Check-in process at Lisbon Airport

120 Pages·2008·4.16 MB·English

by  Rosario Macario

Check-in process at Lisbon Airport

Event-based Simulations and Collaborative Design

[Transportation]

ERASMUS Program – Master in Aeronautical Engineer
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM)

Student: DÍAZ ESTEBAN, PEDRO J.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ROSÁRIO MACÁRIO

September 2008
Check-in process at Lisbon Airport

Event-based Simulations and Collaborative Design

[Transportation]

Student: DÍAZ ESTEBAN, PEDRO J.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ROSÁRIO MACÁRIO
Tutor: MARIN MARINOV (Eng., Ph.D.)

September 2008
Student: DÍAZ ESTEBAN, PEDRO J.
Universidad Politécnica de Madrid
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingenieros Aeronáuticos
Madrid, Spain

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. ROSÁRIO MACÁRIO
Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil
Engineering and Architecture
Transport Infrastructure, Systems and Policy Group (NISPT)
Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical
University of Lisbon, Portugal
SUMMARY

The main objective of this study is to analyse and evaluate the check-in process at
Lisbon Airport, since the passengers have entered into the terminal until they have passed
through the security controls, in order to estimate their throughput times through the terminal
in question and the times needed for the passengers to be served. This process is one of the
most problematic services that the airports provide because when the check-in process is ill-
executed initial undesirable delays as well as long waiting times occur and thus the service
provided becomes of poor quality.
The selected area for study is the second check-in area within the departure passenger
terminal of Lisbon Airport. More specifically we focused on from the performance of check-
in desks from 14 to 36.
In this study two methods are implemented, namely: event based simulations and
collaborative design.
The simulation was implemented using SIMUL8 software. This simulation product
allows us to deal with peaks in arrivals and offers us the possibility of testing alternative
check-in rules, such as: overflow of economy class passengers to business class counters or
extension of the check-in period prior to the flight. With a combination of actual data and
observations at the airport a model for 5 flights was designed.
The results obtained from the simulation experiments show that with an extension of
check-in period prior to the respective flight, the average queuing time and the average queue
size drop significantly. Opening the check-in counters by 15 or 20 minutes earlier,
international standards (as stipulated by air companies) for expected waiting time during the
check in process on average are achieved. Moreover, in this situation the queues do not
exceed their capacities. In addition, the use of business counters for economy passengers, as
well as, the use of Quick check-in kiosks, show great improvements in terms of queuing times
and average queue size.
The collaborative design technique employed was a survey fulfilled through
questionnaires. The aim of the collaborative design is to know the opinion and needs of the
“participants” involved in the check-in process. In this study, passengers and staff are the two
target groups. In collecting the required information the aim was to analyse whether the
service provided corresponds to what is expected by both passengers and staff or on the
contrary, meaning it is necessary to make some Physical or/and Operational changes in order
to meet those expectations. It was found that the space for the queues, the queues’
configuration, and the number of check-in counters should be improved. Furthermore, the
lighting and the wideness of the airport should be ameliorated as well.

