<p>Runway and taxiway configuration could affect airport capacity and safety, and airline taxiing time and fuel consumption. In this study, a discrete-event stochastic simulation model is created to explore the impact of four different runway and taxiway choices on a fictional airport with parallel runways that have End-Around Taxiways (EAT) at each end. Scenario 1 represent the conventional runway and taxiway choices used in parallel runway systems, while Scenarios 2, 3, and 4 mimic three new choices that become possible because of the usage of the EAT. Three designed experiments are used to explore the influence of the four scenarios in terms of taxi time, fuel consumption, and number of runway crossings during high traffic periods, as well as the ability to cope with increases in the load level. </p> <p>Some main findings are: 1) using the outboard runway to land and the EAT as the taxi-in path would yield the shortest average taxi-out time, while the average taxi-in time is similar or longer than that in the conventional choice; 2) if arrival aircraft are allowed to land over an active EAT, using the outboard runway to take off and the EAT as the taxi-out path would show advantages in both the average taxi-in time and the average taxi-out time; 3) if the EAT is operated under current FAA regulation, using the outboard runway to take off and the EAT as the taxi-out path could still show advantages in the average taxi-in time, while the average taxi-out time is the longest during high arrival period; 4) the results of the average fuel consumption indicate similar trends with the results of the average taxi time; 5) using the EATs could either eliminate the number of runway crossings or reduce it significantly; 6) the taxi times with the use of EATs are more stable against the increases in the load level in comparison with the conventional choice.</p> <p>Safety and human factor issues related to allowing arrival aircraft to land over an active EAT are discussed, as well as some future research topics. This study may encourage airport operators and researchers to explore how to make full use of existing EATs. This study, along with future cost-benefit analyses based on the results of this research, would be a valuable reference for airports that consider constructing EATs in the future. </p>

<p dir="ltr">At airports, aircraft taxi time may have effect on congestion, engine pollutants, and aircraft fuel consumption. An End-Around Taxiway (EAT) improves airport runway efficiencies and safety by providing a path for aircraft to move from one side of the runway to the other side without crossing that runway (FAA, 2022). The EAT has been implemented in four airports in the U.S.: Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (KDFW), Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (KATL), Detroit Metro Airport (KDTW), and Miami International Airport (KMIA) (Le, 2014). Currently, all the EATs are implemented at parallel runways. Previous research have shown that EAT on parallel runways has the potential to improve airport capacity and reduce fuel consumption (Fala et al., 2014; Feng & Johnson, 2021). There was no published application or research found about implementing EAT on crossing runways. This research is an explanatory study that focuses on analyzing the effect of EATs on airports with crossing runways. This research uses dynamic discrete event stochastic simulation software to build simulation models to analyze the effects of implementing EAT at crossing runways. Using a fictional airport loosely based on existing commercial service airports, the effect of EATs on a crossing runway airport was studied. The research has three experiments to measure the effects of the EAT in terms of taxi-in time, taxi-out time, and number of operations completed.</p><p dir="ltr">The major findings of the research are: 1) using EAT for taxi-in operations significantly reduces the taxi-in time and taxi-out time at the fictional airport with crossing runways; 2) using EAT for taxi-out operation significantly increases taxi-in time at the fictional airport with crossing runways; 3) using EAT for taxi-out operations significantly reduces taxi-out times at the fictional airport with crossing runways; 4) there is no statistical significance found when implementing EAT at the fictional airport with crossing runways in terms of number of operations completed per day. The configuration of the airport, the number of operations, the weather, and other factors may affect the transfer of these results to other airports with crossing runways.</p><p dir="ltr">Current EATs are only implemented and proposed at parallel runway airports. As aviation demand grows, this research may provide insights about a novel usage and operation strategy of EATs. The simulation model in this research is subject to assumptions and limitations. Future research is needed to improve the simulation model and further explore the effect of EATs on crossing runways.</p>