Airport Planning Courses

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If you are asking, where can I learn about airport planning? Here are some courses which I am aware of. Let me know if you are aware of any more out there.

(Updated 8 July, 2012)

United States
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1. UC Berkeley - Airport Systems Planning and Design.  Offered by National Center of Excellence for Aviation Operations Research (NEXTOR).  4 day course that tends to be held in Nov.  Look under short courses in the Nextor website. The next one is 8 Oct - 11 Oct 2012. (Early Bird USD1850, Standard Rate USD1950, FAA USD1000)

2. ACC/ACI-NA/FAA - Airport Planning Workshop - 3 day course. Held annually or once every 2 years.   First one was held in Dec 2009. The last one was 5 - 7 Dec 2011.  It tends to be jointly held with the NEPA workshop.  It is orientated to the US airport industry and rules.  (ACI USD590, Non-member USD690)

3. MIT - This 5 day/3 day course was held every 2 years. It is from an Airports Systems perspective. The last one was in 2006. For some reason, there has not been one since then.  IAAE Canada is hosting a 3 day Airport Systems course by MIT Professors de Neuville, Odoni and Belobaba from 22 - 24 Aug 2012 in Montreal. (click here) (CDN2500 non-members, CDN2250 members)

4. AAAE Accreditation or Certified Member - If you are American or work in the US Airport Industry, this is also a good option as it ties in with FAA regulations and the unique characteristics of the American Airport Industry.  It is a self-study program with a Multiple Choice exam.  There are 4 modules in the Body of Knowledge, one of them is pertaining to Planning, Construction and Environmental.  The other modules are Finance and Administration; Operations, Security and Maintenance; Legislative Affairs, Marketing and Communications, and Air Service Development.  There is also a week long course (AAE/Certification Academy) that helps you go through the material and prepare you for the exam.

In addition, there are a number of aviation schools throughout the country that use Alexander Wells book "Airport Planning and Management" as a textbook for their undergraduate classes.


International
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1. Cranfield University - Cranfield offers a MSc Program in Airport Planning and Management. Most of the modules of the MSc Program are offered as 5 day short courses (GBP1370). Go to "Short Courses in Air Transport" to check it out. Cranfield MSc started when Loughborough University ended their MSc program which was running for more than 20 years.

2. Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA) - SAA is the training arm of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore.  SAA has held Airport Engineering courses annually for many years.  They appear to be transitioning to a new 9 week Airport Engineering Programme jointly organised by Institute of Transportation Studies, University of California, Berkeley and Singapore Aviation Academy (SAA).  The next class is 30 Jul - 28 Sep 2012 (USD14,800).  There is also another class from 29 Jul to 27 Sep 2013. 

3. IATA - This 5 day course appears to be run annually in Montreal. The next class is 15 Oct to 19 Oct 2012.  (Non-members USD3700, Members USD3145, Developing Countries USD2590)

4. ACI-World - Airports Council International (ACI) Global Training also has a 3 day training course on Airport Master Planning. The next class is 17-19 Oct 2012 in Brussels (EUR650) and 7-11 Oct 2012 in Abu Dhabi (EUR1000).

No longer available / discontinued?
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1. UT Austin - 3 day course at UT-Austin. (Center for Lifelong Engineering Education, look under Civil/Transportation) Typically run in Aug/Sep time of the year. I think it has been going on for more than 10 years. There are also courses on Airport Pavements, Airport Engineering & Management, Airport Noise and Air Quality models. Each one is not always run annually. The last course was in 2010.  It seems to have discontinued.

2. Harvard - 3 day course last held in Jul 09 under the auspices of the Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education Program. Not sure if this is a one off. The theme was "Next Generation Airport Design: Toward a Customer Friendly, Efficient, Safe, and Secure Passenger Airport"

Related Posts:
Airport Planning and Management Online Training 

Books for Airport Planners
ACRP Reports for Airport Planners

Airport Journals and Magazines

My first Airport Planning Books

What is the best book to learn about managing an Airport (United States)

Airport Journals and Magazines

What magazines do Airport Planners read? Every month at the start of the month, a whole slew of magazines arrive. That's when I review my last month's magazines and decide that it's time to get that cleared off. My current strategy is to read it over lunchtime when I am eating. I hope that works.

