Aligning Airspace

and Airport Capacity

Best Practice Recommendations
for Airport Operators
JANUARY 2020
2 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY JANUARY 2020
Airports Council International (ACI) advances the collective interests of, and acts as the voice of, the
world’s airports and the communities they serve, and promotes professional excellence in airport
management and operations.

DISCLAIMER

No subscriber or other reader should act on the basis of any information contained in this publication
without referring to applicable laws and regulations and/or without obtaining appropriate professional
advice. Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, ACI shall not be held responsible for
loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misprints or misinterpretation of the contents hereof,
including for contributions provided by third parties. Furthermore, ACI expressly disclaims all and any
liability to any person, whether a purchaser of this publication or not, in respect of anything done or
omitted, and the consequences of anything done or omitted, by any such person through reliance on
the contents of this publication.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, recast, translated, reformatted or transmitted in any
form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or use of any informa-
tion storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from ACI

Aligning Airport and Airspace Capacity

Best Practice Recommendations for Airport Operators
(2020)

Copies of this publication are available from:

Publications Department
ACI World
800 rue de Square Victoria
Suite 1810, P.O. Box 302
Montreal, Quebec H4Z 1G8
Canada
Email: publications@aci.aero
Web: www.aci.aero/publications

©2020 Airports Council International. All rights reserved.

