This paper focuses on the use of discrete event simulation (DES) as a decision support tool for airport land use development. As a study case, Querétaro Airport (Mexico) is used, due to its rapid growth and the different services it offers. The SIMIO® software was used to carry out a macro-level simulation of the airport’s processes, considering generic process times, flight types and demand schedules. The resulting strategic simulation model can be used to diagnose the current growth situation, analyse the airport's growth potential, and evaluate different expansion scenarios using the available land, including the expansion of the terminal building, cargo operations or MRO. The arrival and departure of aircraft (commercial, cargo, maintenance, aviation school and private aviation) at the airport were simulated to detect bottlenecks for different expansion scenarios, that aim to find an optimal balance between the growth options in the different airport grounds. The objective is to compare the potential growth of different layout expansion possibilities. Preliminary results indicate that land use options have a great impact on the growth potential of the airport and some general aviation activities, such as the aviation school, are interfering with the potential growth of other activities at Querétaro Airport.
COVID-19 arrived in the world suddenly and unexpectedly. It caused major disruptions at economical, operational and other levels. In the case of flight traffic, the operations were reduced to 10% of their original levels. The question after COVID-19 is how to restart the operations and how to keep the balance between safety and capacity. In this paper we present an analysis using simulation techniques for understanding the impact in a security area of an important airport in Latin America; the airport of Mexico City. The results allow to illustrate the potential congestion given by the implemented covid-19 restriction, even when the traffic recovers only by 25% of the pre-covid-19 traffic. The congestion can be mitigated by applying some layout changes (snake queue vs parallel queue) and when more capacity is added to the system (extra security line). The results will raise situational awareness for airport stakeholders when implementing the actions suggested by different international institutions like WHO, IATA or ICAO.
