Stakeholder-centered sustainability assessment of airport fueling projects
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Abstract
Airport planning is a complex process due to the number of standards and regulations that must be met, as well as the involvement of different stakeholders in the planning process. Airport construction and operation is on the rise, and consequently, the sustainable development of airports has become a concern in the development of civil aviation. However, there is limited academic research on developing a systematic framework for airport sustainability assessment. To address these research gaps, this thesis aimed to develop a mathematical sustainability assessment model for supporting sustainable development of airport fueling projects from multi-dimensional assessments that incorporates systematic methods for identifying and aggregating sustainability criteria. The research also presents two models that focus on analyzing the sustainability of these airports from emissions and energy consumption perspectives. Using a "Top-Down-Bottom-Up" methodology, the model identifies and assesses relevant sets of sustainability assessment criteria through quantitative and qualitative indicators that are compared against standard of measures. The proposed mathematical model uses Multi-Criteria Analysis to evaluate project alternatives based on a set of economic, environmental, and social sustainability criteria and indicators, as well as an overall sustainability index. The Multi-Attribute Utility Theory is used to aggregate the different indicators and calculate the sustainability index of each project alternative. The other two models present the first detailed initiative of emissions and energy analyses for aircraft fueling project. The models present the emission and energy impacts of each project alternative numerically and graphically with respect to the sustainability measures (economic, environmental and social). The models were evaluated on their merit by a focus group composed of different stakeholders of airport operations. Two case studies incorporated different designs alternatives and operational conditions for two international Gulf Cooperation Council airport fueling projects to illustrate the models and their practical applications. The case studies used the models to analyze the sustainability of the two aircraft fueling projects. Analysis of the results supported that the suggested models were appropriate to assess the sustainability of airport fueling projects. The data indicates that the implementation of the proposed models would aid in collecting information that would assist in the evaluation of airport sustainability, and would provide a comprehensive analysis that would allow airport fueling projects to operate more efficiently.