JANUARY 2020 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 3

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5

2 BACKGROUND 6

2.1 Importance of the topic 6

2.2 Scope of this Paper 7

3 OUTLINE OF ISSUES 8

3.1 Aligning airspace and ground capacity development 8

3.2 Network capacity constraints 8

3.3 Airport and ANSP Cooperation 9

3.4 On time performance – Arrivals and Departures 10

3.5 ATCO staffing 11

3.6 Airspace design and innovation 11

3.7 Implementation of new air navigation procedures 12

3.8 Implementation of airport technology needing ANSP support 13

3.9 Capacity optimization 14

4 ACTIONS FOR AIRPORT OPERATORS 15

4.1 Establish internal ATC knowledge 15

4.2 Evaluate the relationships with ANSPs 15

4.3 Conduct an airport system capacity assessment 15

4.4 Ensure best use of available capacity 16

4.5 Identify the role of the state in capacity management 16

5 ACTIONS FOR ACI 17

5.1 Ensure alignment of ACI, CANSO and IATA positions on capacity 17

5.2 Actively participate in regulatory developments at ICAO 17

4 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY JANUARY 2020

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The ACI World Governing Board has identified
airspace capacity as a key constraint on airports.
This paper aims to explain the key issues related
to the alignment and possible mismatch between
airspace and airport capacity available to airport
users. It focuses on issues around sustainable
and responsible growth of the airport as a sys-
tem, including key stakeholder roles, evolution
of technology, implementation of new processes
JANUARY 2020
and systems, and the alignment of strategies and
visions between airport operators, air navigation
service providers and aircraft operators.
The main objective of this paper is to provide ACI
members with options to expand capacity, opti-
mize the use of available capacity and develop the
airport system to cater for increasing demand.
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 5
 2. BACKGROUND
At its meeting in October 2017, the ACI World
Governing Board tasked the Safety and Technical
Standing Committee (STSC) with the analysis of
issues related to airspace and ground capacity
at airports.
The STSC set up a task force including rep-
resentatives from all ACI regions to make
recommendations for increasing airspace capac-
ity and efficiency, including issues such as
separations and future precision approach guid-
ance systems.
This paper presents the conclusions of the task
force and proposes actions for ACI and the ACI
member airport operators.
2.1 Importance of the topic
The runway and airfield capacity made available
by airport operators for aircraft, the capacity made
available by Air Navigation Service Providers
(ANSPs) and the capacity for passenger pro-
cessing in terminals is often uncorrelated. This
situation can occur for a number of reasons,
ranging from a lack of dialogue on airspace or
aerodrome development to organizational or
process inadequacies within one or the other of
the organizations involved or to planning approval
issues. Regardless of the circumstances creating
this situation, airspace and airport users—both
airlines and passengers—will not receive opti-
mal service and inefficiencies will arise in an
often-saturated aviation system.
Investment in infrastructure developments at ACI
member airports in 2017 amounted to US$48
billion. Parallel to this, global passengers and air-
craft movements in 2018 increased by 6.4% and
3.1%, respectively.
Meanwhile, significant air traffic control (ATC)
delays were found across much of the global
6 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY
network during peak traffic periods. Many
of these delays were generated by ATC flow
restrictions which may be due to lack of airport
capacity; however, in other cases, they were
due to lack of en-route capacity within the air-
space connecting airports. For example, during
the summer of 2018, en-route delays in the
European region doubled, with an average delay
of 1.73 min/flight (0.88 min/flight in 2017) due
to capacity constraints and lack of staff within
some of the major ANSPs. These increased
delays during the summer season contributed
to an average of 50,000 passengers being sub-
jected to delayed flights across the European
network on any given day and a cumulative delay
of 17,311,514 minutes in 2018, as opposed to
9,531,588 minutes in 2017. Many other parts of
the world suffered similar delays.
As a solution, and in addition to the increas-
ing physical capacity at airports, significant
investments in performance improvements are
being made by airport operators through the
implementation of tools and processes such as
A-CDM, Demand-Capacity Balancing or Airport
Operations Centers (APOC). These investments
are essential when working in a constrained
operational environment, and will bring increases
in performance for the airport system and bene-
fits that are passed on to airport users. However,
these increases need to be correlated with net-
work or airspace performance upgrades.
Finally, the pressure on airport operators from
local communities related to noise and capac-
ity development requires airports to focus on
sustainable growth. Development of the airport
system must be done through adequate public
consultative processes, including the affected
parties and key stakeholders. These processes
can have positive effects, for example, in securing
local political support for future developments.
However, when community opposition to devel-
opment is strong or the political will to consider
JANUARY 2020
economic development is not present, the
future development of the airport system can be
hindered. In all cases, a socially-responsible devel-
opment programme is an important tool for the
airport’s strategic and sustainable development.
2.2 Scope of this Paper
This paper seeks to focus on the critical topics
