AP-ADO/TF/1 & AP-AA/WG/1 – WP/09

Agenda Item 3
Revision 1

The First Joint Meeting of the Asia/Pacific Aerodrome Design

and Operations Task Force (AP-ADO/TF/1) and Asia/Pacific
Aerodrome Assistance Working Group (AP-AA/WG/1)
Bangkok, Thailand, 25 to 27 September 2019

Agenda Item 3: Planning, Design and Construction of Aerodromes

NEED OF GUIDANCE MATERIALS FOR PLANNING, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND

SAFE OPERATION OF ALTIPORTS

(Presented by Nepal)

SUMMARY
This paper presents the importance of air transportation in the topographically
constrained States like Nepal where the most of the interior are not easily accessible
by surface transport, as well as the challenges faced during the construction and
operation of altiports and other small aerodromes. With the operations of small
aircraft becoming a safety focus, this paper recommends Guidance Materials be
developed for the planning, design and construction of altiports and other small
aerodromes facing challenges similar to altiports, as well as the safe operations of
small aircraft using these aerodromes.

1. INTRODUCTION

Nepal’s Terrain

1.1 Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal) lies between 80º 4' and 88º 12' east
longitude and 26º 12' and 30º 27' north latitude. Nepal is landlocked by India on three sides
and China on the north. The total area of the country is 147, 181 km2. Nepal’s topography is divided
into three types - the Himalayan region, the Hilly region, and Terai region with its 83 % of land mass
covered by hills and mountains. The 15 percent of the total land of the country are covered Himalayan
region, 68 percent of the total land of the country is covered by the Hilly region and 17 percent of the
total land of the country is covered by the Terai region.

Terai (plain)
Description Mountain Region Hilly Region
Region
Elevation (meter) >3000 m 305-3000 m 60-305 m
Percentage area by terrain 15% 68% 17%
No. of District 16 39 20
Population 7.70% 44.3% 48%

1.2 On the account of the topographical constraint most of the interior of the country is
not easily accessible by surface transport, the only viable alternative being air transport. In the hills
and mountainous remote areas with no road access the local people and tourists depend on air
transportation.
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Agenda Item 3

Airports and Altiports in Nepal

1.3 Nepal has a large airport network, made up of a total of 50 airports with 1
International Airport, 4 Domestic hub airports, and 44 domestic airports. Out of 44 domestic airports
16 are currently not in operation. 2 new international airports and 6 domestic airports are under
construction. One international airport is under conception. Feasibility study for some more domestic
airports are also underway.

1.4 Among 44 domestic airports, the 35 existing airports are located in the mountain/hilly
terrain, most of which have the steeper runway gradient which are referred as ALTIPORTS in ICAO
STOLPORT Manual (Doc 9150).

Airfields of various sizes in different altitudes with different gradients

Length (m) <400 400<800 800<1200 1200<1600 >1600
Number of 2 31 4 6 1
Airports

Elevation (meter) 60-305 305-1000 1000-2000 2000-3000 >3000

Number of 9 9 11 12 3
Airports

Gradient (%) 0-2% 2-5% 5-10% >10%

Number of 24 13 5 1
Airports

1.5 Some "STOL airfields" in Nepal can be classified as ALTIPORTS which is

mentioned in ICAO Doc 9150. According to the Foreword of Doc 9150, an ALTIPORTS may be
defined as a small airport (1) in a mountainous area (2) with a steep gradient runway, used for landing
up the slope and for take-off down the slope, (3) thereby making use of only one approach/departure
area. However, there are other "STOL airfields" in Nepal which only partially meet this definition, as
some meets criterion (1) only whereas other meets criteria (2) and (3) only.

1.6 Most of Nepal’s “STOL airfields” are much more demanding and present a much
higher risk factor than a normal STOLport described in DOC 9150.

2. DISCUSSION

History and development of remote airports in Nepal

2.1 After establishment of Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in 1957 most of the
existing STOL airfield were started to construct without any engineering, planning and design as
selection criteria mentioned in ICAO recommendation. Most of these airport sites were selected by
politician and forced to construction. After then lot of problems accord in terms of approach, wind,
obstacles further extension and construction materials for upgrading. Nearly 50 % of the existing
STOL airports in the hill region in Nepal were constructed in such a way that length, width, slope and
obstacle limitations for approach and departure surfaces do not meet to the minimum requirements of
ICAO recommendations and literally there is no any standards for these.