Key words: Traditional check-in, Quick check-in, simulation, collaborative design
TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES..............................................................................................................7
LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................11
1.1. Motivation.........................................................................................................11
1.2. Objectives..........................................................................................................12
1.3. Methodology.......................................................................................................13
CHAPTER 2. STATE OF THE ART..................................................................................15
2.1. Literature Review...............................................................................................15
2.1.1. Simulation..............................................................................................15
2.1.2. Collaborative design..............................................................................19
2.2. World Wide Traffic Evolution............................................................................23
2.2.1. Perspectives...........................................................................................24
CHAPTER 3. EEVALUATION OF THE CHECK-IN PROCESS......................................25
AT LISBON AIRPORT.......................................................................................................25
3.1. Lisbon airport.......................................................................................................25
3.1.1. Traffic at Lisbon Airport.........................................................................25
3.1.1.1. Airlines...............................................................................................26
3.1.1.2. Alliances.............................................................................................28
3.1.1.3. Seasonality.........................................................................................29
3.1.1.4. Passenger profiles..............................................................................31
3.1.2. Current situation.....................................................................................31
3.1.3. Passenger Terminals..................................................................................33
3.2. Check-in process..................................................................................................37
3.2.1. General concepts.......................................................................................37
3.2.1.1. Types of Check-in..............................................................................39
3.2.1.2. Types of Queue Configuration..........................................................40
3.2.1.3. Passengers’ Characteristics..............................................................40
3.2.1.4. IATA recommendations....................................................................42
3.2.2. Zone 2: Object of study..............................................................................46
3.2.2.1. Dimensions.........................................................................................47
3.2.2.2. Airlines...............................................................................................47
3.2.2.3. Routes to Zone 2................................................................................48
3.2.2.4. Check-in counter requirement..........................................................49
3.2.3. Conclusions...............................................................................................54
3.3. Simulation............................................................................................................55
3.3.1. Simulation package, SIMUL8.................................................................55
3.3.1.1. The SIMUL 8 Building Blocks..........................................................55
3.3.1.2. Routing..............................................................................................57
3.3.1.3. Measures of Performance (MOPs)...................................................58
3.3.1.4. Set of results.......................................................................................61
3.3.2. Required data for conducting the simulation experiment..........................62
3.3.2.1. Considerations...................................................................................62
3.3.2.2. Assumptions.......................................................................................65
3.3.3. Check-in process.....................................................................................66
3.3.3.1. Considerations...................................................................................67
3.3.3.2. Results................................................................................................69
3.3.3.4. Conclusions........................................................................................77
3.3.4. Check-in process and passenger movements............................................78
3.3.4.1. Simul8 building blocks...................................................................78
3.3.4.2. Results................................................................................................84
3.3.4.3. Conclusions........................................................................................91
3.4. Collaborative design.............................................................................................92
3.4.1. Surveys...................................................................................................92
3.4.1.1. Passenger survey results....................................................................97
3.4.1.2. Staff survey results..........................................................................105
3.4.2. Comparison between passengers and staff survey results......................110
3.4.3. Conclusions..........................................................................................111
CHAPTER 4. RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................112
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS..................................................................................................115
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................116
Annexe I............................................................................................................................118
LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Annual passengers and movements evolution........................................................25
Figure 2. Passenger evolution by airline type........................................................................26
Figure 3. Home based airlines passenger evolution...............................................................27
Figure 4. Top 5 foreign airlines: Passenger evolution............................................................27
Figure 5. Passengers market share by group of carriers.........................................................28
Figure 6. Passengers’ traffic by month..................................................................................29
Figure 7. Passengers traffic by day of the week....................................................................29
Figure 8. Aircraft movements by day of the week.................................................................30
Figure 9. Hourly distribution of aircraft movements and passengers.....................................31
Figure 10. Information screen...............................................................................................35
Figure 11. Scketch of check-in counters distribution at Terminal 1.......................................36
Figure 12. Standards for Pedestrian Dimensions...................................................................41
Figure 13. Recommended Dimensions for Frontal Type Check-in taking into account a
Maximum Queuing Time of 30-35 Minutes..................................................................43
Figure 14. Recommended Dimensions for Check-in Island with Single Queue Per Flight
taking into account a Maximum Queuing Time of 30-35 Minutes.................................43