identified below and will aim to provide a consol-
idated opinion on these risks and opportunities
as well as actions to be taken by ACI member
airports and by ACI as an industry body.
Capacity Alignment and Optimization
• Network capacity: Constraints on growth due
to a mismatch between the capacity needed
for growth, the physical capacity provided
by aerodrome operators and the operational
capacity provided by ANSPs.
• Airspace design: Optimise and create new
efficiencies locally or within the ATC net-
works, as well as a structured collaboration
amongst stakeholders to ensure the opti-
mal use of existing infrastructure, balanced
system capacity and throughput. Increased
collaboration between all stakeholders and
alignment on technical, operational and
infrastructure needs is required to meet
future demand.
• Reductions in service: Causing flight delays
due to airspace restrictions, controller short-
ages, etc.
• Airspace and air route reorganization: Can
allow for higher volumes of traffic to be
absorbed and avoid the need for flow control.
New Processes and Technologies
• New airspace procedures: Coordinated
implementation by ANSPs of procedures
such as Performance Based Navigation (PBN)
procedures, with a comprehensive consul-
tation process with stakeholders (ANSP,
Airport, surrounding communities, Regulator,
Political, etc.).
JANUARY 2020
• Target Time of Arrival (TTA): A change in
focus from managing departures to the con-
cept that on-time arrival should be a higher
objective than on-time departure.
• New technologies and processes at airports:
Lack of implementation of technologies such
as Digital Towers, A-CDM, APOC, and others
described in the ICAO Aviation System Block
Upgrades (in the ICAO Global Air Navigation
Plan). These technologies must include
ANSP participation in order to generate the
expected benefits.
• Wake turbulence separations: New ICAO
wake separation categories allow for reduced
arrival/departure separations.
Airport – ANSP Collaboration
• Long-term forecasts and planning: Alignment
between airport operator, ANSP and airlines
to remove any imbalances between local air-
space and ground capacity development.
• Operational and technical knowledge on
ATC subjects: Need for sufficient knowl-
edge within airport operators to adequately
address these important issues.
• Formal relationship between the airport
operator and the ANSP: The lack of such a
relationship or, as a minimum, an operational
framework established between them,
would be a constraint.
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 7
 3. OUTLINE OF KEY ISSUES
This section provides an outline of the key
issues and potential considerations for airport
operators related to the topics identified in the
introduction above.
3.1 Aligning airspace and ground capacity
development
A strategic alignment between the airport opera-
tor and the ANSP is essential to ensure adequate
ground and airspace capacity to airspace users.
This capacity development programme must
consider traffic demand in conjunction with the
airlines and other aircraft operators and should
be expressed in the Airport Master Plan. Inputs
from these key stakeholders will allow for the
Master Plan to reflect agreed future needs, as
well as to ensure alignment and synchronization
of the development of future system capacity.
In order to facilitate discussions about system
capacity, the establishment of a common dis-
cussion platform focused on capacity usage,
development and alignment, as identified in point
3.9, should be considered by the airport operator.
The airport operator should allow for pub-
lic consultation and socialization of capacity
development plans, including Master Planning,
with affected communities, businesses, key
influencers, planning agencies and politicians.
This is important in the context of sustainable
airport system development. As climate change
continues to be a focus, there will be increased
importance and scrutiny on responsible growth
and change.
It is imperative that airport growth plans take
account of corporate social responsibility
towards impacted communities and their elected
officials, passengers and air operators.
8 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY
3.2 Network capacity constraints
To manage the forecasted demand in the avia-
tion system, it is imperative that a proactive and
collaborative planning approach be undertaken
between airports, ANSPs and aircraft operators
to ensure the necessary and timely delivery of
infrastructure, technology and optimized capacity.
The safety and reliability of the aviation network is
also dependent on a holistic understanding of the
capacity constraints within the various stakehold-
ers of the system, including, but not limited to:
• airport infrastructure - runways, taxiways,
stands, terminal capacity;
• airport operational processes - slots, noise
operating restrictions, night flight restric-
tions and weather resiliency measures;
• aircraft operators - aircraft equipage such
as for RNAV, RNP, GBAS, etc., ACDM/OTP,
Runway Occupancy Time (ROT), Consistent
Approach Speed on Final, etc.; and
• ANSPs - communication equipment, naviga-
tional procedures, surveillance equipment,
airspace restrictions, training and ATCO
resourcing.
Local constraints, be they airport infrastructure or
airspace, can generate important constraints on
the overall network. Likewise, en-route airspace
constraints, for reasons of capacity or staffing
levels, for example, can generate significant
delays on aircraft movements and negatively
impact airport operations.
JANUARY 2020
3.3 Airport and ANSP Cooperation
Establishing a solid relationship between the air-
port operator and the ANSP, both on an operational
and management level, is one of the key factors
for success in ensuring the best use of system
capacity. The partners should seek to establish a
common vision and goals on a local level, ideally
based on optimal delivery of services to airspace
