In the image below, you can see a visual of the new runway (in red) which will be constructed at the Prague airport.
[https://imgur.com/a/536YPqM](https://imgur.com/a/536YPqM)
I understand the need of multiple crossings, but one thing I don’t realize is the side pathway you can see on the left side, where when departuring from the airport, you can turn right, away from the runway. I am talking about the green circled part specifically. What purpose does it have?
In: Engineering
I’m not entirely sure which path you’re asking about, but consider that airports generally want runways to give planes the ability to take off or land in either direction, depending on the wind.
If a plane takes off right to left on the red runway, it may not need an exit point on the left end. But a plane landing right to left needs a way to taxi back. Same if a plane needs to abort takeoff. Or if a plane takes off left to right it needs a way to get there without taxiing down the runway.
there’s many exits from a runway because different planes will take a different length of the runway to land due to their size and speed
the more options there are to exit the runway, the more efficient the runway can operate because smaller planes can exit sooner instead of having to go all the way to the end. since the runway is then empty, the next plane can then take off or land instead of waiting for the other plane to go all the way to the end and exit
I also think you may be asking about the long runway-ish looking taxiway. if you look in the lower right corner of the picture, there are other hangars. so the exits on the other side are so that you can get over to those presumably private hangars or private plane terminal. it’s so that runway is completely connected to the rest of the airport, which is more than just the main public terminal near the top
I think what you’re looking at are taxiways, these are roads that planes use to get towards a specific point on a runway (to take off) or leave the runway, to get back to the terminal after a landing.
In short, you only want to use runways for 2 things: landing and taking off. If a plane is not actively doing any of that, it needs to get outta there.
This is both for safety reasons: Another plane won’t land on top of you while you’re slowly moving on the ground.
And economical: As long as a plane is on that runway, another plane can’t use it, that’s money that you’re burning!
And taxiing (a plane moving on the ground) is slow, so you don’t want to keep that runway occupied for 20 minutes while you slowly putz to the start of the runway.
There are multiple places to get on and off the runway towards the taxilanes to make this process quick, because you don’t want to be on one, you’d rather be safely next to one.
Airplane lands. Some are large some are small. Some need more runway to slow down while small planes don’t need much at all. You want off ramps so you don’t clog up the runway any longer than you have too.
>when departuring from the airport, you can turn right
An active runway is only used in one direction, facing into the wind as much as possible (for faster takeoffs and landings). Both arrivals and departures use the same direction: you don’t depart away from the airport and arrive into it, you go the same way every other plane does no matter how you’re using the runway.
Yes, that means longer taxi when the runway threshold is miles away and you end up overflying the apron itself before climbing out of the airspace. And vice versa for arrivals: you land away from the terminal and circle back around on land to get to it. But it’s how it’s done for safety and economy reasons.
Thus, all of those runway exits have a purpose.
It’s all pull out to allow a plane that is in line to take off to “pull over and let someone else by” if for some reason they need additional time before take off
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