course material

1. trategies that airport planners can adopt..
Strategies that airport planners can adopt to deal with increasing dynamic airline network
behaviourAbstractThis paper discusses the issues of capacity in the airports. To deal with
the increasing dynamic airline network behaviour, the problem of capacity has to be
addressed because the capacity of the airlines is increasing. It is expected that by the year
2020 the capacity will have doubled the current capacity of the passengers and the air
traffic will have increased. As a result, there will be increased demand that will cause
congestion in the airports and the problem of airspace will be experienced. The runway
operations of the major airports will also be affected by the capacity problem. The paper
gives the strategies that can be adopted by the airport planners to deal with increasing
dynamic airline network behaviour. There is a need of a new infrastructure in the airports
because optimizing the capacities of the airports that are available will not be able to
completely solve the existing problem of the capacity. If the efficiency of the air transport is
to be ensured, then there must be a new approach to the aviation system that will deal with
the capacity problem. The airport planners are supposed to have several strategies that can
be adopted to deal with the problem and to give good services to the airport users.Some of
the airports are trying to optimise the operations in the airports and there are objectives of
ensuring efficiency in the airports. There are things that need to be streamlined in the
activities of the airport and the aircrafts are supposed to be managed in an efficient way for
the airports to meet the challenge of the capacity. The network management is to be
involved in defining the particular route frequency services and thus will be god
management. To deal with the capacity challenge, the airports planners need to come up
with a strategy of monitoring the capacity of the airport consistently at the level of the
European Union. This requires that the data related to the capacity of the airport be taken. It
also requires that the decisions made by the European aviation network to be well
understood and their implications also to be taken into account. This will help the airports
to know what is going on and they will make decisions on how to deal with different issues
when they arise. The data of the capacity will help them in keeping the records and
comparing different strategies.Another strategy that has been adopted by the European
Union and can also be adopted by the airport planners is the strategy of empowering the
airports to meet the capacity challenge. By empowering them, the airports will be prepared
to deal with the challenge and also they will be prepared psychologically. The airport
allocation and the charges are to be empowered with the purpose of encouraging the
airports to use them even if there is scarcity and also to use them in an efficient way. The

2. planners should consider making investment so that they can be able to meet the demands
in future and to also build and improve the infrastructure that is needed.Apart from
monitoring the consistency of the airport capacity and empowering the airports, the airport
planners should also consider providing the guidelines and rules that are to be used in the
planning. The rules and the guidelines are to be on land use and also on the use of the air
space. The guidelines should also state how the area around the airport is to be protected
and how it is to be used. The guidelines will help to protect the area that is around the
airport not to be used for other purposes like building of residential houses and other
developments. When the guidelines are followed, they will help to avoid conflicts in future
between the airports and the communities that are around the airports. The rules will also
avoid political conflicts and disagreements with the government. Together with the
guidelines, there are regulations of the slot allocation that are to be adopted by the airport
planners. The regulation was introduced with the purpose of allocating slots in the
community airports to prevent capacity congestion. The regulation and the rules that were
introduced were supposed to be non discriminatory, neutral and transparent to all the
users of the airport and to all the parties.The airport planners can also adopt the strategy of
optimizing the use of the airport by using the hubbing function as Meersman, (2004, p.19-
29), states, which will help in maximizing the airport facilities. Hubbing will help in
managing the capacity problem because it will consolidate the traffic and the economies of
scale will be experienced. Hubbing will be suitable for the full service network carriers. The
hubs airline can also operate at a low frequency and they can use large airlines in the routes.
By using large aircrafts, they will be carrying many passengers at the same time and this
will reduce the cost of the aircrafts and there will be economies of scale because of the large
aircraft. The low frequency will result into lower unit cost and there will be low yields. The
strategy of increasing the frequency will help the airlines to get more passengers who are
business people and this will increase the demand. They can also adopt the strategy of
using higher frequency and smaller aircrafts. This would be possible if there are no
restrictions in the airport concerning the capacity. When this strategy is adopted, the
waiting time on the ground and on the air will be maintained and also punctuality will be
maintained. The use of high frequency and the smaller aircrafts will result to higher yields
and high unit costs and it is best if used by the full service carriers because they charge
higher cost that the low cost carriers. The planners can also decide to use intercontinental
routes. This will be adopted by more passengers because they will prefer to use one airline
for the whole journey than using more than one airline for one journey. The passengers may
also prefer to use the intercontinental routes because it will save them from using different
airline partners who are independent of each other. Hub and spoke is possible for the full
service carriers and they are the ones that will get the advantage if this strategy is adopted
by the airport planners.The inadequate capacity in the airports causes limitation as
suggested by Gelhausen, (2011, p. 116-119), between the airlines operating in the airport
and the hub airline operating in the same airport. The capacity problem also causes time
delays for the airlines because they might be forced to wait for some time. Specific
destinations may have fewer flights per day and this may cause longer connecting times for
the flights. The delays caused will increase the overall cost and the customers will also be

