There is also a recommendation that this should be two minutes to the runway and three to any point within the airport boundary. ICAO requires a response time of less than three minutes from the fire station to any point on the operational runway. And they need to be large enough to accommodate the minimum equipment and optimally located to achieve required response times. In terms of infrastructure, airport fire stations must be provided. Requirements are then set for firefighting equipment and services that should be provided. Airports are categorized according to the maximum aircraft size that operates. Again, these are adapted as necessary by local aviation regulators. ICAO also sets out comprehensive international safety guidelines for airports. Economies of scale, the ability to control multiple airports from one location, that's all true, but I think it's a total misconception that digital towers are only suitable for airports of low complexity and low ATM volume. Frankly, that's just lazy thinking.” Fire stations and safety equipment “Yes there are clear benefits for smaller airfields, absolutely. Steve Anderson, head of airport transformation at UK NATS, explains how this view is being challenged: The tallest operational tower in the US is at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport, some 121 meters tall. It is closely followed by Kuala Lumpur West Tower at 133 meters and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi at 132 meters. The tallest is at Jeddah King Abdulaziz international airport in Saudi Arabia, an impressive 136 meters high. But most share one feature – they are tall! Simple Flying looked before at the tallest towers. Towers at major airports today differ significantly in design and style. Airfields before this had radio offices and aerial lighthouses, but nothing with the explicit intent of providing technical air traffic services to aircraft.” “In 1920, there was no blueprint for what air traffic control, or even an airport, should look like, so it fell to those early pioneers to develop, test and implement the ideas that would enable air travel to grow safely. Speaking at the time of its 100 th anniversary, Ian Walker, from Historic Croydon Airport Trust, explained its early significance: This was a 15 feet high building, with windows on all four sides. The first dedicated control tower was installed at Croydon Airport in London in 1920. Smaller airfields did not need such tall structures. Photo: Getty ImagesĮarly ‘towers’ were, of course, much simpler. The tower provides a full view of the airfield. An aiming point is often marked with large thick white bars.There are between one and six pairs of markings, depending on the remaining landing distance available. Touchdown zones are marked with pairs of rectangular markings.A white center line runs the full length of the runway.The numbers that define the orientation follow this, with prescribed size and style.The number of lines corresponds to the width of the runway. The runway threshold is first marked with a series of parallel white lines.The markings and lines aircraft see on approach to the runway are carefully defined, including: These start with standards for the runway surface. Runways, taxiways, and the apron area use a comprehensive system of signs and markings to aid aircraft movement. For example, Geneva airport did this in 2018, renaming runway 23 and 05 to 22 and 04 due to the shift of magnetic north. As the Earth’s magnetic field is continuously shifting, updates have to be made. Runway lettering follows ICAO standards for font and size. Many though maintain principal runways orientated according to prevailing winds at that location (this is more often east-west, but there are alternatives). In the past, it was more common to have multiple runways at different orientations to facilitate this, and many airports still do. Runway orientation is important for this. ![]() ![]() Orientation and numberingĪircraft should, as much as possible, take off and land into the wind. The shortest, at just 400 meters, is at Juancho E. The world’s longest runway is located at 4,400 meters above sea level at Qamdo Bamda Airport in Tibet and measures 5,500 meters. Lengthening runways to allow increased operations happens but is complicated with loading considerations often built into the foundations. Obviously, they must be long enough to handle desired aircraft types. ![]() Gravel runway at Whitehorse airport, Yukon, Canada.
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