Simulation for Airport Terminal Design & Construction
In airport terminal design, it is essential to fine-tune every aspect to ensure passengers have a safe and enjoyable experience, making air travel a smooth process. Despite the constant changes in flight arrivals and passenger volumes, long queues and overcrowded areas must be avoided.
But how can this be achieved when flight schedules are unpredictable, passenger numbers are increasing, and international security regulations are subject to frequent changes? Airports need better insights and forecasting capabilities to prevent situations that could negatively impact passengers’ overall travel experience, such as:
- Problems caused by the new seasonal flight schedule
- Keeping queue times for check-in and security within acceptable limits
- Adjustments needed in staff planning
- Ensuring timely evacuation of piers during emergencies
Digital Twin Solutions
Digital Twin Simulation is a powerful tool for testing and optimizing airport layouts and passenger processes. It allows comparison of design alternatives while providing insights into the utilization of space and queuing in areas such as check-in, baggage reclaim, security, passport control, transfer desks and boarding.
Simulation enhances decision-making by offering deeper insights, enabling airports to better foresight and prevent failures. Visualization presents the outcomes of different scenarios, helping stakeholders understand the impact of each decision on real-time terminal operations. Key questions addressed include:
• Does the terminal design provide adequate space?
• Are there sufficient stairways, escalators, elevators, and wide walkways?
• Is the equipment capacity adequate in all locations?
• What are the peak passenger flows at security and passport control?
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Identifying Bottlenecks
Digital Twin Simulation software provides clear insight into potential bottlenecks by modelling either the full passenger-handling infrastructure or specific areas in detail. Using performance indicators, it helps assess whether transfer times remain achievable, staffing and screening capacity are sufficient at peak hours, waiting times and volumes in baggage reclaim are acceptable, and whether narrow corridors are causing delays. -
Evaluating & Testing Solutions
Through simulation, airports can assess the effectiveness of potential solutions by running different scenarios and comparing measures such as better use of existing baggage reclaim space, adding extra staff shifts at security checkpoints, or evaluating faster evacuation times under alternative emergency plans. -
Gaining Stakeholder Support
Airport operators, airlines, and ground handlers often view terminal challenges differently. Digital simulation supports constructive discussion by providing neutral performance indicators and 3D visualisations that allow objective comparison, helping stakeholders align on the most effective solutions to improve passenger flow.
Benefits of Simulation
InControl offers a powerful simulation platform that enables you to create a Digital Twin of real-world infrastructures and systems. This virtual replica allows you to gain valuable insights into the behavior of the actual system under various conditions and scenarios. By modeling stadiums, airport terminals, museums, urban areas, multi-modal transportation hubs and other crowded places, you can understand and optimize the performance of your operations.
The software’s core functionality involves simulating the flow of entities, such as products, persons, or vehicles, through an infrastructure or system. By considering factors like resource allocation, processing times, and transportation, users can experiment with diverse strategies and policies. This experimentation empowers you to optimize processes, boost efficiency, mitigate bottlenecks, and proactively identify potential issues before implementing changes in the real world.
Reduced costs
Minimize rework and optimize material usage by identifying potential issues early in the design phase, saving you time and money.
Enhanced Efficiency
Streamline workflows by leveraging simulation to test various design iterations quickly and efficiently, accelerating project timelines.
Improved Safety
Identify potential structural risks and ensure the integrity of your designs before construction begins, mitigating safety hazards.
Elevated User Experience
Design with human comfort and functionality in mind. Simulate realistic behaviour to create spaces that are functional and user-friendly.
retail and commercial space revenue
passenger flow effiecieny
queue management and waiting times
Pedestrian Dynamics®
Our powerful Digital Twin software Pedestrian Dynamics is designed to model any kind of pedestrian infrastructure or environment.
Our software significantly contributes to the customer experience, (cost) efficiency, innovation, safety, and security of your project. It has been widely employed in numerous large-scale projects across critical infrastructure environments, including stadiums, airports, public transport terminals, mega-events, and urban planning.
Pedestrian Dynamics offers a rapid model-building environment, delivering both time and cost savings. With just a few straightforward steps, even the most complex operations can be efficiently modeled. For instance, in crafting a Digital Twin for an airport terminal, multi-source data inputs such as CAD drawings and BIM models are seamlessly integrated. Once the layout is established, the simulation incorporates all types of visitor/pedestrian data.
Key advantages of Pedestrian Dynamics:
- Enhancing Customer Experience
- Driving (cost) efficiency in operations
- Providing a platform for innovative solutions
- Contributing to a safer environment
- Addressing security concerns effectively
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Contact us
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