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Santa Clara County Airport Master Plan Update :
The following is an excerpt from the March 18, 2002 Public Review Draft :
“The purpose of an airport master plan is to define the role of the airport. The airport’s adopted role in turn drives the its basing capacity, which is the type and number of aircraft that the airport will be developed to accommodate. Once a role is defined, then the facilities necessary to implement the role can be specified.
The term “role” is used in two different contexts. In a strategic context, it means the function and purpose of the airport with respect to the overall transportation network (e.g., whether the airport will be geared to small piston propeller aircraft, larger turboprops, or even business jets). In accommodating growth in the number of based aviation aircraft.“
Summary of March 18, 2002 Public Review Draft :
• Demand Forecast : Both the FAA (Federal Aviation Admin.) and Caltrans Division of
Aeronautics (California Aviation System Plan - CASP) have current forecasts of based
aircraft. For the purposes of this master plan, a figure midrange between the CASP
statewide forecast and the low forecast for Santa Clara Airports was 2050 aircraft in
the year 2022. This is a very important statistic because it determines the basis
upon which decisions will be made regarding future airport capacity needs.
• The South County Board of Supervisors recently approved the construction of up to
104 additional hangers. These units do not currently exist; they are not included as
existing capacity. The current role is to serve light, single-and twin-engine piston
aircraft, limited use by turboprop and smallest business jet aircraft.
• South County Airport is the only one, of the airports studied, without severe physical
constraints on future development. Two scenarios illustrate the range of development
possible:
•• Existing Property - Retain current runway and property boundaries; develop
available 45 acres so as to increase based aircraft by 519 to 697.
•• Expansion - Acquire 38-acre parcel adjacent to southwest part of the airport and
realign Murphy Avenue so as to be able to extend the runway to 5000 feet with a
700-foot displaced threshold. This increase would allow airport Role expansion to
include fully accommodating turboprops. as well as, small to medium-sized business
jets. It also would increase the based aircraft capacity by 794 to 972 aircraft.
• Aircraft Operations at Maximum Basing Capacity : The definition of "operation" is
either a landing or a takeoff. A touch and go without stopping counts as two
operations. An airport's impact on the surrounding community is proportional to the
number of operations which is a function of the number of locally based aircraft.
South County Airport
Predicted Annual Operations vs. Based Aircraft
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Based Aircraft
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Annual Operations per Based Aircraft
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Total Annual Operations
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90 Current / 300 approved*
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630 / 650*
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56.708 / 195,000*
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697 (Lowest)
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316
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220.000
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972 (Highest)
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316
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307.000
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*Approved as part of the Master Plan Update of 1982
• Santa Clara County - Meeting Demand :
County Wide Forecasted Need by 2022 : 2050 Santa Clara county based aircraft.
San Jose International : 179 based aircraft.
Additional Needed : 1871 aircraft.
Current Capacity (3 county airports) : 1457 based aircraft.
Full Accommodation Needs (county wide) : 414 additional spaces for aircraft.
• Alternatives : Since the preceding section established that the 3 County airports
have the ability to accommodate within their existing boundaries up to 882 additional
aircraft (over twice the forecasted growth in demand). Wide latitude exists regarding
the extent to which each airport could be developed to accommodate the aggregate
demand.
• Guiding Principles :
Financial Self-sufficiency.
Preserving the Quality of Life.
Maintenance of Safety Zones.
Meeting the Needs of the Aviation Community.
• Range of Alternatives: :
The South County hangar project currently under design could in itself satisfy about
25% of the forecasted growth in demand for based aircraft storage by providing up to
104 additional spaces. That leaves 310 additional spaces to meet the forecasted
demand.
• Board of Supervisors’ Approaches to Alternatives :
Develop each airport based on its own demand
Accommodate the majority of overall demand at South County Airport.
Combine elements of the first two approaches.
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