Q1 - Stansted's 28m passengers (pre-COVID) are based mainly on medium sized aircraft such as B737-800 movements with high load factors and scheduling 50 movements per hour at peak times. Gatwick on the other hand had over 40m passengers (pre-COVID) with a single runway with up o 55 movements per hour at certain peak times. A mixture of wide-bodied and medium size aircraft and also two passenger terminals.
To achieve this runway capacity and passenger throughput there are a number of considerations:
- Have rapid exit turn-offs (RETs) angled and located at the correct distance from the runway landing threshold for the majority of aircraft types likely to use the runway
therefore minimising runway occupancy time.
- Have sufficient taxiways, including runway holding areas to sequence departures and parking stands infrastructure to match the runway capacity otherwise delays will
occur.
- Have a passenger terminal building or more than one terminal to achieve the passenger throughput.
- Have airspace design so ATC delays for departing and arriving aircraft are minimised.
- Another factor with number of movements is environmental and night noise restrictions (normally 2330 to 0600hrs local time in UK) where for example London Heathrow,
Gatwick and Stansted airports have different quotas for each season with Heathrow being the lowest and Gatwick having the highest number.
21m is easily doable on a single runway provided the above issues are considered.