Distribution concepts of terminal building Terminal area The terminal area is the major interface between the airfield

and the rest of the airport. It includes the facilities for passenger and baggage processing, cargo handling, and airport maintenance, operations, and administration activities. The Passenger Terminal System The passenger terminal system is the major connection between the ground access system and the aircraft. The purpose of this system is to Provide the interface between the airport access mode and aircraft; Process the passenger for origination, termination, or continuation of an air transportation trip; and To convey the passenger and baggage to and from the aircraft. Components of the system The passenger terminal system has three major components. These components and the activities that occur within them are as follows: 1. The access interface 1.1. Where the passenger transfers from the access mode of travel to the passengerprocessing component. 1.2. This component consists of the terminal curbs, parking facilities, and connecting roadways that enable originating and terminating passengers, visitors, and baggage to enter and exit the terminal.. 1.3. It includes the following facilities

1.3.1.

The enplaning and deplaning curb frontage provides the public with loading and unloading positions for vehicular access to and from the terminal building.

1.3.2.

The automobile parking facilities provide short-term and long-term parking spaces for passengers and visitors as well as facilities for rental cars, public transit, taxis, and limousine services.

1.3.3.

The vehicular roadways provide access to the terminal curbs, parking spaces, and public street and highway system

1.3.4.

The designated pedestrian walkways for crossing roads include tunnels, bridges, and automated systems that provide access between the parking facilities and the terminal building.

1.3.5.

The service roads and fire lanes provide access to various facilities in the

terminal and to other airport facilities, such as airfreight, fuel truck stands, the post office, etc

2. Processing, 2.1.Where the passenger is processed in preparation for starting, ending, or continuation of an air transportation trip. 2.2.The primary activities in this component are ticketing, baggage check-in, baggage claim, seat assignment, federal inspection services, and security 2.3.The-processing system includes the following facilities: 2.3.1.The airline ticket counters and offices are used for ticket transactions, baggage check-in, flight information, and administrative personnel and facilities. 2.3.2.The terminal services space consists of the public and nonpublic areas such as concessions, amenities for passengers and visitors truck service docks, food preparation areas, and food and miscellaneous storage. 2.3.3.There is a lobby for circulation and passenger and visitor waiting. 2.3.4.Public circulation space for the general circulation of passengers and visitors consists of such areas as stairways, escalators, elevators, and corridors 2.3.5.The outbound baggage space is a nonpublic area for sorting and processing baggage for departing flights 2.3.6.The intraline and interline baggage space is used for processing baggage transferred from one flight to another on the same airline or on different airlines 2.3.7. The inbound baggage space is used for receiving baggage from an arriving flight and for delivering baggage to be claimed by the arriving passenger 2.3.8. Airport administration and service areas are used for airport management, operations, and maintenance facilities. 2.3.9.The federal inspection service facility is the area for processing passengers arriving on international flights, which is sometimes incorporated as part of the connector element. 3.The flight interface 3.1.Where the passenger transfers from the processing component to the aircraft. 3.2. The activities that occur here include assembly, conveyance to and from the aircraft, and aircraft loading and unloading 3.3. The connector joins the terminal to parked aircraft and usually includes the following facilities: 3.3.1. The concourse provides for circulation to the departure lounges and other terminal areas. 3.3.2. The departure lounge or hold room is used for assembling passengers for a flight departure 3.3.3. The passenger-boarding device is used to transport enplaning and deplaning

passengers between the aircraft door and the departure lounge or concourse. 3.3.4. Airline operations space is used for airline personnel, equipment, and activities related to the arrival and departure of aircraft. 3.3.5. Security facilities are used for the inspection of passengers and baggage and the control of public access to passenger boarding devices. 3.3.6. The terminal services area provides amenities to the public, and nonpublic areas are required for operations such as building maintenance and utilities

Physical Arrangements of Passenger Processing Activities

Horizontal distribution concepts

The following terminal concepts should be considered in the development of the terminal area plan 1. Pier or finger

2.

Satellite

3.

Linear, frontal, or gate arrivals

4.

Transporter, open apron, or mobile conveyance

1. Pier or finger. In the pier concept, there is an interface with aircraft along piers extending from the main terminal area. Aircraft are usually arranged around the axis of the pier in a parallel or nose-in parking alignment. Each pier has a row of aircraft gate positions on both sides, with a passenger concourse along the axis, which serves as the departure lounge and circulation space for both enplaning and deplaning passengers. This concept usually allows for the expansion of the pier to provide additional aircraft parking positions often Advantages The chief advantage of this concept is its ability to be expanded in incremental steps as aircraft or passenger demand warrants. It is also relatively economical in terms of capital and operating cost.

