in
Charge
Estonian Aviation Academy
Course Coordinator(s) Kristjan Roosipõld, Allan Nõmmik

3. Passenger flow management at different service stages 3

4. Passenger flow management at different service stages 4
Passenger profile
Different behavior when arriving at the airport
0
0,05
0,1
0,15
0,2
0,25
0,3
0,35
0,4
0,45
0,5
Probability
arrival
Time before departure (minutes)
Charter leisure flight
Regular flight
Source: Nõmmik, A., Antov, D. (2017). Modelling Regional Airport Terminal Capacity. In: 16th Conference
on Reliability and Statistics in Transportation and Communication, RelStat’2016, Procedia
Engineering, 178, 427-434.

5. Airport efficiency – terminal capacity
Passenger flow management at different service stages
5
Based on the following measurable parameters:
 passenger behavior when arriving at an airport
 check-in service time, by flight type (regular/charter)
 capacity of security check, separated between three
stages
preparation for
security check
security point including
screening of baggage
collecti belongings from the
trays etc

6. Check-in
Mean
(seconds)
Standard deviation
(seconds)
Regular flight 51,5 28,1
Leisure charter* 35,0 6,7
*- measured in Tallinn airport
The preferences of passengers for different
check-in options very widely according to a
particular airline’s check-in policy, departure time
and passenger profile
Example: Check-in service time*
Passenger flow management at different service stages
Source: Nõmmik, A., Antov, D. (2017). Modelling Regional Airport Terminal Capacity. In: 16th Conference
on Reliability and Statistics in Transportation and Communication, RelStat’2016, Procedia
Engineering, 178, 427-434.

7. Security check
Passenger flow management at different service stages 7
• The security check processes could be divided into three stages.
Let us consider the system with one security lane. The time Ts
which takes the check-in process or time when one passenger
stays the security facility could be calculated:
• 𝑇𝑠 = 𝑇𝑠1 + 𝑇𝑠2 + 𝑇𝑠3 ,
• where Ts1 – time for passenger preparation for security check incl.
putting outerwear to the boxes, getting liquid and electronic
devices from hand luggage etc; Ts2 – time for going through the
security point including screening baggage (depends of airport
security programme and equipment); Ts3 – time starting from the
moment when passenger is free from the security check and
collects his/her things from the boxes etc.

8. Security check (2)
• Arrival of passengers is the subject for management with specific role of
local public transport
• Critical role of service technology and airline service conception incl
luggage policy and penalties
• Security check - main bottleneck
Passenger flow management at different service stages 8
The example applies to airports in the Baltic states,
summer time
Mean (seconds) Standard deviation (seconds)
Ts1 40 15
Ts3 80 34
Source: Nõmmik, A., Antov, D. (2017). Modelling Regional Airport Terminal Capacity. In: 16th Conference
on Reliability and Statistics in Transportation and Communication, RelStat’2016, Procedia
Engineering, 178, 427-434.

9. • Due to passengers passing through different parts one after another, for smooth passage
through the security check, following the condition:
• 𝐶𝑠1 ~ 𝐶𝑠2 ~ 𝐶𝑠3 ,
• where Cs1 – capacity of the first stage of security check, Cs2 – capacity of the second stage
of security check, Cs3 – capacity of the third stage of security check. Additionally we can
argue that the capacity of security lane Cs the subject of condition:
• 𝐶𝑠 = min( 𝐶𝑠1, 𝐶𝑠2, 𝐶𝑠3) ,
Passenger flow management at different service stages 9
Security check capacity

10. • The time that belongs to passenger boarding procedures at the airport terminal
(boarding card check) is minimal, i.e. 7-10 seconds (if passenger identification is
not required)
• The critical factor for airport planning in departures area is the ability to
accommodate passengers waiting to boarding (NB! aircrift size!)
Passenger flow management at different service stages 10
Boarding area
Source: Eurocontrol, 2015

11. • Explain the specific role of arrival passengers for management
airport capacity incl with local public transport.
• Explain with examples the critical role of service technology for
passenger flow management?
• Why the security check as usual the main bottleneck for airport
passenger flow management?
Passenger flow management at different service stages 11
Task 5.1