Runway capacity at Helsinki-Vantaa has increased since
the introduction of the third runway at the end of 2002.
The airport has announced that its maximum number of operations
(takeoffs and landings) currently stands at 76 an hour,
of which 36 can be incoming aircraft and 40 departing planes.
On weekdays Helsinki-Vantaa handles between 550 and 600
operations a day and about 400 a day at weekends.
“Helsinki-Vantaa’s runway capacity has been
raised to match air traffic needs, in accordance with prior
plans,” said assistant airport manager Pertti Savisalo.
“We are constantly developing our air traffic control
procedures in order to benefit efficiently and safely from
our two parallel runways.”
The physical characteristics of the runways, the air traffic
control procedures and systems, the types of aircraft and
the weather conditions all affect runway capacity. The overall
capacity of the airport also takes into account the capability
of the apron and the ability of the terminal services to
handle passengers and luggage. The latter relate to check-in,
security control and passport control in particular.
“We are currently using Helsinki-Vantaa’s Runway
3 mainly for takeoffs and Runway 2 for landings,”
explains Mr Savisalo. “The combination depends on
the prevailing weather conditions and the need to reduce
noise levels in the surrounding area. Snow ploughing after
a blizzard or runway maintenance might restrict runway use.”
In 2004 the airport initiated a scheme to improve runway
efficiency. The idea is that by overhauling its air traffic
control procedures the airport can switch to using the two
parallel runways independently.
The project, which requires changes to working methods,
new sets of instructions and staff retraining, is scheduled
to come into operation by the end of 2005. Some of the measures
will require approval by the Flight Safety Authority.
“The new scheme will allow us to raise runway capacity
and thereby especially ease the morning and evening traffic
peaks at Helsinki-Vantaa,” says a contented Mr Savisalo.
Coordinator allocates runway
space
Helsinki-Vantaa is what’s known as a coordinated
airport where runway space is allocated to airlines in
accordance with EU regulations. The slots, i.e. the takeoffs
and landings scheduled for a given period, are allocated
by a special coordinator at Helsinki-Vantaa who works
independently from the airlines or the airport.
For every timetable season the airport notifies the coordinator
of how many operations – landings and takeoffs –
it can handle in a given period, say per hour or 15 minutes.
The coordinator must also take into account terminal capacity,
i.e. the maximum number of passengers it can handle at
one time. The airlines give the coordinator their wish-list
for the timetables they would like to operate from the
airport, after which the coordinator carefully considers
all the information and allocates the available slots
in accordance with strictly defined EU slot principles.
When counting the total number of operations, the airport
separates the slots for arriving and departing flights
into their own hourly categories. The morning and evening
slots are in particular demand at Helsinki-Vantaa because
the airlines want to offer their customers a morning flight
to Europe and a flight back to Finland for the evening.
“Helsinki-Vantaa’s third runway gave us greater
overall capacity but during the peak hours the demand
is still greater than the space,” says airport coordinator
Tiina Nokkala.
“Things will get easier when we can use the two
parallel runways simultaneously for landings too,”
she adds.