2.2 The most of the STOL airfield in the hills were constructed to suite the earlier
aircrafts such as Pilatus Porter, Dakota etc. which are entirely replaced by another generation of
aircrafts such as Dornier, Twin Otter and Beech crafts etc. which required more safe and efficient
types of airfields.
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Agenda Item 3

STOL field Clearance Requirements of CAAN

2.3 Each and every STOL airfield in Nepal is unique and has its own peculiar
characteristics. A STOL pilot should be well acquainted with these characteristics before being
released for solo or flights with copilots. E.g.

Category A airfields: For Category A airfields, the first airfield of this category should be cleared
after completing 5 missions with an Instructor Pilot and checked by another Instructor Pilot in the
sixth mission.
Category B airfields: For Category B airfields, a Pilot must have accomplished additional 50
STOL missions to any Cat B airfield and every STOL field of this category should be cleared after
completing at least 5 missions with an Instructor Pilot in each airfield and checked by another
Instructor Pilot in the sixth mission.
Category C airfields: For Category C airfields, a Pilot must have accomplished additional 100
missions in Cat C airfields. Each airfield of this category should be cleared after accomplishing 10
missions in each airfield and checked by an Instructor Pilot in the eleventh mission.
Airfield Category Cat-A Cat-B Cat-C
No. of Airports 9 13 8

Difficult Terrain, Unpredictable Weather and type of aviation accidents in Nepal

2.4 Aviation has become the safest form of travel these days however, it is always a
matter of challenge for Nepal because it is a geographically complex country. If we replay the
aviation history, we can explore lots of fatal air crashes in the past that had destructed huge amount of
property and human life. The majority of the incidents were recorded due to the adverse geographical
and climatic conditions of Nepal. Most of the CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain) accident occurred
while operating in airfield located in high altitude terrains.

2.5 The diverse topography of Nepal results wide range of climates. Majority of flights in
remote areas must fly VFR (Visual Flight Rules) so, they face the problem of adverse and constantly
changing climate conditions.

2.6 Rapidly changing weather and wind conditions in mountainous regions are both
highly critical influential factors in the safe operations in these airfields. Narrow and busy routes
through a particular mountain pass during peak travel season to some of these airfields provide further
hazards to pilots operating to and from these airfields particularly if their aircraft are not equipped
with ACAS equipment or flying solo.

2.7 The country’s difficult terrain makes it tough for pilots to fly passengers safely to
their destinations. Domestic aircraft and helicopters have to fly between steep hills and it is difficult to
land safely at short takeoff and landing (STOL) airports.

Domestic Traffic Movement and Accidents data of Nepal (CAAN’s Aviation Safety Report, 2019)

2.8 Airlines saw a growth of 13 percent in passenger movement in 2008. The growth rate
jumped to 33 percent in 2009, as fares were cut amid stiff competition. Although passenger movement
increased 12.83 percent in 2010, the growth rate dropped in 2011 and recorded negative growth from
2012 to 2015. This trend reversed in 2016 and was up 12.16 percent than in 2015. 2017 remained yet
another bumper year for domestic airlines, as they recorded 39.47 percent jump in domestic air
passenger. The country’s domestic passenger traffic grew 16.17 percent in 2018. The Traffic Data of
28 domestic airports in 2018 is as following. (CAAN’s Annual Report, 2018).
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Agenda Item 3

Domestic Traffic Data in 2014-2018

Year Aircraft Movement Passenger Movement Cargo Movement, kg
2014 68,536 1,450,558 4,240,039
2015 65,865 1,364,048 4,374,946
2016 73,876 1,757,596 3,951,321
2017 93,107 2,451,390 4,114,386
2018 95,580 2,847,752 3,693,070

2.9 49 multi-engine aeroplanes and 8 single-engine aeroplanes have crashed in Nepal

from November 5, 1960 to April 14, 2019. Similarly, 36 helicopters have crashed from December 27,
1979 to April 14, 2019. The number of accidents of foreign registered aircraft stood at 9 in between
August 30, 1995 to March 12, 2018 and accidents of recreational aircraft remained 3 from October 3,
2013 to November 23, 2016. With this, the total number of accidents till date stands at 100 with 812
casualties altogether.

