Airport Noise & Part 150 Study FAQs

Airport Noise & Part 150 Study FAQs Since the third runway opened, have operations on the runway been more frequent than anticipated? The third runway (16R/34L) opened officially on November 20, 2008. From March 30, 2009 to September 30, 2009, Sea-Tac's longest runway (16L/34R) was closed for a comprehensive reconstruction that increased operations on the center runway (16C/34C) and third runway. When all three runways are operating as they were from November 20 to March 29 and from October 1 to the present, overall use of the third runway is actually less than the level predicted in the 1997 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement {EIS) for Sea-Tac's Master Plan. The Supplemental EIS projected the number of operations on all of the airport's runways, including the third runway, in the year 2010. The latest runway use percentages, which are updated every two weeks, are available on the Port's Runway Statistics Web page- http://www.portseattle.org/community/environment/runwaystatistics.shtml Under what set of circumstances are aircraft expected to use the third runway? During lower visibility conditions, arriving aircraft are directed onto the third runway and the longest, easternmost runway, allowing Sea-Tac to accept two streams of traffic with adequate separation. Prior to opening the third runway, Sea-Tac could use only one of its two runways for arrivals during lower visibility conditions. Directing all arriving aircraft onto one runway slowed things down and caused significant delays. The third runway also is used during peak traffic periods when multiple aircraft are scheduled to arrive in the same time period. During…
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