Improving Runway Capacity at Minneapolis St. Paul Airport

Airports are a vital part of the United States' transportation infrastructure. A variety of factors impact the amount of aircraft that an airport can handle per hour. One of these factors is the runway capacity. Strict rules regarding the amount of separation required between two aircraft landing at the same airport and lack of available land limit the ways that airport managers and planners can tackle this problem. Research was conducted at the Arizona State University's Simulator Building using the Adacel Tower Simulation System. Modifications to the airport were then made to simulate the high speed exit. Testing utilized aircraft in the large category, including Airbus A320s, which are regularly seen at the airport. Airport capacity dramatically increased as a result. The previous AAR was 33. With the research conducted, aircraft can exit the runway between 27 and 30 seconds with final approach speeds ranging from 130 knots to 150 knots. To allow for a margin for safety, a 35 second runway occupancy time is used. With that rate, assuming that other separation standards are changed to accommodate that traffic level, the runway AAR increases to approximately 100. To reach this potential, changes to the FAAs separation requirements for aircraft on the same final approach course must be made, to allow aircraft to be closer together.