Simulation modeling of passengers flow at airport terminals to reduce delay and enhance level of service

Abstract

Passenger delays are considered as global issues that influence the overall efficiency of an airport and competitiveness as well as restricting terminal developments. This paper studied Kuwait International Airport Terminal 4 (T4); a new expansion of the old airport. This study mainly aims to analyze the influence of the design on passenger flow in T4 and how it affected the capacity in addition to obtain a path for the passenger movement from the terminal entrance until they reach the gate of the aircraft and vice versa through CAST simulation model. The effect of the T4 design on the overall efficiency was found, the current flow conditions were analyzed and compared with the required Level of Service (LOS) and several developments and expansions were suggested. Passengers flow was studied to improve passenger experience, increase operational efficiencies, maximize retail revenues and increase security effectiveness. It was indicated that customs and security facilities require expansion in areas during peak hours to maintain a high level of performance. However, the check in premium showed the minimum gap between queue capacity and the declared queuing size indicating the high level of service in this area. The results revealed that immigration queueing requires expansion. Moreover, queuing area provision indicates no capacity issues to cope with maximum queue size. The provision of immigration counters according showed no adequate queuing space to cope with MQS. It is recommended to increase the number of economy check-in counters.