The daily pattern of aircraft / pax flows at EWR?
Aug 7, 2015, 4:00 pm
#1
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The daily pattern of aircraft / pax flows at EWR?
Hi all -
Originally I was just curious about a specific question: why do some European afternoon-arriving flights get dumped at EWR terminal B, versus C where they also have immigration and wouldn't have to get towed to reposition? Is it because these planes sit around for several hours anyway before making the return trip, so best not to tie up gates at C for hours? Is it because Immigration B vs. C is set up differently or prefers certain origin countries at certain hours of the day?
But I'm also curious about the general flow of flights and pax at EWR daily. Is it something like:
Is this roughly representative of what someone may find their travel pattern falling into? Or is it not so categorical like this? I understand that some airlines have tried to smooth their operations more and make it less peaky...
Originally I was just curious about a specific question: why do some European afternoon-arriving flights get dumped at EWR terminal B, versus C where they also have immigration and wouldn't have to get towed to reposition? Is it because these planes sit around for several hours anyway before making the return trip, so best not to tie up gates at C for hours? Is it because Immigration B vs. C is set up differently or prefers certain origin countries at certain hours of the day?
But I'm also curious about the general flow of flights and pax at EWR daily. Is it something like:
- 6-8am: morning inbound bank of East Coast feeder flights arrive, connections to West Coast transcon flights
- 8-10am: outbound bank of East Coast feeder flights depart again
- 10am-noon: flights to Asia depart (HKG, PEK, PVG, NRT)
- noon-3pm: European flights and East Coast feeder flights arrive
- 3-5pm: East Coast feeder flights depart
- 4-6pm: early bank of European flights + TLV depart, Caribbean flights
- 6-9pm: Evening bank of European flights + India depart
Is this roughly representative of what someone may find their travel pattern falling into? Or is it not so categorical like this? I understand that some airlines have tried to smooth their operations more and make it less peaky...
Aug 7, 2015, 4:32 pm
#2
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Aug 7, 2015, 5:08 pm
#4
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So actually, I've done some homework.
Seems like the major peaky flows are:
-- Caribbean: 8-11am departures, 3-8pm arrivals
-- Europe: 6-8pm + 8pm-midnight 2 batches of departures, 11am-3pm arrivals
-- Asia: 11-1pm departures, 1-6pm arrivals
Other US destinations are relatively smoother over the day.
See below for the count of UA (mainline) flight numbers on a recent representative Thursday:
I would still like to know about the B vs. C issue though!
Seems like the major peaky flows are:
-- Caribbean: 8-11am departures, 3-8pm arrivals
-- Europe: 6-8pm + 8pm-midnight 2 batches of departures, 11am-3pm arrivals
-- Asia: 11-1pm departures, 1-6pm arrivals
Other US destinations are relatively smoother over the day.
See below for the count of UA (mainline) flight numbers on a recent representative Thursday:
I would still like to know about the B vs. C issue though!
Last edited by TA; Aug 7, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Aug 7, 2015, 6:37 pm
#6
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: EWR, BDL
Posts: 4,471
So actually, I've done some homework.
Seems like the major peaky flows are:
-- Caribbean: 8-11am departures, 3-8pm arrivals
-- Europe: 6-8pm + 8pm-midnight 2 batches of departures, 11am-3pm arrivals
-- Asia: 11-1pm departures, 1-6pm arrivals
Other US destinations are relatively smoother over the day.
See below for the count of UA (mainline) flight numbers on a recent representative Thursday:
I would still like to know about the B vs. C issue though!
Seems like the major peaky flows are:
-- Caribbean: 8-11am departures, 3-8pm arrivals
-- Europe: 6-8pm + 8pm-midnight 2 batches of departures, 11am-3pm arrivals
-- Asia: 11-1pm departures, 1-6pm arrivals
Other US destinations are relatively smoother over the day.
See below for the count of UA (mainline) flight numbers on a recent representative Thursday:
I would still like to know about the B vs. C issue though!
Aug 7, 2015, 7:00 pm
#7
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One problem is too many domestic arrivals/departures using the C3 concourse when they could actually be using the C1 & C2 concourses. Not a scientific study by any means but I checked the departures/arrivals for C137 in the C3 concourse and none of the flights that day using that gate were arriving/departing to an international destination. Last week an EWR - LAX flight on the 75B used an aircraft that arrived from MCO at gate C80 but was towed a few hours later to C3 to depart from C134. Meanwhile one of the TATL flights HAM if I remember correctly used C80 ridiculous if you ask me.