My list of magazines not necessary in order of preference:
1. Airports International (UK based magazine, gives a more global perspective)
2. Airport (AAAE magazine I get because I am a AAAE member)
3. Business and Commercial Aviation
4. Air Transport World (more airline news)
5. Passenger Terminal World (UK based publication with nice pictures but quite a lot of advertisements)
6. Airport Business (US centric magazine. Have not got a physical copy for quite a while)

7. Centerlines (by ACI-NA)

8. Future Airport

Others
1. Jane's Airport Review (I don't receive it but would like to read it if I can get a complimentary copy)
2. Design & Construction Building
3. Planning (Magazine of the American Planning Association)
4. Airport World (ACI World)

Journals
1. Journal of Airport Management
2. Journal of Air Transportation

What other magazines do Airport Planners read? Let me know what you think.

Related Posts:
Books for Airport Planners

What do Airport Planners do? Interviews with San Diego Airport Planners

What does an Airport Planner that works at an airport do? San Diego Airport has an official blog where the Airport Authority's staff provide content for the blog. Two of the bloggers are airport planners. (Ryan and Ed) Ryan interviews two of the SAN planners and they describe their jobs. Read more about what they do here.

Terminal Roofs / Ceilings in Airports (SIN, HKG, PVG)

Airport Terminals in Asia are the gateways to their countries. There is a lot of national pride and a lot of money is spent on the airports to ensure that visitors are awed and wowed when they arrive and depart from these places. The trend has been to have unique ceilings to these cavernous spaces. They unify the space and assist in wayfinding.

1. SIN - Singapore Changi Terminal 3 with its over 900 skylights letting in natural daylight and making for an interesting ceilingscape.

2. HKG - Hong Kong. A Norman Foster design.

3. PVG - Shanghai Pudong, the international gateway into China's business hub. This is still one of my favorite ceilings in a terminal building. I just love the blue and white interplay. Architect: Paul Andreu

Fun ads at LAX Airport on Construction Hoardings/Temporary Fencing

Technically, they are not advertisements but they sure look as slick as ads. Instead of the usual "pardon our dust" signs or boring "Making things better" signs, LAX has these fun construction screens to look at. They were witty and made me want to read more of them. Very entertaining. Enjoy.

Waiting to see your gate number at LHR Airport (FIDS)

This is a picture taken in London Heathrow Terminal 3. The passengers are all held in a central lounge and they wait for the gate number to be shown on the screen. This is only shown a short time before the departure time. It is very British. It reminds me of the large London railway stations where passengers stand in front of all the screens waiting to see which platform to go to. I will try and find a picture of the railway station scene. It is very intriguing for a person that has never seen it before.

Cranfield University MSc Airport Planning & Management

Course video about the Cranfield University Masters in Airport Planning and Management. (Click here)

This is the successor course to the Loughborough University MSc (Airport Planning and Management) which had a history of more than 20 years. There are many graduates of that program. These graduates can be found throughout the world. (Asia, Europe, North America, Africa, Oceania etc.)

I believe that this is the only Airport Planning and Management Masters program in the English speaking world. Most of the modules are also offered as stand alone short courses.

My first Airport Planning Books

When I first started on this Airport planning journey 10 years ago, these were the first few books I came across.  Please note that all the books have new editions so please buy the latest editions.
Please see my post on current Airport Planning books (click here)

1. Airport Engineering (Norman Ashford)
- This edition was published in 1992.   I found it to be more readable than other airport engineering books when I first started. It gives a good international view rather than just an American view.  There is a new edition that was published in 2011.

2. Airport Planning and Management (Wells)
- An American view of US Airports and the US Airport System. but very easy to understand.  It is updated every few years.  There has been a new edition published so please make sure you buy the new edition.

3. Airport Operations (Ashford)
- This is the 1999 edition.  Again, very readable but unfortunately not updated.  There is a new edition expected to come out at the end of 2012.

4. Airport Systems (deNeuville)
- This is the 2003 edition.  A bit harder to understand than the other 3 books at first, but it gets better as you get used to the airport industry. A operations research point of view and it gives both an American and international view of the world with some comparison between the American and international ways of doing things.  There is a new edition expected to be published in 2013.