Disadvantages Its chief disadvantages are its relatively long walking distance from curb front to aircraft and The lack of a direct curb-front relationship to aircraft gate positions.

2. Satellite. The satellite consists of a building, surrounded by aircraft, which is separated from the terminal and is usually reached by a surface, underground, or aboveground connector. The aircraft are normally parked in radial or parallel positions around the satellite. It often affords the opportunity for simple maneuvering and taxiing patterns for aircraft, but it requires more apron area than other arrangements. It can have common or separate departure lounges. Since enplaning and deplaning from the aircraft are accomplished from a common and often remote area, mechanical systems may be employed to transport passengers and baggage between the terminal and the satellite Advantages The main advantages of this arrangement lie in its adaptability to common departure lounge and check-in functions and The ease of aircraft maneuverability around the satellite structure.

Disadvantages The construction cost is relatively high because of the need to provide connecting concourses to the satellite. It lacks flexibility for expansion, and passenger-walking distances are relatively long. 2. Linear, frontal, or gate arrivals. The simple linear terminal consists of a common waiting and ticketing area with exits leading to the aircraft-parking apron. It is adaptable to airports with low airline activity, which will usually have an apron providing close-in parking for three to six commercial passenger aircraft. In the gate arrivals or frontal concept, aircraft are parked along the face of the terminal building. Concourses connect the various terminal functions with the aircraft gate positions. This arrangement offers ease of access and relatively short walking distances if passengers are delivered to a point near gate departure by vehicular circulation systems.

Expansion may be accomplished by linear extension of an existing structure or by developing two or more terminal units with connectors.

Advantages Both concepts provide direct access from curb front to aircraft gate positions and afford a high degree of flexibility for expansion. Disadvantages They do not provide convenient opportunities for the use of common facilities, and as this concept is expanded into separate buildings, these concepts lead to high operating costs. 4. Transporter, open apron, or mobile conveyance. Aircraft and aircraft servicing functions in the transporter concept are remotely located from the terminal . The connection to the terminal is provided by vehicular transport for enplaning and deplaning passengers. Advantages The characteristics of the transporter setup include flexibility in providing additional aircraft parking positions to accommodate increases in schedules or aircraft size, capability to maneuver an aircraft in and out of a parking position under its own power, Separation of aircraft servicing activities from the terminal, and Reduced walking distances for the passenger. This arrangement minimizes the level of capital costs since the building efficiently uses minimal departure lounge space and has gate positions for transporters rather than aircraft. It offers a high degree of flexibility in both operation and expansion.

Disadvantages Aircraft maneuverability is very high, and a separation between the landside and airside is very obvious. The use of mobile lounges to convey passengers to and from aircraft can increase passenger-processing time, and unless scheduling is carefully coordinated, unnecessary delays may result.

Vertical distribution concepts

The motivation for distributing the primary processing activities in a passenger terminal among several levels is mainly to separate the flow of arriving and departing passengers. The decision concerning The number of levels that a terminal facility should have depends primarily on the volume of passengers and the availability of land for expansion in the immediate vicinity. May also be influenced by the type of traffic, e.g., domestic, international, or commuter passengers being processed; By the terminal-area master plan; and by the horizontal processing concept chosen.

Single-level system All processing of passengers and baggage occurs at the level of the apron. Separation between arriving and departing passenger flows is achieved horizontally. Amenities and administrative functions may occur on a second level. With this system, stairs are normally used to load passengers onto aircraft. This system is quite economical and is suitable for relatively low passenger

volumes. Two-level passenger terminal systems May be designed in a number of different ways. In one type the two levels are used to separate the passenger processing area and the baggage handling areas. Processing activities including baggage claim occur on the upper level, while airline operations and baggage handling activities occur at the lower apron level.

The advantage of raising the passenger handling level is that it becomes compatible with aircraft door sill heights, allowing convenient interface with the aircraft. Vehicular access occurs on the upper level to facilitate the interface with the processing system. Another articulation of the two-level system separates the arriving and departing passenger streams. In this case, departing passenger processing activities occur on the upper level, and arriving passenger processing including baggage claim occurs at the apron level Airline operations and baggage handling also occur at the lower level. Vehicular access and parking occur at both levels, one for arrivals and the other for departures, and parking can be surface or structural.

A multilevel system, Third level For international airport terminals, a third level may be needed for international passengers. Also, at large airports where intra airport transportation systems operate, a special level may be needed to provide for these systems.