Aug 7, 2015, 7:59 pm
#8
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Also, some of the gates in C1/C2 will block adjacent gates if a widebody is there.
Yes and lots of studies. What isn't clear is the evidence that the current situation is bad. The B arrivals happen, in theory, because the 18 gates in C3 are occupied. With some needed for widebody departures during the European arrival bank (the 3 Asia departures noted in the chart above) and also the part where they cannot always just unload the plane and then tow it off the gate to make room for another arrival the C3 pier gets full some times.
Aug 7, 2015, 8:25 pm
#10
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Location: EWR, BDL
Posts: 4,471
This is really only a problem if those planes are blocking an international arrival from using the gate. There's nothing wrong with an international departure going out of C1 or C2 versus C3, save for the 5 extra minutes of walking after shopping at duty free.
Also, some of the gates in C1/C2 will block adjacent gates if a widebody is there.
Yes and lots of studies. What isn't clear is the evidence that the current situation is bad. The B arrivals happen, in theory, because the 18 gates in C3 are occupied. With some needed for widebody departures during the European arrival bank (the 3 Asia departures noted in the chart above) and also the part where they cannot always just unload the plane and then tow it off the gate to make room for another arrival the C3 pier gets full some times.
Also, some of the gates in C1/C2 will block adjacent gates if a widebody is there.
Yes and lots of studies. What isn't clear is the evidence that the current situation is bad. The B arrivals happen, in theory, because the 18 gates in C3 are occupied. With some needed for widebody departures during the European arrival bank (the 3 Asia departures noted in the chart above) and also the part where they cannot always just unload the plane and then tow it off the gate to make room for another arrival the C3 pier gets full some times.
Aug 7, 2015, 8:52 pm
#11
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C-3 seems to be preferentially used for inbound international flights that turn to domestic or other international destinations within a few hours. OTOH, international inbounds that go to the "ballpark" after arrival and won't turn for 4-6h+ (more often than not, midday international WB arrivals) often will come in on B and be towed to back to C later in the day.
International arrivals at B really aren't much of a hassle, and depending on time of day, can even be a bit more efficient than arrivals at C.
International arrivals at B really aren't much of a hassle, and depending on time of day, can even be a bit more efficient than arrivals at C.
Aug 7, 2015, 9:32 pm
#12
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[if someone can provide the scheduled arrivals/departures of an entire day or even a whole week as a table, I can do the same analysis better! -- this was from Flightaware showing *actual* arrivals/departures, the one place I thought to retrieve the information]
I think LHR is the only European destination that supports that kind of morning flight, at EWR/JFK/IAD/ORD.
Last edited by TA; Aug 7, 2015 at 9:41 pm
Aug 7, 2015, 11:33 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 202
Why Not B?
It seems B gates can only be used for arrivals. C gates can be used for arrivals and departures. So I would use B gates when I can and keep the more flexible C gates for when I need them (fast turns).