Figure 15. Layout of the Zone2.............................................................................................46
Figure 16. Layout of the Terminal provided by ANA[15].......................................................48
(Note that there are 3 possible way for access, as shown in blue)..........................................48
Figure 17. Maximum Queuing Time (MQT) chart................................................................52
Figure 18. Control of the routing out of the items.................................................................58
Figure 19. Queue length and its pattern.................................................................................58
Figure 20. Distribution of queuing times...............................................................................59
Figure 21. Work center results and activity...........................................................................60
Figure 22. Work complete results and histogram of the time distribution..............................60
Figure 23. Irregular distribution of the passenger arrival to the check-in counters.................63
Figure 24. ANA passenger profile survey.............................................................................63
Figure 25. Example of Check in simulation in SIMUL8 Environment replicating one flight.67
Figure 26. Arrival patterns:...................................................................................................69
Figure 27. Exponetial and Fixed distribution for a time interval............................................70
Figure 28. Exponential and Fixed distribution for several time intervals...............................70
Figure 29. Maximum queue size for economy queues...........................................................86
Figure 30. Percentage of economy passengers at queue less than 10 min.............................87
Figure 31. a) Queuing time for 2H before; b) Queuing time (15min).....................................87
Figure 32. a) Queue evolution with time (2H); b)Queue evolution with time (15min)...........87
Figure 33. Maximum time in system.....................................................................................89
Figure 34. a) Percentage of time in system (2H before); b)Percentage of time in system
(15min).........................................................................................................................90
Figure 35. Example of a passenger’s questionnaire...............................................................95
Figure 36. Example of a staff’s questionnaire.......................................................................96
Figure 37. a) Age groups; b) Advanced departure time.........................................................98
Figure 38. Average index for each operational characteristic..............................................100
Figure 39. Average index for each physical characteristic...................................................100
Figure 40. Information obtained by ANA during 4th quarter of 2007...................................101
Figure 41. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer.............................................102
Figure 42. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer for each question.................102
Figure 43. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer for each question.................103
Figure 44. Age groups........................................................................................................105
Figure 45. Average index for each operational characteristic..............................................107
Figure 46. Average index for each physical characteristic...................................................107
Figure 47. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer.............................................108
Figure 48. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer for each question.................108
Figure 49. Proportion in percentage of every possible answer for each question.................109
Figure 50. Comparison between passengers and staff results...............................................110
Figure 51. Comparison between passengers and staff results...............................................111
LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Airlines in Operation at Terminal 1.........................................................................34
Table 2. Distribution of the check-in counters at Terminal 1.................................................36
Table 3. Range of level of service measures according to IATA...........................................42
Table 4. Level of Service Space Standards (m2/Occupant) at check-in for a single queue......44
Table 5. Level of Service Maximum Waiting Time Guidelines.............................................45
Table 6. Space and speed for levels of service C in waiting/circulation areas........................46
Table 7. Possible ways for access and distances....................................................................49
Table 8. F1: Peak 30-minute at check-in as a percentage of the peak hour period (PHP).......50
Table 9. F2: Additional demand generated by the flights departing before and after the peak
hour period...................................................................................................................51
Table 10. S value obtained....................................................................................................53
Table 11. Number of economy counters for each MQT.........................................................53
Table 12. Number of check-in servers including...................................................................54
Table 13. Number of counters...............................................................................................54
Table 14. Irregular distribution of the passenger arrival to the check-in counters..................62
Table 15. Measures of the airport performance.....................................................................64
Table 16. “Flights” data for the simulation............................................................................65
Table 17. Estimated inter-arrival rates..................................................................................67
Table 18. Scenarios..............................................................................................................68
Table 19. Results on Average per Scenario...........................................................................72
Table 20. Results for non-zeros queuing time for each scenario............................................74
Table 21. Operational rules’ test...........................................................................................75
Table 22. Results of the performed test.................................................................................76
Table 23. Passengers arrived per flight and period prior to flight departure...........................78
Table 24. Estimated inter-arrival rates values (pax/min) per flight and period prior to flight
departure.......................................................................................................................78
Table 25. Way distances and travel times.............................................................................79
Table 26. Class counters and capacity of the queues.............................................................80
Table 27. Type Distributions per work center and its values.................................................81
Table 28. Queue measures, On Average...............................................................................85
Table 29. System measures, On Average..............................................................................88
Table 30. Travel times..........................................................................................................89
Table 31. Measures of flight LH 4533..................................................................................90
Table 32. Answers of the passengers about the operational and physical characteristics........99
Table 33. Average rate for each question depending on different criteria............................104
Table 34. Answers of the staff about the operational and physical characteristics................106