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How is the north runway currently used?
The north runway is generally used from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and primarily for arrivals. The south runway is operational 24 hours a day and is used for both arrivals and departures.
Under the Minister of Transport's operating restrictions for the north runway, the north runway can be used for departures when the airport approaches capacity limits. Using the north and south runways for simultaneous departures reduces significant delays for aircraft and their passengers.
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Why is YVR going to use the north runway for departures?
This year is shaping up to be a record year for YVR, with more passengers than ever before. Our traffic projections for the summer indicate that our demand will exceed our capacity using the current runway operating practices. In order to prevent congestion, beginning May 17, we will be using the north runway for departures on an "as needed" basis between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, to prevent significant delays for passengers.
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Who gave the airport permission to start using the north runway for departures?
The north runway has always been approved for departures. This change to the operations on the north runway has been studied extensively to ensure that it is in accordance with the Environmental Assessment and Review Process Panel Recommendations and the response from the Minister of Transport. The Airport Authority's Board of Directors is satisfied that we have fulfilled the criteria and has approved the use of the north runway for departures as required to prevent delays.
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What evidence/data do you have to indicate that using the north runway for take-offs is now a necessity?
We conducted an intensive airside capacity study and painstakingly documented aircraft delays. The data we collected was run through a computer model for analysis. Throughout each step of this process, we consulted industry and with the Aeronautical Noise Management Committee to ensure we were collecting the kind of evidence that would be meaningful and acceptable to all stakeholder groups.
The results of the study showed significant delays during peak periods if both runways are not used for arrivals and departures. We collected more data and evidence.
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Why don't we just accept the delays? They seem to be a fact of life at every airport and we haven't yet reached
the frustration levels of some US airports.
Delays cost the industry, and our passengers, time, money and stress. There is no reason to accept significant delays when we have a runway only being used for half of its intended function. Our goal is to provide all passengers at YVR, and our business partners, with safe, convenient, 24-hour air travel, and a positive customer service experience, while minimizing impacts on our neighbours. Significant delays when we have the means to reduce them are simply not acceptable to us, and would result in air carriers reducing services available to our customers.
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Are there other ways to prevent delays?
Yes, and we're looking at all of them. The single largest increase in capacity is achieved by adding a new runway. We think it is more sensible to use our existing resources to their full and intended use. Other initiatives we are working on include taxiway enhancements and improvements to Air Traffic Control technology. However, the benefits achieved through improvements in these areas are marginal in comparison with the full and efficient use of the north runway.
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How do delays at YVR compare with other airports of its size?
While every airport is different, an airport with the same kind of parallel runway configuration and with the similar number of aircraft operations would have fewer delays. Because YVR uses one of its runways for only half of its intended function, we have more delays than at a similar airport.
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How much delay occurs now? What difference will using the north runway for departures make to:
passengers, airlines, YVR?
In 1999, departure delays during only the 'rush-hours' exceeded 10,000 hours. This is equivalent to having one aircraft waiting in line for more than a year. This kind of delay has a huge impact on the passengers who, for example, miss their connecting flights. There are also significant costs to the airline (and the environment) when aircraft idle in line-ups burning fuel-these costs are passed on to the consumer.
Currently, during the peak periods at YVR, delay is, on average four minutes. This means some aircraft will be delayed more than four minutes and some less. Delays greater than an average of four minutes are considered significant. This is based on internationally accepted standards used around the world.
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How important is the delay issue to passengers?
Everyone has experienced and understands the frustration of missing a connecting flight due to delays, and so knows that for that passenger, this is a very important issue. The level of frustration could be compared to being stuck in a traffic jam in your car when you're under pressure to be somewhere at a certain time.
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How much delay is considered unacceptable?
Everyone has experienced and understands the frustration of missing a connecting flight due to delays, and so knows that for that passenger, this is a very important issue. The level of frustration could be compared to being stuck in a traffic jam in your car when you're under pressure to be somewhere at a certain time.
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Most people wouldn't consider a four-minute delay a big deal. Why are you convinced four-minute delays warrant this change?
A delay of four minutes may seem low, but it's actually just the tip of the iceberg. The four-minute delay figure is used to describe an average level of delay, which means that the range of time that an aircraft waits in the departure queue can be anywhere from between zero to 20 minutes. Each additional aircraft added to the end of the departure queue will wait that much longer. The four-minute delay figure is also the international standard for acceptable delay. Average delays beyond four minutes indicate that an airport cannot meet the demand for its services.
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