Aug 8, 2015, 6:18 am
#14
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Code:
EWR IAH 1012 5:20a EWR BOS 207 5:59a EWR SFO 1415 6:00a EWR FLL 1290 6:00a EWR LAX 797 6:00a EWR TPA 825 6:00a EWR ORD 1729 6:04a EWR MCO 112 6:15a EWR ATL 1128 6:30a EWR PBI 1544 6:30a EWR SFO 1668 6:39a EWR IAH 842 6:40a EWR DFW 1123 6:47a EWR DEN 244 6:50a EWR BOS 1142 6:50a EWR SEA 1531 6:54a EWR LAS 1916 6:57a EWR LAX 1985 7:00a EWR SAN 554 7:00a EWR ORD 1220 7:00a EWR PHX 1904 7:05a EWR SJO 1080 7:15a EWR SFO 497 7:23a EWR YVR 1913 7:25a EWR MIA 1765 7:29a EWR IAH 570 7:29a EWR BOS 1930 7:29a EWR PBI 1420 7:50a EWR AUA 1044 7:55a EWR RSW 1265 7:55a EWR CUN 1048 7:55a EWR PUJ 1520 7:55a EWR CLE 1967 7:59a EWR ORD 1709 7:59a EWR LAX 1963 7:59a EWR MCO 1162 8:00a EWR DEN 1652 8:06a EWR MEX 1063 8:29a EWR SFO 1178 8:30a EWR ATL 1217 8:30a EWR LAS 1506 8:35a EWR BOS 652 8:41a EWR SNA 1285 8:50a EWR NAS 1458 9:00a EWR STI 1624 9:00a EWR PUJ 1514 9:00a EWR MIA 1972 9:00a EWR SDQ 1470 9:01a EWR LAX 1693 9:02a EWR SJU 1779 9:02a EWR LHR 922 9:05a EWR SFO 1686 9:08a EWR POP 1486 9:09a EWR HNL 15 9:15a EWR PLS 1465 9:16a EWR CUN 1050 9:25a EWR SEA 338 9:26a EWR SAN 354 9:29a EWR MBJ 1627 9:29a EWR MCO 1740 9:35a EWR BOS 369 9:39a EWR FLL 1547 9:40a EWR ABE 2621 9:45a EWR MSY 1763 9:55a EWR ORD 1534 10:00a EWR SFO 1727 10:10a EWR AUA 1042 10:40a EWR CUN 1052 10:44a EWR PVG 86 10:45a EWR IAH 1018 10:55a EWR DEN 10 11:00a EWR NRT 79 11:05a EWR BOS 204 11:13a EWR SFO 1120 11:30a EWR BDA 1419 11:34a EWR MCO 1527 11:42a EWR LAX 1264 11:54a EWR PEK 89 11:55a EWR FLL 1702 12:01p EWR IAH 246 12:06p EWR TPA 1790 12:06p EWR DEN 1920 12:08p EWR MCO 1756 12:45p EWR SJU 1102 12:50p EWR LAS 1210 12:53p EWR LAX 1140 1:00p EWR SNA 529 1:03p EWR SFO 1029 1:04p EWR AUS 422 1:13p EWR ATL 1402 1:25p EWR ORD 1248 1:33p EWR DFW 1612 1:35p EWR IAH 291 2:00p EWR LAX 1493 2:02p EWR LIM 1095 2:10p EWR MSP 469 2:13p EWR FLL 1909 2:30p EWR RDU 1690 2:37p EWR PBI 1978 2:40p EWR MIA 1105 2:50p EWR SAN 1747 2:57p EWR MCO 1027 2:59p EWR LAX 1243 3:00p EWR HKG 117 3:10p EWR SFO 1615 3:12p EWR ABE 2622 3:15p EWR ORD 1530 3:18p EWR BOS 1666 3:19p EWR IAH 1554 3:22p EWR TPA 1551 3:23p EWR ATL 536 3:29p EWR CLE 1259 3:29p EWR DFW 387 3:45p EWR MCO 1969 3:50p EWR DEN 1222 3:54p EWR PTY 1021 3:59p EWR LAX 292 4:14p EWR IAH 712 4:20p EWR PBI 623 4:30p EWR LAS 1580 4:32p EWR BOG 1068 4:34p EWR ORD 708 4:35p EWR SFO 1947 4:36p EWR TLV 84 4:40p EWR SEA 1560 4:48p EWR ATL 1188 4:59p EWR LAX 1199 5:00p EWR MCO 276 5:07p EWR FCO 40 5:10p EWR