A thesis submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1993

The rapid growth in air traffic at Bangkok International Airport causes excessive delays during traffic peak periods as the number of operations on the runway reaches the ultimate runway capacity. These delays, consequently results in passenger discomfort, fuel waste and disruption of airlines' schedule. Runway capacity is the ultimate constraint at Bangkok International Airport. The addition of a runway is economically not feasible and also physically impossible due to the limitation of space. At present, the Second Bangkok International Airport (SBIA) is under planning stage to meet the future forecasted air traffic demand in Bangkok. According to past experience, airport construction takes long time. Thus, the present system should be improved so that it can accommodate the increased number of traffic that i s expected in future. As the construction of a new airport is being planned, an extensive investment on facility improvement at Bangkok International Airport is not justified. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the runway capacity at Bangkok International Airport by introducing short-term improvement measures with least implementation cost as immediate solution to meet the forecasted air traffic demand in Bangkok until the implementation of SBIA which is expected to be in year 2000. This research study has identified operational problems involved in air traffic movements at the airport and analyzed the air traffic movements at Bangkok International Airport by using a simulation model. A simulation technique has been selected for air traffic analysis in this study due to the complexity and multitude of parameters involved in the system at the airside of the airport. The GPSS (General Purpose Simulation System} simulation language was used in construction of the model. The input parameters to the model were decided based on the observations made at the airport during peak hours by an air traffic survey. The developed simulation model analyzes in detail the traffic condition of busiest runway at Bangkok International Airport, which is runway 21R/03L. Subsequently, a number of possible improvement measures have been analyzed and evaluated by the model to minimize delays of the system and to increase the possible number of aircraft movements at the airport. These improvement measures could be implemented promptly as remedial actions to overcome present operational problems in the airside of the airport. In addition to the analysis of air traffic at the airport to come up with possible improvement measures, this research emphasizes the possibility and technical feasibility of air traffic analysis by a simulation model.