Most of the airports in India operate on single runway. Even Mumbai airport, which has two operational runways, operate on one runway most of the times. Two operational runways, when used simultaneously, supports more aircraft movements as one runway can be dedicated to take offs and one for landing. However, the secondary runways in Indian airports, if present, are either small to handle all kinds of aircraft or intersects with the main runway thereby restricting its size for usage (like the one in Mumbai).
Hence, it is important to think of achieving operational efficiency using a single runway. To put it crudely, the Indian airports must think about ways to reduce the time the aircraft uses the runway for take off and landing. By some means, if the time taken by an aircraft in a runway be reduced, more number of aircrafts can be handled per given time. This, of course, must consider all the safety and separation standards.
Gatwick airport, based in London, is the busiest single runway airport in the world. It handles 52 aircrafts (take offs plus landings) per hour at peak time. Even though the mumbai airport is running on 100% capacity, it only handles 36 aircrafts per hour and Chennai airport can only manage 27 per hour. It clearly means that the runways in India can be utilised even further without making major changes to the existing physical infrastructure. In Gatwick, take offs and landings occur one after the other in a pre-decided sequence. One aircraft lands and exits the runway and while the next aircraft approaches the runway, another aircraft would use the runway for take off inbetween. This operation is deemed to be safe and is well within the rules of operation.
This mode of operation is viable in Gatwick mainly because of two factors. The technology they use to schedule the aircraft arrivals and departures and the rapid exit taxiways. The technology is provided by a company named NATS, which manages the air traffic control for the airport. The software can schedule the aircraft well in advance so that it allows the controller to control the take offs and landings from the single runway. Enormous amount of fuel is wasted when the aircraft is sent to holding patterns before getting a slot to land. NATS software would enable to controller to delay the aircraft from the origin rather than sending it in holding pattern.
Another feature of Gatwick airport is the rapid exit taxiways. With these exits, the aircraft don't have to slow down completely before leaving the runway. In most of the Indian airports, rapid exit taxiways do not exist. Hence the aircrafts have to completely slow down before exiting. This, in turn, means that the aircraft had to spend more time than required on the runway. Indian airports should explore the options of creating rapid exit taxiways to improve their runway efficiency.
Also, after exiting the runway, only a limited number of gates are present in some of the airports in India. Baring the newly constructed airports, almost all the older ones only have a handful of boarding gates. Hence boarding is forced into stands. This is an inefficient way of boarding passengers as the airliner have to use buses or other modes of transportation to board and de-board passengers from/to the terminal. For the airlines, this is time consuming and not cost effective. Some of the major airport terminals are being refurbished and so this problem should disappear in near future. However, this is an important factor for damaging the efficiency of an airport.
On top of all these, to sustain the growth levels that are seen in the past decade, airlines must reach out more to its customers. One of the reasons for the airlines' growth story is the number of lower income group migrating into middle class in India. These are the future customers for the industry. Airlines must do whatever they can to lure these middle income group to take the air mode of transport. It is true that the airlines are luring this section of people with low fares. That is not enough. Airlines could possibly think of using a road transport service, like easy bus in Europe, to transport customers near their home at a low cost. Sometimes, it takes more than 50% of the air fare to travel to the airport. That has to change. Air travel should be made swifter and easier for the masses because air travel is not just for the elite. We are entering an era in India where air travel will be for everyone. The airlines and the airport authorities must start preparing now.
Hence, it is important to think of achieving operational efficiency using a single runway. To put it crudely, the Indian airports must think about ways to reduce the time the aircraft uses the runway for take off and landing. By some means, if the time taken by an aircraft in a runway be reduced, more number of aircrafts can be handled per given time. This, of course, must consider all the safety and separation standards.
Gatwick airport, based in London, is the busiest single runway airport in the world. It handles 52 aircrafts (take offs plus landings) per hour at peak time. Even though the mumbai airport is running on 100% capacity, it only handles 36 aircrafts per hour and Chennai airport can only manage 27 per hour. It clearly means that the runways in India can be utilised even further without making major changes to the existing physical infrastructure. In Gatwick, take offs and landings occur one after the other in a pre-decided sequence. One aircraft lands and exits the runway and while the next aircraft approaches the runway, another aircraft would use the runway for take off inbetween. This operation is deemed to be safe and is well within the rules of operation.
This mode of operation is viable in Gatwick mainly because of two factors. The technology they use to schedule the aircraft arrivals and departures and the rapid exit taxiways. The technology is provided by a company named NATS, which manages the air traffic control for the airport. The software can schedule the aircraft well in advance so that it allows the controller to control the take offs and landings from the single runway. Enormous amount of fuel is wasted when the aircraft is sent to holding patterns before getting a slot to land. NATS software would enable to controller to delay the aircraft from the origin rather than sending it in holding pattern.
Another feature of Gatwick airport is the rapid exit taxiways. With these exits, the aircraft don't have to slow down completely before leaving the runway. In most of the Indian airports, rapid exit taxiways do not exist. Hence the aircrafts have to completely slow down before exiting. This, in turn, means that the aircraft had to spend more time than required on the runway. Indian airports should explore the options of creating rapid exit taxiways to improve their runway efficiency.
Also, after exiting the runway, only a limited number of gates are present in some of the airports in India. Baring the newly constructed airports, almost all the older ones only have a handful of boarding gates. Hence boarding is forced into stands. This is an inefficient way of boarding passengers as the airliner have to use buses or other modes of transportation to board and de-board passengers from/to the terminal. For the airlines, this is time consuming and not cost effective. Some of the major airport terminals are being refurbished and so this problem should disappear in near future. However, this is an important factor for damaging the efficiency of an airport.
On top of all these, to sustain the growth levels that are seen in the past decade, airlines must reach out more to its customers. One of the reasons for the airlines' growth story is the number of lower income group migrating into middle class in India. These are the future customers for the industry. Airlines must do whatever they can to lure these middle income group to take the air mode of transport. It is true that the airlines are luring this section of people with low fares. That is not enough. Airlines could possibly think of using a road transport service, like easy bus in Europe, to transport customers near their home at a low cost. Sometimes, it takes more than 50% of the air fare to travel to the airport. That has to change. Air travel should be made swifter and easier for the masses because air travel is not just for the elite. We are entering an era in India where air travel will be for everyone. The airlines and the airport authorities must start preparing now.
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