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Emirates A380 landing tomorrow at BIA’s Code E runway
View(s):An Emirates A380 will make a one-off landing at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) tomorrow—as a precursor to scheduled A380 flights, officials said—despite the runway not being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements for the landing and take-off of such aircraft.
ICAO mandates a runway to be Code F, or with a core width of 65m, for A380 aircraft. The BIA runway remains Code E, with a core width of 45m, even after a six-month refurbishment which only saw the ‘shoulders’ on either side being extended. The A380 has a wingspan of over 80m.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) has placed the onus on the Airport and Aviation Services of Sri Lanka Ltd for A380 compliance. Its latest Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP) supplement says that, according to a compatibility study conducted by AASL, Bandaranaike International Airport “satisfies the physical characteristics [sic] requirements for A380 Operations on Code-E Aerodromes”.
In media announcements marking completion of renovation, AASL claimed the upgraded runway was a “modified Code F”—despite such classification not existing anywhere in ICAO literature. But it has now accepted that BIA is a Code E airport.
ICAO has held that A380 operations require a Code F runway. ICAO Circular 305-AN/177 states that: “…facilities meeting code F requirements should be provided, in full, on all relevant parts of the movement area whenever new construction or major redevelopment is undertaken. When planning such construction or redevelopment, it may be prudent to consider the requirements of future aeroplane types needing facilities in excess of code F”.
Emirates, which has a surfeit of A380s and is eyeing long-haul flights to Australia via Colombo, said in a statement that it joins local authorities in “the celebration of the airport’s resurfaced runway”. A special flight from Dubai will be the first A380 aircraft to disembark passengers in Sri Lanka after completing a commercial service.
“You can use a Code E runway for A380 operations if you ignore ICAO regulations,” an aviation expert said, requesting anonymity. “The AASL is being greedy while Emirates wants to land their A380s. But consider what will happen if something goes wrong and there are insurance claims in future.”
“There could be a situation, once in a blue moon, where the aircraft is at maximum take-off weight with a full load of passengers and fuel, and take-off has to be aborted,” he continued. “Say, in the braking effort to stop the take-off, the nose feel goes into the soft area between 45 and 50m, which is shoulder material. There could be a disaster. Why are we knowingly violating ICAO rules? If we allow Emirates to come in, we have to do the same for others.”
There are, however, instances of A380 operations on Code E airports in other parts of the world. Airbus says on its website that, although the A380 is classified by ICAO as a Code F aircraft (based on wingspan and outer main landing gear width), “many A380 scheduled operations occur on airport infrastructures that do not comply with ICAO Code F…design requirements/recommendations”.
But online literature shows that the outer shoulders must meet strict specifications to be suitable for A380 landings on 45m runways. The A380 Airport Compatibility Group (AACG) states that for destination airports, such as BIA, a 45m runway with 75m shoulders on both sides can be used for Airbus A380 operations “if the runway is also provided with additional ‘outer’ shoulders’”.
“These outer shoulders should be prepared for jet blast protection, engine ingestion protections, and for supporting ground vehicles and their width should be at least 2×7.5m,” AACG states. It also says runway inspection must be carried out immediately after take-off to check that no loose objects have been blown onto the runway.
The AACG describes a large number of other conditions that must be met for A380 operations on Code E runways.