Master Plan Update (pdf) - Lansing/Capital City Airport

3.7 General Aviation Requirements
Capital Region Airport Authority
Capital City Airport Master Plan Update
General Aviation (GA) activity is forecast to increase by 1 percent annually from 2003, reaching
72,600 annual operations by 2023 – an increase of more than 13,000 operations over the next
twenty years. Of those operations, 42 percent are anticipated to be made by based aircraft and 58
percent by itinerant aircraft. Based on current trends, it is anticipated that the itinerant aircraft
operations will be composed of light to medium weight business jets such as, Bombardier Learjets,
Cessna Citations, and Raytheon Hawkers. A mix of single and multi-engine piston and heavy
business jets, such as Canadair and Gulfstream series aircraft, are also anticipated to be included
in the itinerant aircraft mix.
The increase in overall operations will affect the requirements for both hangars (for based aircraft)
and tie-down space (for both based and itinerant aircraft). To determine the facility requirements
both historic activities and current capacities have been compared to forecast activities to ascertain
the facilities required throughout the forecast period.
3.7.1 Aircraft Storage Hangars
The amount of hangar space required at an airport is often a function of local weather conditions,
aircraft type, airport security and user preferences. Airports that experience moderate weather
conditions generally store 30 percent of the based aircraft in hangars. Airports that experience
extreme weather conditions, such as severe winter temperatures and precipitation, generally store
more than 80 percent of the based aircraft in hangars. As general aviation aircraft continue to
develop into more sophisticated and expensive investments, it is anticipated that the owners of
these aircraft would desire hangars to protect their investment.
Currently, most of the based multi-engine and corporate business jets at the Airport are stored in
conventional hangars, while the smaller single-engine aircraft are stored in the 60 available Thangar
units. Combined, the two types of aircraft storage provide the Airport with approximately
100 GA aircraft storage hangar positions.
To determine the number and type of aircraft storage facilities required over the planning period,
the forecast of based aircraft, which was developed as part of the Forecast of Aviation Demand,
has been compared to existing trends in aircraft storage. To assist in determining the amount of
area necessary to accommodate the required hangar space, a planning standard of 1,200 square
feet per T-hangar, and 2,000 square feet per aircraft stored in a box-hangar has been utilized.
Table 3-26 demonstrates the facility requirements for both conventional hangars and T-hangars.
To ensure the Airport’s ability to both attract and accommodate growth in the area of based aircraft
the facility requirements have been prepared based on a 95 percent occupancy rate, thus allowing
the Airport to continually provide capacity in aircraft storage.
Facility Requirements 3-39 Final