T.F. Green Airport Improvement Program - FEIS Chapters - PVD

T.F. Green Airport Improvement ProgramEnvironmental Impact Statement and Final Section 4(f) Evaluationpassenger demand due to the proposed runway extension could result in an earlier need for the proposedconcourse expansion. Additional concourse area could require an upgraded or new central heating and coolingplant facility. Passenger convenience would be enhanced through increased passenger throughput efficiency withconcourse facilities that match passenger demand levels.Additional gates would require modifications to terminal apron and connecting taxilanes. The addition of aircraftgates based on passenger demand would enhance the efficiency of the aircraft-terminal-passenger interface.2.3.2.3 CargoAir cargo encompasses both air freight and air mail. T.F. Green Airport has two major classes of air freightoperators serving both forms of air cargo. Integrated cargo airlines such as Federal Express and UPS operateall-cargo aircraft to their hubs in Memphis, TN, and Louisville, KY, respectively. Passenger airlines also carry cargoin the aircraft bellies during regularly scheduled flights. Adequate facilities to ensure efficient ground movements,storage, and aircraft loading and unloading are critical to air cargo operations.Belly CargoTwo facilities currently accommodate belly cargo operations at the Airport: the shared belly cargo and GSEmaintenance building south of the terminal, and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) facility adjacent to the belly cargoand GSE maintenance building. The existing belly cargo and GSE maintenance building would be demolished toaccommodate the proposed terminal and apron expansion, requiring that the belly cargo facilities be replaced.Therefore, space currently available for handling belly cargo would need to be replaced and sized appropriately toaccommodate anticipated belly cargo demand requirements. It is anticipated that as total airport operations andaverage aircraft size continue to increase throughout the planning period, belly cargo capacity would also increase.Integrated CargoThe Integrated Cargo facilities currently have 19,400 square feet of available building space. The 2002 T.F. GreenAirport Master Plan Update developed a maximum tonnage per area ratio (TAR) 83 based on industry standards atthat time and on discussions with integrated cargo carrier representatives to determine the amount of requiredbuilding space to accommodate dedicated air cargo operations at the Airport. Current trends in the air cargoindustry reflect a range in the TAR based on the level of automation in the cargo facility. For example, currently aTAR of 0.5 is used for planning facilities that would accommodate lower levels of automation (mostly manual) anda TAR of 1.0 is used to accommodate average levels of automation. 84 It is anticipated that the T.F. Green Airport aircargo facility would be within this range of TAR values. It is not anticipated that a sophisticated sort facility withhigh levels of automation will be needed at the Airport as each of the current cargo carriers use off-Airport sortingfacilities.The industry accepted range of space requirements was applied to the 2010 FEIS No-Action Forecast and the analysis isshown in Table 2-8. Building space requirements of between 25,369 square feet and 50,738 square feet would be neededby 2020, which is between approximately 6,000 and 31,000 square feet greater than existing cargo facilities at the Airport.This range of potential air cargo facility requirements is consistent with the findings in the Master Plan Update, which83 T.F. Green Airport Master Plan Update, Landrum & Brown, Inc., 2002, Page III-49.84 Airport Development Reference Manual, 9 th Edition, January 2004, IATA, Montreal, Canada.Chapter 2 – Purpose and Need 2-31 July 2011\\mawatr\ev\09228.00\reports\FEIS_Final_July_2011\PVD_CH02_P&N_JUL_2011.doc