users and, ultimately, passengers.
This common vision should include strategic
alignment on issues such as forecast growth,
current and forecast capacity, route and proce-
dure developments, required staffing levels,
common infrastructure or system developments.
Ideally, a document detailing this common vision
should be developed and agreed between the
ANSP and airport operator.
Source: Joel Morin, to70 Canada
JANUARY 2020
Depending on the legal framework as well as the
organizational setup, the relationship between
the two organizations can be either informal, for
example, based on a memorandum of under-
standing, or formal, for example, based on a
letter of agreement or formal contract. In the
case of a formal agreement, the airport opera-
tor should also consider establishing formal key
performance indicators (KPIs) or a service level
Agreement (SLA) that will provide a basis for
monitoring the performance of the ANSP within
the airport system.
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 9
 3.4 On time performance—arrivals and departures
On time performance (OTP) is very important
for the regularity of airport operations, in par-
ticular, for airports which are reaching capacity
limits. Delays in either arrival or departure flow
often create knock-on effects, generating great
pressure on handling aircraft flow by the airport
operator and the airport stakeholders. Ensuring
that aircraft operate to schedule will improve
the overall efficiency of airport operations and
allow for optimal use of system capacity and
resources. This is even more true when capacity
is temporarily reduced.
Traditionally, aircraft and airport operators have
their primary focus on departure time. However,
in order to ensure the best use of available capac-
ity, airport operators should equally monitor arrival
ATC
A-CDM
CFMU
Airport
Operation
10 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY
times as well as the overall turnaround process.
Due to often-limited ground handler resources,
delays in arrival times can potentially impact the
overall turnaround process.
Monitoring both arrival and departure times of
aircraft will help manage the flow at airports to
avoid exceeding the system’s capacity. The airport
operator should work closely with the ANSP and
aircraft operators to give priority on both arrival
and departure aircraft as needed to optimize sys-
tem usage and improve the efficiency of airport
operations. In order to achieve this objective,
airport operators should consider tools such as
the A-CDM, which brings significant benefits for
OTP as well as resource management for airport
operators, aircraft operators and ground handlers.
Airline
Operator
Ground
Handling
JANUARY 2020
To minimize air-borne delay, the concept of Target
Time of Arrival (TTA) is being promoted or imple-
mented through processes such as Demand and
Capacity Balancing. Updated Calculated Take-Off
Times (CTOTs) will be issued to aircraft allowing
for sequencing to achieve the established TTA.
However, such measures can generate delays
for aircraft on departure, potentially increasing
the number of aircraft holding at the departure
airport. Procedures must be in place between
the airport operator and ATC to ensure that the
number of aircraft holding do not exceed the air-
port’s capacity.
3.5 ATCO staffing
A sustainable approach to recruitment and
retention of ATCOs should be based on fore-
cast demand provided by aircraft operators and
planned capacity provided by airport operators.
Otherwise, insufficient ATCO staffing levels can
limit the potential growth in the aviation system
and negatively impact or even reduce capacity at
airports. It is therefore necessary to ensure that
ATCO recruitment programs are robust, based
on demand and capacity and incorporate resil-
ience - failure to achieve this will generate higher
risk to the industry.
Many factors have an impact on ATCO staffing
levels provided by ANSPs. ATCO training being
lengthy and demanding with, in some cases, low
success rate of trainees, this can cause negative
impacts on available staffing levels. In order to
mitigate this, a predictive approach to recruit-
ment and training should be considered to avoid
staffing constraints due to short and long-term
disabilities, parenthood leave or peaks in retire-
ment when many employees reach retirement
age at the same time.
3.6 Airspace design and innovation
As the demand for air travel continues to
increase, the airport, airspace, and aircraft
operator’s infrastructure and processes must
JANUARY 2020
consider an optimization process to ensure that
necessary capacity is available in a timely and
proactive manner while considering the impacts
to the communities and stakeholders affected by
any changes. Overall, this process must identify
possible improvements in airspace design and
implementation of technology or processes that
will allow for increase in airspace capacity.
To enable responsible growth and alleviation of
capacity constraints, the latest technology and
processes should be evaluated for implementa-
tion by airports, air navigation service providers,
and airlines to optimize available airport infrastruc-
ture, airspace, resources, and aircraft operations.
Capacity optimization options include but are not
limited to:
• Performance Based Navigation (PBN)
• Required Navigation Performance (RNP)
• Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM)
• Arrival Manager (AMAN)
• Departure Manager (DMAN)
• Visual Departure Separation
• Wake Turbulence Separation Recategorization
• Time Based Separation
• Point Merge
• Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS)
• Continuous Descent Operations (CDO)
• Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS-B) –
Ground Based or Space Based
• Wide Area Multilateration (WAM)
• Performance Based Aerodrome Operating
Minima (PBAOM)
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 11
 3.7 Implementation of new air navigation
procedures