ARN 68 5:15p EWR MEX 1065 5:25p EWR MUC 106 5:25p EWR SFO 1641 5:26p EWR TPA 1640 5:30p EWR BOS 1959 5:33p EWR HAM 74 5:35p EWR IAH 1022 5:35p EWR BRU 999 5:50p EWR TXL 962 5:50p EWR GVA 956 5:50p EWR AUS 640 5:53p EWR SJO 1082 5:55p EWR CLE 1064 5:55p EWR AMS 878 6:00p EWR ORD 1160 6:08p EWR CDG 904 6:20p EWR ZRH 992 6:20p EWR MCO 1631 6:25p EWR LHR 800 6:25p EWR SAT 240 6:29p EWR IAH 1952 6:30p EWR MXP 968 6:30p EWR VCE 170 6:45p EWR IAH 687 6:50p EWR DFW 1072 6:51p EWR SFO 1242 6:55p EWR LAX 1284 6:58p EWR FLL 1055 7:00p EWR DUB 23 7:00p EWR DEN 1416 7:00p EWR BHX 27 7:00p EWR TPA 1766 7:00p EWR SNA 1075 7:00p EWR PHX 1611 7:00p EWR BOS 994 7:01p EWR MIA 1923 7:02p EWR CLE 1047 7:05p EWR BCN 120 7:15p EWR PDX 1648 7:19p EWR NCL 160 7:20p EWR SAN 700 7:25p EWR LAX 1466 7:26p EWR LHR 29 7:30p EWR MAN 81 7:30p EWR SNN 25 7:30p EWR FRA 960 7:35p EWR GLA 161 7:35p EWR MSY 577 7:40p EWR SFO 1024 7:43p EWR LAS 1460 7:45p EWR SEA 1922 7:59p EWR ABE 2624 8:00p EWR ORD 365 8:00p EWR EDI 36 8:05p EWR OSL 38 8:05p EWR BOM 48 8:15p EWR SFO 1422 8:19p EWR RSW 1138 8:28p EWR LAX 1168 8:29p EWR BOS 1742 8:30p EWR MAD 62 8:30p EWR LIS 916 8:30p EWR SJU 1682 8:35p EWR FLL 356 8:45p EWR MSP 740 8:50p EWR BQN 1071 9:00p EWR PBI 1552 9:03p EWR SFO 1945 9:05p EWR LHR 942 9:05p EWR CDG 54 9:10p EWR ATL 1244 9:15p EWR BFS 77 9:25p EWR CLE 226 9:28p EWR DEN 1067 9:29p EWR LAX 1039 9:29p EWR SFO 1237 9:45p EWR DEL 82 9:45p EWR EDI 108 9:55p EWR LHR 940 9:55p EWR GRU 148 9:55p EWR BOS 1775 9:59p EWR DUB 130 10:15p EWR TLV 90 10:45p EWR PTY 1214 11:59p
Code:
EWR CMH 3850 6:00a EV EWR IAD 6177 6:00a EV EWR JAX 3929 6:25a EV EWR AUS 3557 6:25a S5 EWR MSP 4559 6:29a EV EWR PIT 6055 6:29a EV EWR IND 4395 6:29a EV EWR DTW 4327 6:30a EV EWR CVG 4150 6:30a EV EWR DCA 5833 6:38a EV EWR CHS 6142 6:59a EV EWR OMA 5992 7:00a EV EWR GSO 4298 7:04a EV EWR YYZ 5800 7:27a EV EWR STL 4198 7:29a EV EWR BUF 3601 7:33a C5 EWR YUL 5683 7:50a EV EWR CMH 3898 7:51a YX EWR MHT 5016 7:55a C5 EWR RIC 5000 7:57a C5 EWR CLT 4252 7:59a EV EWR BDL 3585 7:59a C5 EWR GSP 4279 8:05a EV EWR PWM 3847 8:05a EV EWR BTV 4939 8:10a YX EWR RDU 3481 8:12a S5 EWR BWI 4911 8:15a YX EWR PVD 4909 8:17a YX EWR ALB 4845 8:20a C5 EWR ORF 5144 8:22a S5 EWR MCI 3322 8:22a YX EWR XNA 4419 8:27a EV EWR YHZ 4292 8:28a EV EWR ROC 4374 8:28a EV EWR BUF 4896 8:32a YX EWR DAY 3950 8:35a EV EWR SYR 4714 8:35a EV EWR ITH 4821 8:35a C5 EWR MEM 4101 8:38a EV EWR ACK 3600 8:40a C5 EWR JAX 3547 8:40a S5 EWR MKE 4518 8:44a EV EWR YYZ 3449 8:47a S5 EWR MSP 3282 