There are few airport managements which can claim that, by doubling the number of their runways, they will reduce noise nuisance dramatically. At Bogota's Eldorado International Airport, however, that is precisely what the Colombian Aeronautica Civil (civil-aviation authority) promises, even though the second runway will increase air-transport movement (ATM) capacity by 70%.
The secret of reducing noise nuisance is that the parallel runways, with their centreline axes separated by 1,400m (4,600ft), will allow simultaneous approaches and departures to be carried out over the open countryside to the north-west. The city is to the south-east and has begun encroaching around the other two sides, putting the airport in a "bay" of urban development. In the future, however, standard procedure will be for aircraft to land on the existing runway 13, with take-offs from the new runway 31, which ensures that few local residents will be affected by aircraft noise.
Under construction now, the $100-million project is now expected to be operational ahead of the proposed September 1998 opening date, according to project manager Jaime Escobar Corradine.
ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING
In 1955, long-sighted planners had anticipated an eventual need for additional runway capacity when they set the airport perimeter, so additional land did not have to be bought.
An environmental study was carried out for the environment ministry by two specialist companies, Dames & Moore and Estudios Technicos. The new arrival- and departure-track orientation, combined with new sound barriers, a tree-planting programme and an Aeronautica Civil policy to ban all except Stage 3 (quiet) aircraft by 2003, is intended to improve the quality of life of local residents dramatically. Approaches and departures to the north-west are expected to be operated most of the time, reducing the amount of low-flying traffic over the urban areas by an estimated 70-80%, says the Aeronautica Civil. If flights are seen to depart from noise-abatement tracks or procedures, the airlines concerned will be fined.
Colombia deregulated its domestic air-transport market in 1990 and, since then, domestic passenger traffic has doubled, to just over 6 million people, and international traffic has increased by a multiple of 2.5, to 1.7 million passengers (1996 figures), according to the Aeronautica Civil. Cargo tonnages have doubled over the same period.
Simultaneously with deregulation, an open-skies agreement with Venezuela came into operation, and flights from Venezuela into Bogota increased from seven a week to seven a day, virtually overnight. The combined effect of all this has been that ATMs at Eldorado have increased from the 1990 figure of 131,561 flights to the 1996 total of 193,045. Corradine says that, technically, the airport reached its capacity in 1993. The single runway is "saturated", with as many as 60 movements an hour during good-weather peak times, leading to long holding times and take-off delays.
Colombia's major international carrier, Aerovias Nacionales de Colombia (Avianca), having set up a codesharing agreement with American Airlines at the end of 1996, hopes to increase its Bogota-hubbed domestic flights to cope with the increased demand generated.
Bogota handles some 65% of Colombia's total landings and take-offs, and the Aeronautica Civil describes the inability to meet demand as "a major problem in the aeronavigational and economic development of Colombia". Corradine says that the current growth in traffic is 8% on international flights and 12% on domestic.
The contract
The consortium which will carry out the work, Compania Desarollo Aeropuerto Eldorado, consists of Dragados y Construcciones of Spain, Ogden of the USA, and Conconcreto of Colombia. Bonds in the consortium, sold for a total of $116 million, were snapped up within a day. User charges are expected to repay the investment over 17 years. The work, estimated at $100.3 million, includes:
- a runway 3,800m long and 45m wide;
- parallel taxiway 30m wide;
- three 90 degree exits and one high-speed exit;
- taxiways to connect the old and new runways;
- installation of lighting, visual guidance equipment, radio-navigation aids and meteorological sensors;
- rerouteing of 2,600m of the Bogota River.
Meanwhile, the Government has announced a significant revision of its airport-privatisation policy, which has already seen Cartagena and Barranquila privatised. Now, the Aeronautica Civil is to retain ownership of airports, with the terminals and commercial areas being privatised. Runways and air-traffic-control functions will remain in state hands.
Source: Flight International