A collaborative approach to implementation of

“A collaborative
new procedures and changes is a necessity, not
only from an operational perspective but also
approach to implemen-
for the community and affected stakeholders.
It is therefore important that prior to airspace
tation of new proce-
or flight path changes such as new PBN pro-
cedures being contemplated, airport operators,
dures and changes is
air navigation services providers and airlines
should ensure a public participation process that
a necessity, not only
provides the community and stakeholders with
factual and accurate information before and after
from an operational
a change is implemented.
perspective but also
Airports can play a leading role in this process
by contributing their knowledge regarding cur-
for the community and
rent noise exposure, identification of noise
sensitive areas and other community concerns.
affected stakeholders.”
Furthermore, active participation of airports in
the design process can result in optimizations
allowing for improved capacity or throughputs.

Courtesy CANSO

12 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY JANUARY 2020

Courtesy of ICAO GANP website https://www4.icao.int/ganpportal/
3.8 Implementation of airport technology
needing ANSP support
The ICAO Global Air Navigation Plan (GANP)
reflects the need for a collaborative, consen-
sus-based approach in order to face the air
navigation challenges ahead. The GANP also
recognizes the increasing importance of col-
laboration and partnership as the aviation
industry understands that challenges are always
multidisciplinary.
New technology can benefit the overall airport
operation’s safety and efficiency to meet future
demand, to enhance available capacity, or sup-
port system efficiency. For their successful
implementation close collaboration with the
ANSP is necessary as the ANSP can play a key
role in scoping and delivering these changes.
JANUARY 2020
The Aviation System Block Upgrades (ASBU)
elements in the GANP include many initiatives
relevant to airport and terminal airspace capacity.
Of close interest to airports are (ASBU element
name in brackets):
• Airport Collaborative Decision Making (ACDM),
• Optimization of approach procedures (APTA)
including PBN approaches with vertical
guidance - and the possibility to introduce a
Ground-based Augmentation System (GBAS)
to provide a GBAS Landing System as a
replacement for the traditional Instrument
Landing System (ILS)
• Optimized wake turbulence separation (WAKE)
• Optimized runway sequencing (RSEQ)
• Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and
Control (SURF)
• Remotely-Operated Air Traffic Services
(RATS) such as aerodrome control towers.
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 13
 Other examples of new technologies include:
• Time Based Separation (TBS) to reduce the
impact of strong headwinds on arrival rates
• Target Time of Arrival (TTA) to increase
predictability coupled with an arrivals man-
ager (AMAN)
• Departure manager (DMAN), predicting a
busy day 24 hours ahead based on aircraft
flight plans
• Demand and capacity balancing in unusual or
unforeseen situations
Technology is also available to improve the safety
of operations while capacity is increased, for
example, Surface Movement Radar (SMR) and
use of permanent (24h) stop bars which require
the active support of the ANSP.
3.9 Capacity optimization
Ideally, a ‘balanced’ schedule, avoiding peaks, is
desirable in order to maximize asset utilization
across any 24-hour period. Therefore, it is vital
that a coordinated approach be taken by all stake-
holders during both strategic planning activities
and seasonal capacity declarations.
The RCMG should provide proactive manage-
ment and intervention throughout the season,
ensuring that all operational processes or infra-
structure is operating to declared optimal limits.
For example, runway throughput, runway occu-
pancy, slot adherence and asset utilization should
all be monitored closely by the group.
To fully optimize runway capacity, consideration
should be given to visual procedures, Standard
Instrument Departures (SIDS) and Standard
Terminal Arrival Routes (STARS), as well as
aircraft-type mix, which may also impact through-
put. Each of these, through optimal sequencing,
can reduce arrival separation and time between
departures, thus increasing runway capacity.

