ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the capacity situation at airports, deals with the capacity-relevant components of airports, and provides some capacity estimates of major airport elements. The global airport network therefore consists of a small number of airports with high traffic volumes, while the large number of airports handles traffic volumes of just a few flights a day. Airports represent the access points of air transport users to the global air traffic network. The planning of facilities, including their capacity, has always been an important task for airport management, and also for public authorities, since airports are often regarded as part of the public transport infrastructure. Airport master plans have relied on just one future development of air traffic that often turned out to be unrealistic. Airports can be subdivided into airside and landside, with airside being the manoeuvring area for aircraft on the runway and taxiway system and the parking area either at the terminal or in reserved ramp areas.
