State reviews options to ease delays at Anchorage Airport

Traffic at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport is steadily increasing, and airport planners believe that the growth could soon lead to take-off and landing delays, more circling for landing slots and longer taxi times on the ground.

By 2012, estimates show there will be a 60-minute wait for some aircraft accessing the airport during weekday afternoons, according to Anchorage airport development director Rich Wilson.

Those projections have led airport planners to consider options for infrastructure growth to head off the problem. Ideas include building a second north/south runway or altering existing runway patterns.

Wilson gave a presentation at the Anchorage Air Cargo Association's monthly meeting on Sept. 25.

Passenger landings are projected to increase to a yearly average of 1.9 percent, while International cargo will see a 5.2 percent increase. Combined traffic to include nearby Lake Hood will see an average 2.8 percent yearly boost, according to Wilson.

Business at the airport accounts for one in nine jobs in the state, according to the University of Alaska. The airport is currently waiting on a new study from the Institute of Social and Economic Research that is expected to show that number of jobs relating to the airport has changed to one in eight, according to Linda Bustamante, spokesperson for the airport.

The cost of building the North South runway in 1979 was USD 32 million. Wilson didn't give a cost to build an additional runway. Such work generally would run into the tens of millions of dollars.

Building a new north/south runway is one of several options airport planners are considering, Wilson said.

Other options included making adjustments to the existing east/west runways, as well as developing an airpark near one of the runways.

Some could argue that cargo carriers UPS and FedEx would be the biggest beneficiaries of spending millions of dollars to build a new runway.

FedEx and UPS together generate USD 15.4 million a year in landing fees.

FedEx is the second highest revenue generator at USD 9.2 million, behind Alaska Airlines passenger and cargo services, at USD10.5 million. China Air ranks third, making the airport USD6.9 million, while UPS ranks in the fourth position at USD 6.05 million.

International cargo carriers are the largest users of the airport and represent more than 80 percent of the revenue for gas-and-go service between North America and Asia.

Recently released figures from the International Airport System show that the other top revenue-builders are Korean Air, Cathay Pacific, Northwest, Eva Air, and Japan Airlines International.

FedEx, UPS and Northwest Cargo all value Anchorage International as their premier gateway hubs to Asia.

FedEx currently has 20 flights from Anchorage daily, according to McCluskey. UPS has more.

Delays in the air and on the ground cost both cargo and passengers aircraft money.

Officials say the cost for delaying a Boeing 747 is about USD120 a minute, the cost to a Boeing 737 is much less, but the FAA calculates delays at USD37 per minute per passenger to the airlines.

The benefits of building an additional north/south runway would be that aircraft could take off and land at simultaneous intervals and be spaced closer by air traffic control.

Part of the concern about the traffic in and out of Anchorage is based on aircraft arrival times at international airports that allow for as little as five minutes to enter a queue for landing. These queues are called slots.

International airports in Asia also have curfew times at night and early morning hours for landing and takeoffs. Delays in Anchorage that could make a flight late for a slot are costly in penalties and can result in jets having to circle around waiting for an open slot, which causes further delays and uses more fuel.

Wilson pointed out that 75 percent of Anchorage International landings and takeoffs are made over water as a method of controlling aircraft noise. The use of the east/west runways for landing approaches over water from the west, and the north/south runway for departures to the north would continue to cut the jet noise.

Public comment will be taken on the various options, which will be released after airport consultants finish analyzing alternative airfield capacity solutions. Wilson said that drafts should available sometime in November.