Originally Posted by
ScepticalOptomist
Of what? Airports that utilise only 1 runway or have intersecting runways that manage to move traffic far more efficiently than any here in Australia? Two off the top of my head - BOM and LGW.
LGW gets trotted as the beacon of all things single runway.
LGW 26L and 08R have a displaced threshold and taxiways that enter the runway
prior to the landing threshold, so the departing is able to line up
sooner than would be the case at eg MEL 16 B, or SYD 16R A1/B1/B2. Simple maths really as the aircraft is in position to roll as soon as the lander is vacating via the suitably spaced RETs. Gatwick has a declared capacity of 55 movements per hour and has effective ATFM tools to more easily switch between ARR and DEP biases.
BOM 27 also has a displaced threshold. Both 27 and 32 have a short distance to the runway intersection, this will give you higher movement rates than a 09/14 configuration.
Locations of the runways relative to the terminals is a factor. Another important consideration is the SID's. Do the departures have a left and right split? The application NAP can limit the movement rate as the spacing between successive departures needs to be increased. Rather than 1800m metres and airborne it becomes 2NM or more.
I recall getting a commendation for doing 55 movements per an hour on a single runway (16 before it became 16R), left for BN/CG, right for pretty much everything else.
Sydney gets unfairly compared to other parallel runway airports, give me 2 four thousand metre runways and terminals between the runways and see how well we do?