3. delayed. When the customers are delayed it results to lower returns to the airports. The
network management will not be effective in their work because they will have to
reschedule some of the flights to deal with the delays caused by the capacity issue.The
airport planners should also adopt the strategy of giving discounts in the airports which will
attract the low cost airlines. The airports that are in a better position to use this discounts
are the secondary airports. This will affect the network management in managing the
revenue and making the decisions of how much to charge. On the ordinary airport charges,
the low cost airlines give discounts and that is why they need to use airports with discounts.
The low cost carriers get more customers because of their low fare prices and their services
remain the same. Despite the low fares as Kim and Lee, (2011, p. 235-243), puts it, their
quality is good and they are preferred over the full service carriers. Implementation of
discounts in the airports will help the low cost carriers to increase their customers and at
the same time increase their revenues. The airline customers have different needs and some
of the customers prefer the full service carriers for their services.Another alternative
strategy that can be used by the airport planners according to Rcaueb/translog, (2003, p. 4
– 22), is to consider constructing new airports and improving the available ones. This
strategy could be the most effective in dealing with the capacity problem both for the full
service carriers and for the low cost carriers, but for it to succeed there are a lot of
challenges that the airport and the planners are supposed to overcome. One of the barriers
of the construction of new airports is the cost. The planners have to consider that the
process will take a lot of time and also the high cost and a lot of people and specialists will
be involved. Large budgets have to be prepared for new airports to be constructed and to be
improved. For the strategy to be considered by the airport planners, they have to take into
account environmental and the political barriers that have to be dealt with in the cause of
the process. Although the strategy of new constructions will be the best when it is complete,
the time that will be taken, the cost of the process, the political and environment barriers
makes it hard for the planners to consider the strategy and look for other alternative
solutions that may be found in an easy and a cheaper way.The other big handle to jump in
the consideration by the planners of the airport construction and the improvement of an
existing one is the factor of getting a good site for the new construction of the airport. It is
hard to get a good location that will be accepted by the government and at the same time a
place that will be environmental friendly to all the users and the people outside the airport.
The site should also be socially acceptable by the communities around to avoid the social
pressure to the airport operators and the authorities. The location should also be
economically affordable for the airlines to avoid debts and losses that might be experienced
by the airports. When the planners decide to use the strategy of constructing a new airport,
they also have to be prepared to deal with the problem of resistance from people who are
the users of the airport and also to deal with political resistance. The users of the airport
like the airlines might bring resistance because of the cost that are involved in the process
of relocating. The airlines that use the hub operations like the full service carriers may
experience the high cost and the complexity in the relocation. The airlines may also resist
the change because of the competitiveness. The environmental factors consist of things like
the noise that is experienced by the community living around the airport, the air pollution

4. caused by the fuel and the noise emitted and the traffic congestion of the airlines.The
airport planners can also consider dealing with the high demand levels by adopting the
strategy of increasing the capacity. This will be a short term solution but it will help in a way
if it is adopted in a good way and if it is accepted by all the users of the airport. Increasing
the capacity will involve the use of new technologies and equipment for capacity increase.
The use of the new innovated technologies and the new equipments to expand the space
will involve other people from outside to be outsourced but the cost will not be very high
compared to construction of a new airport. There will also be operational improvements
together with the advanced technology. This strategy is not very expensive and it does not
take a long time to implement. The implementation is also easy and it will solve the problem
of congestion and the capacity shortages. The planners should come up with the right
procedures that are to be followed and also have a phase where they can experiment the
new changes and see if the changes work effectively. The process of balancing the capacity
may include intersecting the runways to create more space and also reducing all the spaces
generally. The airlines also can increase their capacity by increasing the seats as suggested
by Boehmer, (2010, p. 3-45). And this could be suitable for the full service network carriers
with the large aircrafts. This may require the people who use the airport facility to be more
patient in dealing with the changes. It may also require the airport planner to orient the
new systems to the pilots and to other users. The shortcoming of this strategy is that the
problem of the capacity and the congestion will only have been solved for a short time and it
will not relieve the airports that are severely congested. These airports may need another
plan to decongest them.An alternative strategy that can be adopted is the administrative
strategy. This strategy will affect the airline network management in that they will not be
able to develop the flight schedules as stated by Grammig et al, (2005, p.467-486). This can
be used in metropolitan regions, in individual airports and it can also be used in the
international airports. The administrative measure includes the diversion of some of the
traffics to relieve the airport. In this way, the traffic can be diverted in a way that they will
not be affected but at the same time they will create space in the airport. The administrative
measures encourage the users of the metropolitan airports to use it in a more balanced way.
This is because the airlines are directed on what to do and at specific times for the purpose
of creating space. The administrative strategy also helps in the restriction of the access to
airports by the use of the aircraft. This means that the accesses of an aircraft to a certain
airport will depend on the use of the aircraft. The network management will have to change
their schedules to cope with the strategy. There are also restrictions according to the type of
the aircraft meaning that not all types of the aircrafts can use any airport at any given time.
The metropolitan region airports or the individual airports can also use the administrative
strategies by restricting the number of operations which can be achieved by establishing
quotas and this affects the network management because the routing patterns may be
changed.The strategy can also be used at the national level where the method can be used to
encourage redistribution of the traffic to the airports that are being under used from the
busy airports. The strategy can also help to encourage hubbing of the traffic. The above
strategy is good and it can be adopted but the planners of the airport have to know the
problem that is associated with the strategy. The problem is that the users of the airport