In advance of seasonal capacity declarations and

noting the content of any existing Airport Master
Plan, the airport and ANSP should ensure,
through a collaborative analysis, that the capacity
“The RCMG should take
of the available airport infrastructure is aligned
to the capacity provided by the ANSP and to the
into consideration all
airspace demand and vice versa.
aspects that potentially
The creation of a Runway Capacity Management
Group (RCMG), which includes the airport oper-
limit airport capac-
ator, the ANSP and the aircraft operators, should
facilitate discussions among all stakeholders and
ity, such as airspace
ensure that all elements of demand vs capac-
ity are understood across all processes and
design, airfield layout
infrastructure. The RCMG should take into con-
sideration all aspects that potentially limit airport
and infrastructure, as
capacity, such as airspace design, airfield layout
and infrastructure, as well as terminal and pas-
well as terminal and
senger facilities.
passenger facilities.”

14 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY JANUARY 2020

4. ACTIONS FOR AIRPORT OPERATORS
Airport Operators have an important role to play
in the management of capacity at airports as well
as in ensuring alignment between the ground
capacity and that of the airspace operated by
the ANSP. In this context, the following actions
should be considered by airport operators.
4.1 Establish internal ATC knowledge
In order to effectively coordinate, negotiate and
liaise with the airport’s ANSP it is very important
to have a fundamental and in-depth knowledge
of the business as well as operations. This can
create trust and understanding between the air-
port operator and the ANSP and allow for more
fluid discussions.
Airport operators should actively seek to recruit
subject matter experts with an ANS background
who can be assigned the task of building a strong
relationship with the ANSP. Understanding the
capabilities and capacities of ATC equipment and
working efficiencies of an ANSP is important and
will allow for better coordination between the
airport operator and the ANSP.
In the absence of available subject matter exper-
tise within the organization, the airport operator
may also hire expertise from outside so as to
build its in-house capabilities. In addition, the air-
port operator may choose to train selected staff
on ANSP procedures, especially those that inter-
face with airport operations, such as Air Traffic
Flow Management (ATFM), Network Manager,
Aerodrome Control, etc.
4.2 Evaluate the relationships with ANSPs
The type of relationship established between the
airport operator and ANSP is very often based on
historical situations but can often also be condi-
tioned by the organisational characteristics of the
JANUARY 2020
aerodrome or the ANSP. The type of relationships
can have an impact on the aviation system oper-
ation and ultimately on system capacity.
Aerodrome operators should evaluate the status
of the relationship between itself and the ANSP
in order to identify potential improvements. In
principle, relationships can vary between having
no formal relations, a purely transactional rela-
tionship, an operational relationship, a contractual
relationship or a strategic partnership.
Ultimately, a formal agreement should be estab-
lished between the two organisations based on a
letter of agreement or contract that will formalise
and regulate the operations, finances and stra-
tegic aspects of the relationship. The agreement
should also include KPIs and even an SLA that
will allow the airport operator to measure the
ANSPs performance and potentially take action
should it not meet the required levels.
4.3 Conduct an airport system capacity
assessment
In order to assess airport capacity, airport oper-
ators should work closely with the ANSP to
determine the critical constraints of the airport
system capacity including airspace and ground
capacity. It is a complex task to accurately deter-
mine the airport’s available capacity due to the
number of inter-related systems, including run-
way, taxiways and aircraft stands, and modes of
operation. Airport operators may choose to use
simulation tools to model the airport operation to
assess airport capacity for airport master planning.
In some cases, the over-riding capacity con-
straint on the airport system may not be airside
processes, such as runway throughput, but may
be passenger terminal processing capacity. This
may negatively affect the overall system capac-
ity and should be analysed when looking at the
airport system as a whole.
ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 15
 In order to relieve the pressures on airport
capacity or develop new capacity, new systems
or procedures should be introduced in both air
traffic and airfield operational management to
increase the efficiency of existing airport sys-
tems. Before implementation, airport operators
should consider the use of simulation tools to
assess the efficiency of these new procedures
and identify the critical constraints of the airport
system capacity.
4.4 Ensure best use of available capacity
Airport operators should establish a process for
seasonal and strategic long-term forecasting of
traffic demands which should be inclusive of
all ATM stakeholders. In addition, the Airport
Master Plan should clearly describe the vision
for capacity growth aligned with the forecast
demand and identify supporting strategies that
will provide year-on-year sustainable growth.
Within the operational season, coordination
between the airport and ANSP is imperative to
monitor performance and address capacity-re-
lated issues. In slot coordinated airports, this
should include the slot coordinator who will play
a critical role in slot adherence monitoring. A Slot
Performance Committee is a useful mechanism
to monitor slot performance and agree on cor-
rective measures with any aircraft operators that
operate outside of the agreed tolerances.
Airports which operate at high levels of demand
should develop a schedule recovery plan to per-
mit airlines to recover as soon as possible after a
disruptive event which reduces available capacity
and minimize delay and passenger discomfort.
This plan should encompass guiding principles
around slot apportionment, critical route connec-
tivity and load factor volumes.
The use of Flow Control Slot Swapping between
airlines, when permitted under local regulations,
should be proactively encouraged in order to
permit full utilization of available runway capacity
on a real-time basis.
16 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY
4.5 Identify the role of the state in capacity
management
The state’s Civil Aviation Authority has an import-
ant role in capacity development on a national
level by establishing the guiding principles and
preparing a strategic roadmap for the aviation
system. These types of mechanisms should
serve to align all aviation stakeholders around
a common vision and strategy and ensure a
nationally coordinated approach to capacity
development to meet future demand.
Additionally, the CAA will have a critical role in
ensuring cross-border coordination, especially
when airspace blocks are operated in delegated
airspace. Cross border coordination is also
necessary to ensure the alignment of upper air-
space capacity between two adjoining sectors
operated by different ANSPs.
In many cases the CAA will also liaise between
civil aviation and military operations that can
sometimes create capacity reductions due
to their airspace usage. The CAA will also be
involved in approving any airspace changes or
reconfigurations as well as the implementation
of new procedures or flight tracks. Ensuring an
active participation of the CAA in public consul-
tation processes is equally important.
Airport operators should liaise closely with the
CAA so as to be sure that their identified devel-
opments and enhancements are considered on
a national level as well as to be able to provide
inputs to proposed future developments, be
they capacity enhancement measures or poten-
tial new restrictions, for example environmental
or military in nature.
JANUARY 2020
5. ACTIONS FOR ACI

