Taxi Time on Taxiway

Taxi time on taxiway

The taxi time of an aircraft is t = distance ÷ speed, computed from the distance to be covered on the taxiway and the taxiing speed. Taxiing is the movement of the aircraft on the ground between the runway and the apron (gate), driven by its own engines at low speed. Although it looks like a detail, taxi time is an important share of total trip time and of operating cost: long taxi runs — common at large airports, where the runways sit far from the terminals — burn fuel, produce emissions and delays, and occupy the taxiways, which have limited capacity and can turn into bottlenecks. Taxiing speed is typically 5 to 15 m/s (roughly 20 to 50 km/h) on straight segments, dropping sharply at turns, intersections and near the apron. Taxi time feeds ground traffic modelling (ground movement), the sizing of the taxiway system, the estimate of fuel burn and ground emissions (an environmental item of growing weight) and airport-wide capacity studies. Efficient airports minimise taxi distances and taxi conflicts through a good geometric layout, well-placed runway exits and ground movement management systems that sequence the aircraft and prevent congestion on the taxiways. There are even studies of single-engine taxiing and electric towing to save fuel. Enter the taxi distance and the taxiing speed.