5. takes the strategy to be that they are denied the right or the freedom they are supposed to
have of using the airports of their choice as Loan et al, (2008,p93-112) suggests. The
strategy has been seen by the aviation industry to be affecting its growth and it has not
prevented the delays that are experienced with the flights. The strategy also has been
criticised because the efficiency and allocation of the schedules has not been fair. The
administrative management if well used can deal with the utilization of the airport and it
can eliminate delays in the air and in the ground and increase efficiency. This method of
dealing with the increasingly dynamic airline network behaviour is easy and there are low
costs that are involved in the process and the airports are relieved.Response of airport
operators to a more competitive environmentAccording to Seetek Your Airport Technology
Partner, (2010), the airport operators have been dealing with the problem of increasing
capacity in the airport in different ways. The operators have responded differently. Some of
the airports operators have decided to use the Information Technology and other new
technologies to deal with the problem of competitive environment. The Information
Technology has been used by the managers and the operators in making the operations of
the airport easier. The use of Information Technology has helped them in maximizing the
capacity in the airports and improving the efficiency. The other advantage that has been
associated with the use of the Information Technology is that the customers are more
satisfied and the operation expenses of the airports are reduced. Use of Information
Technology for the airport operators help in increasing the revenues of the airport because
the customers are satisfied with the services they receive at the airports. The airport
operators using the Information Technology as a means of responding to the competitive
environment get the advantage of greater transparency in the airport operations and also
there is financial success. If it is used in the right way, it brings competitiveness in the
airport and it also enhances flexibility among the airport operators. The airport operators
have come up with operational efficiencies that help them to communicate with the
passengers and the staff who are in the airport. The operators have invented ways of
updating the deployment schedules of the airport daily to facilitate the communication that
is needed in the airport. The airport operators and the authorities teach their staff how to
deal with the challenges that they get to cope with the competitive environment. The new
technologies have helped the airport operators to manage in a better way and in an effective
way. It has also added speed to the operations of the airport and the management network
has done its work effectively.The airport operators have also decided to listen to the
customers who use their airports and comply with their needs to reduce the competition. As
Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, (2010), states, the business leaders and the owners of
the private aircraft has asked the airport operators and the authorities to make available
services and equipments that are related to fuel services. The airport operators have given
in to the requests by the customers and this is a good response towards the competitive
environment. While complying with the demands of the customers, the airports will be
doing economic development and the customers will be satisfied. Competition helps the
customers to get good services at a lower price.The airports operators can deal with the
problems of competition by maintaining their customers. There is a need of keeping the
customers happy and making sure that they are satisfied with the services that are

6. provided. The airport operators are working on improving their relationships with the
customers and they are teaching their staff and the workers on how to improve their
services and how to deal with the customers for the purpose of maintaining them. The
airport operators have to bring a difference in their service to the customers that will make
them maintain their loyalty.The needs of the customers of the airline change and there is
need for the airport operators to adapt to the new changes. The customers need to be
comfortable as they travel to different places and they also need the airlines to understand
them even if they have some physical problems as stated by US Today, (2008, p. 14). To
meet the new needs, the airlines are supposed to become efficient and to be able to deal
with individual customers despite the increasing capacity in the airports. To please the
customers, some of the airlines have turned to using regional jets instead of the larger
aircrafts. This has caused congestion and delays both in the sky and in the
road. ReferencesBoehmaer. J., 2010. Airlines Consider Increasing Their Capacity.
Periodical. Vol. 27 Issue 10, p3-45, 2p,Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport. 2010. Retrieved
on 31. March 2011. Gelhausen. M. C., 2011., Modelling the effects of capacity constraints on
air travellers’ airport choice. Academic Journal. Vol. 17 Issue 2, p116-119, 4pGrammig. J. ;
Hujer. R.; Scheidler. M. , 2005, Discrete choice modelling in airline network management.
Academic Journal. Vol. 20 Issue 4, p467-486, 20pKim. Y. And Lee. H., 2011., Customer
satisfaction using low cost carriers. Academic Journal. Vol. 32 Issue 2, p235-243, 9pLoan. L.;
D. G.; Hoffman. K.; Chun-Hung. C., 2003,. Optimum Airport Capacity Utilization under
Congestion Management: A Case Study of New York LaGuardia Airport. Academic Journal.
Vol. 31 Issue 1, p93-112, 20p,Meersman. H., Roosens. P., Van de Voorde. E. and Witlox. F.,
2004, Optimising strategies in the air transport business. Survical foir the fittest. Book. P19-
29. P10Rcaueb/translog, 2004., THEmatic Network on Airport ActivitiesAirport Capacity
and Efficiency – Final Synthesis. Book. P4-22Seetek Your Airport Technology Partner- Our
Company, 2010., retrieved on 31. March . 2011.
http://www.seetekairportsolutions.com/aboutus.htmlUSA Today, 2008., In time of need,
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