Airport Operations Management: Airside, Terminal and A-CDM Performance – London, 22–26 Mar 2027

Programme overview

Introduction:

Airport operations management decides whether an aircraft leaves its stand on time, whether a passenger clears check-in and screening before boarding closes and whether a bag reaches the right flight. Delay usually starts where the apron, the terminal and the operations control centre fail to share one plan. This Core Concept course equips airport, airline and ground handling managers to run airside and terminal operations around shared turnaround milestones and measurable service targets. Through a day-of-operations simulation, participants build an Airport Operations Day-of-Operations Playbook for their own airport.

Course Objectives:

• Map airport operator, airline, ground handler, air traffic control and border agency responsibilities for each stage of the aircraft and passenger journey
• Allocate aircraft stands and manage apron movements, turnaround activities and ground handling performance against agreed service levels
• Plan check-in, security screening lane and baggage handling system capacity to meet passenger queue time targets
• Run the airport operations control centre around A-CDM milestones, TOBT and TSAT updates and slot adherence
• Analyse on-time performance, turnaround time and queue time data to find the causes of delay and set recovery actions
• Build an Airport Operations Day-of-Operations Playbook covering normal, degraded and irregular operations

Target Audience:

• Managers responsible for apron control, stand planning and aircraft movement on the airside
• Managers overseeing ground handling contracts, turnaround coordination and ramp service performance
• Managers running terminal operations, passenger processing, check-in and screening lane deployment
• Managers responsible for baggage handling system performance and mishandled baggage recovery
• Duty managers in airport and airline operations control centres coordinating the daily flight programme
• Airline station managers who agree service levels and turnaround plans with the airport and its handlers

Course Outline:

Day 1: Airport Organisation, Stakeholders and the Operational Baseline

• Airport Operator, Airline, Ground Handler, Air Traffic Control and Border Agency Responsibility Map
• Airside and Landside Zoning: Movement Area, Manoeuvring Area and Apron Boundaries
• Aircraft and Passenger Journey Process Map from Approach to Gate Departure
• Airport Operating Model Choices: Self-Handling, Third-Party Handling and Concessions
• Day-of-Operations Baseline Using On-Time Performance and Delay Code Records

Day 2: A-CDM, Operations Control and Capacity Frameworks

• A-CDM Concept Elements and Milestone Sequence for the Turnaround
• TOBT, TSAT and TTOT Target Times and Pre-Departure Sequencing
• Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC) Roles, Information Displays and Decision Rights
• Worldwide Airport Slot Guidelines: Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Coordination at Overview
• IATA Standard Ground Handling Agreement Service Schedules and Service Level Clauses

Day 3: Airside Turnaround and Terminal Passenger Processing

• Stand Allocation Rules: Aircraft Size, Contact and Remote Stands and Towing Plans
• Aircraft Turnaround Gantt Chart: Critical Path from On-Block to Off-Block
• Ground Handling Oversight: Ramp Audits, Equipment Availability and Handler Scorecards
• Check-In and Security Screening Lane Planning from Passenger Show-Up Profiles
• Baggage Handling System Flow: Sortation, Make-Up, Transfer Bags and Mishandled Bag Rates

Day 4: Irregular Operations, Disruption Recovery and Service Quality

• Irregular Operations Triggers: Weather, De-Icing, Stand Shortage and System Outage
• Contingency Plans for Diversions, Long Tarmac Delays and Terminal Evacuation
• Recovery Decisions in the AOCC: Stand Re-Planning, Slot Swaps and Passenger Care
• Passenger Service Quality Measures: Queue Times, Wayfinding and Complaint Trends
• Safety Management System Interfaces with Apron and Terminal Operations at Overview

Day 5: Day-of-Operations Simulation and Playbook Build

• Simulation Brief: Peak-Hour Wave at a Hub With a Late Inbound Bank
• Live AOCC Simulation: TOBT Updates, Stand Conflicts and Screening Queue Build-Up
• Airport Operations KPI Dashboard: On-Time Performance, Turnaround Time and Queue Times
• Airport Operations Day-of-Operations Playbook Drafting
• Playbook Presentation and Challenge by an Operations Review Panel

Skills You Will Gain:

• Stand Planning
• Turnaround Coordination
• Ground Handling Performance Oversight
• Passenger Flow Planning
• Baggage System Performance Monitoring
• Operations Control Centre Coordination
• Disruption Recovery Decision-Making
• Airport Service Quality Measurement

Why Attend This Course:

• Return with an Airport Operations Day-of-Operations Playbook built from a peak-hour simulation and your own airport's delay data
• Practise real-time decisions on stands, target off-block times and screening lanes before the next disruption arrives
• Hold ground handlers and service partners to agreed service levels using shared turnaround milestones and scorecards
• Compare apron, terminal and control centre practice with managers from hub, regional and airline-side operations

Conclusion:

An airport performs well when the apron, the terminal and the operations control centre work to one plan for every flight and every passenger. The course moves from airport organisation and process mapping, through A-CDM milestones, slot coordination and handling agreements, to stand allocation, turnaround, screening and baggage performance, and then to irregular operations and service quality. The final day runs a peak-hour simulation and produces an Airport Operations Day-of-Operations Playbook for use by the participant's operations team.