Tokyo Narita is providing 12 stands capable of handling A380s. Seven of these are at existing terminal buildings, and five A380 gates are under construction as an extension to terminal 1.
The airport authority (NAA) says that parking an A380 at any of these stands will not restrict the size of aircraft that can be parked at adjacent stands, so it will be possible for two or more A380s to be parked side by side.
"We are planning to handle the A380 with bifurcated boarding bridges attached to the main deck doors," says the NAA, which is having the bridges constructed to its own design. There will be five remote stands, but NAA says provision of ground equipment for these "depends on the airline".
The NAA says none of its runways, taxiways or other pavements will require any reinforcement to handle the A380. There is also already adequate spacing between runways and taxiways. Adjacent taxiways are 100m apart, and there is a 200m gap between taxiways and adjacent runways.
No filleting of taxiway corners is needed because the Boeing 777-300, which is longer than the A380, is already in operation at Narita.
Narita says it is "planning to upgrade [its] ICAO fire and rescue category from category 9 to category 10 in time for A380 services".
The authority says the total cost of all the changes required for the A380 is at this stage "not clear, but we do not assume it costs much because runway, taxiway and other existing facilities do not need large-scale changes".
Source: Flight International
