Aircraft Gate Parking Orientation for Simultaneous Door Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current aircraft gate operations are inefficient, particularly for narrow body aircraft, as they require additional time and space to maneuver into parallel parking orientations, which is not feasible in all airport terminals, leading to increased turnaround times and passenger inconvenience.
Innovation Solution
An improved aircraft gate parking and servicing method that allows aircraft to be parked at an optimum angle relative to the terminal gate, enabling dual passenger loading bridges to connect directly with both forward and rear doors without extending over the wing, facilitating efficient passenger transfer and servicing while maintaining required clearances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If aircraft park in traditional nose-in orientation, then wing tip clearance requirements are satisfied, but passenger transfer time increases and turnaround efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the parking orientation from perpendicular (nose-in) to parallel relative to the terminal building. This dimensional change in positioning allows loading bridges to access multiple doors simultaneously without requiring bridges to extend over wings, thereby reducing passenger transfer time while maintaining safe wing tip clearances through optimized gate spacing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the passenger transfer process by enabling simultaneous access to multiple aircraft doors through parallel parking configuration. Instead of single-door sequential boarding used in nose-in orientation, multiple loading bridges can service different doors at the same time, dividing the transfer operation into parallel concurrent tasks that reduce total turnaround time.
2Ease of operation
If loading bridges extend over aircraft wings to reach rear doors, then passenger access to multiple doors is enabled, but risk of wing damage increases and operation complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
By changing the aircraft parking orientation to parallel with the terminal, the loading bridges no longer need to extend vertically over the wings to reach rear doors. The bridges approach from the side, eliminating the harmful over-wing extension that poses wing damage risk, while still enabling access to multiple doors through the reconfigured spatial arrangement.
3Productivity
If aircraft maneuver into parallel parking orientation, then turnaround efficiency improves, but additional maneuvering time and space requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having aircraft maneuver into the parallel parking orientation immediately upon arrival at the gate, before passenger transfer begins. This upfront positioning eliminates the need for subsequent repositioning maneuvers during the transfer process, and when combined with adequate gate spacing, the initial maneuvering time is offset by the significant time savings during concurrent multi-door passenger transfer and servicing operations.
4Device complexity
If single loading bridge is used for nose-in parking, then gate infrastructure is simplified, but passenger transfer speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The parallel parking configuration enables segmentation of the passenger transfer function across multiple loading bridges servicing different aircraft doors simultaneously. This multi-bridge arrangement increases passenger transfer speed by operating multiple transfer channels in parallel, while the gate infrastructure remains relatively simple, requiring only adequate spacing between gates to accommodate the parallel aircraft positioning and multiple bridge operations.
Data Source
AI summary
An improved aircraft gate parking and servicing method is provided, wherein an aircraft is maneuvered into an airport terminal gate and parked in an optimum orientation at an angle that facilitates maximum access to aircraft front and rear doors. Boarding bridges are designed to facilitate connection to doors located rear of an aircraft wing without extending over the aircraft wing to maximize efficiency of passenger transfer. Passenger transfer and servicing of the aircraft may occur concurrently before the aircraft is maneuvered out of its optimum orientation in the parking space and driven to a takeoff runway for departure. Required safety margins are maintained at all times during aircraft maneuvers into and out of the optimum parking orientation. Stairs may be provided to simultaneously access aircraft doors not connected to boarding bridges. In a preferred embodiment, aircraft are moved to an optimum parking location by engines-off electric taxi systems.