ACI both at World and Regional level, can play an It is also recommended that ACI Regional Offices
important role through relationships and lobbying participate in their region’s ICAO Planning and
activities to ensure that the actions underway Implementation Regional Group or Groups
regarding system capacity take into consider- (PIRGs) and contribute to the improvement of
ation the needs of the airports. This paper does ICAO Regional Air Navigation Plans.
not develop detailed recommendations for ACI
action at regional and national level, but such
actions may actually be the most important.
“ACI both at World and
5.1 Ensure alignment of ACI, CANSO and IATA
positions on capacity
Regional level, can
As a primary objective, ACI World should seek
play an important role
to coordinate with other industry organizations
such as CANSO and IATA to align industry posi-
through relationships
tions on key issues pertaining to airspace and
airport capacity.
and lobbying activ-
This includes liaising with the respective orga-
ities to ensure that
nizations to understand common priorities and
needs, identify areas of mutual collaboration,
the actions underway
define possible common metrics and share
relevant policies and information such as traffic
regarding system
forecasts.
capacity take into
These actions should strive to help the aviation
system to accommodate growing demands
consideration the
in capacity through sustainable and socially
responsible processes.
needs of the airports.”

5.2 Actively participate in regulatory develop-

ments at ICAO

ACI World should continue to monitor develop-

ments at ICAO on airspace and airport capacity
matters, participate in meetings and provide
airport related inputs in these regulatory devel-
opments with a view to protect the common
interests of the airport community.

JANUARY 2020 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 17

18 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY JANUARY 2020
JANUARY 2020 ALIGNING AIRSPACE AND AIRPORT CAPACITY 19
ACI World
Suite 1810
800 Rue du Square Victoria
Montreal, Quebec, H4Z 1G8
Canada

www.aci.aero

For more information or to access comprehensive

airport data analysis and reports, please visit
aci.aero/publications