Focus on Small Aircraft (ICAO Safety Report 2014 Edition)

2.10 While the ICAO safety report has traditionally focused on large, commercial
operations involving aircraft above 5700kg, aircraft below this mass limit are also an important part of
commercial aviation. Analysis of data related to the operation of small aircraft is therefore an
important component of annual safety reporting. Accordingly, the 2014 Safety Report is the first to
include a section dedicated to the analysis of accidents involving aircraft below the 5700kg limit.

2.11 In the North America, Central America and Caribbean regions there were as many
fatalities involving small aircraft as there were aircraft with a maximum take-off weight exceeds
5700kg. This preliminary analysis has demonstrated that there is a significant need to consider small
aircraft in statistical evaluations for flight safety. ICAO will continue to monitor this area in the
future.

Need of guidance materials for design, construction and operation of Altiports and Basic
References (ICAO Doc 9150: STOLPORT Manual and DGAC France Altiport standards)

2.12 Considering the operational safety of small aircrafts operating in the mountainous
airfields around the world and to save the lives and property, it is recommended that guidance
materials be developed for ALTIPORTS and other small aerodromes facing challenges similar to
ALTIPORTS.

2.13 Some notable points mentioned in Doc 9150 which is useful for development of
guidance for physical characteristic of ALTIPORTS can be listed as following:

 STOLPORT is defined as “an airport whose physical characteristics, visual and non-visual aids
and total infrastructure are created to support safe and effective public air transport in and out of
densely populated urban areas as well as to and from rural areas with difficult terrain.”
(FOREWORD, para 2)
 The STOLPORT design aeroplane is assumed to be an aeroplane that has a reference field length
of 800 m or less. In size, the STOLPORT design aeroplane is assumed to have a wingspan of up to
26 m and a main landing gear measurement of up to 9 m. (para 1.1.3)
 Any excessive longitudinal slope on a runway will adversely affect both the landing and take-off
roll of an aeroplane. For this reason, wherever possible, the longitudinal slope of a STOLPORT
runway should be held to 1.0 per cent or less, not to exceed 2.0 per cent. The longitudinal slope of
a runway can be obtained by dividing the difference between the highest elevation and the lowest
elevation along the centre line by the runway length. (para 3.2.5.1)
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Agenda Item 3

 In cases where the longitudinal slope of a STOLPORT runway exceeds 2.0 per cent, it may be
necessary to advise the operators that operations are restricted to landing uphill and taking off
downhill. (para 3.2.5.2)
 Longitudinal slopes of runways should conform to relevant Annex 14 specifications for runway
code number 1. (para 3.2.5.3)
 The longitudinal slope of a STOL runway is flatter than even that prescribed for a runway
designed for the operation of conventional aircraft and generally has approach/departure areas
at both ends of the runway. (FOREWORD, para 4)
 Doc 9150 defines an ALTIPORT as “a small airport in a mountainous area with a steep gradient
runway, used for landing up the slope and for take-off down the slope, thereby making use of only
one approach/departure area.” (FOREWORD, para4)
 A runway width of 23 m has been considered generally suitable for aeroplanes like the
STOLPORT design aeroplane described in Chapter 1, for use in visual meteorological conditions.
However, the width of a precision approach runway for such an aeroplane should be not less than
30 m. (para 3.2.4)
 A STOLPORT runway strip width of at least 45 m on either side of the centre line is adequate for
day-time operations in visual meteorological conditions. However, for operations at night or in
instrument meteorological conditions, a width of 75 m on either side of the centre line is
recommended. (para 3.3.2.1)
 A STOLPORT runway strip length of 60 m beyond the end of each runway or stopway is
recommended in order to provide for the considerations outlined in 3.3.1.1. (para 3.3.2.2)

2.14 Similarly, the civil aviation codes developed by DGAC France under the Aerodromes
with Special Characteristics can be used for the references particularly for the maximum
recommended longitudinal slope, distance between two slope changes, guidance on approach
trajectory, etc. (https://jlsystems.aero/pdf/BALISAGE/ITAC/chap13.pdf).

2.15 Civil Aviation Codes for flying to-and-from the ALTIPORTS during the bad weather
conditions and procedures for providing en-route obstacles/hazards information should also
incorporated in the guidance materials.

3. ACTION BY THE MEETING

3.1 The meeting is invited to:

a) note the information contained in this paper; and

b) develop guidance materials for ALTIPORTS and other small aerodromes facing
challenges similar to ALTIPORTS.

—END—