8:48a YX EWR SAV 4495 8:49a EV EWR GRR 3477 8:52a S5 EWR IND 4087 8:59a EV EWR STL 5680 9:00a EV EWR BNA 3575 9:01a S5 EWR DTW 4603 9:09a EV EWR MYR 3894 9:15a YX EWR DCA 3491 9:16a S5 EWR CVG 4160 9:25a EV EWR CLT 4689 9:53a EV EWR BGM 4837 10:00a C5 EWR YQB 4440 10:05a EV EWR DFW 3558 10:05a S5 EWR STL 4243 10:06a EV EWR SDF 3827 10:15a EV EWR IAD 4336 10:16a EV EWR MSP 5146 10:17a S5 EWR MHT 3599 10:29a C5 EWR ALB 4901 10:29a YX EWR ROC 4148 10:29a EV EWR CHS 4255 10:35a EV EWR CLT 4151 10:35a EV EWR ORF 3309 10:44a YX EWR PIT 3446 10:49a S5 EWR ORD 3917 11:09a S5 EWR YHZ 4383 11:12a EV EWR RDU 5669 11:23a EV EWR IND 4445 11:39a EV EWR MEM 5955 11:39a EV EWR YOW 4711 11:42a EV EWR BDL 4368 11:54a EV EWR BUF 4925 11:56a YX EWR BWI 4843 12:04p C5 EWR AVP 4779 12:05p C5 EWR DAY 4640 12:05p EV EWR RDU 4898 12:06p YX EWR SYR 3588 12:11p C5 EWR YHZ 4121 12:13p EV EWR PWM 4902 12:18p YX EWR BTV 5797 12:23p EV EWR ORF 3884 12:23p YX EWR RIC 5004 12:30p C5 EWR CMH 4246 12:30p EV EWR ROC 3928 12:30p EV EWR BNA 4104 12:35p EV EWR PVD 3604 12:35p C5 EWR DTW 3486 12:38p S5 EWR MKE 4409 12:40p EV EWR DCA 3914 12:46p S5 EWR YYZ 4261 12:48p EV EWR IAD 4897 1:00p YX EWR AVL 4118 1:08p EV EWR GSO 6176 1:10p EV EWR CLT 4533 1:10p EV EWR ACK 4771 1:10p C5 EWR BUF 3541 1:13p S5 EWR IND 4635 1:26p EV EWR YQB 4233 1:29p EV EWR PIT 4881 1:35p YX EWR CVG 3521 1:36p S5 EWR CHS 4416 1:50p EV EWR ALB 4841 1:53p C5 EWR YOW 3820 1:59p EV EWR OMA 4111 2:00p EV EWR ORD 3545 2:10p S5 EWR MEM 5677 2:10p EV EWR BDL 4166 2:30p EV EWR STL 3512 2:31p S5 EWR CMH 3863 2:31p YX EWR YUL 4638 2:33p EV EWR BGM 5008 2:48p C5 EWR IAD 6181 2:50p EV EWR PWM 4583 2:50p EV EWR PVD 3487 2:50p S5 EWR ORF 3267 2:51p EV EWR MHT 3834 2:54p EV EWR BTV 3953 2:56p EV EWR DCA 4903 2:56p YX EWR MCI 3577 3:00p S5 EWR IND 5126 3:10p S5 EWR DTW 3318 3:19p YX EWR BNA 4502 3:24p EV EWR MKE 4212 3:29p EV EWR CLT 4521 3:29p EV EWR YYT 3441 3:50p S5 EWR SDF 3292 3:51p YX EWR RIC 3596 3:52p C5 EWR IAD 3586 3:55p C5 EWR PIT 3299 3:57p YX EWR JAX 4377 3:59p EV EWR YYZ 4528 4:01p EV EWR CVG 5678 4:06p EV EWR CHS 4532 4:17p EV EWR BUF 4240 4:18p EV EWR GSP 3954 4:30p EV EWR ITH 4780 4:32p C5 EWR DCA 4894 4:35p YX EWR PWM 6178 4:37p EV EWR MSN 4171 4:45p EV EWR BTV 3886 4:51p YX EWR DAY 4201 4:55p EV EWR YYZ 3511 4:56p S5 EWR CLT 4122 4:59p EV EWR IND 3846 4:59p EV EWR BNA 3813 4:59p EV EWR CMH 3472 5:10p S5 EWR MSP 4678 5:21p EV EWR SYR 4849 5:23p C5 EWR BUF 4895 5:26p YX EWR ACK 5003 5:27p C5 EWR GSO 4439 5:29p EV EWR RDU 3889 5:30p YX EWR ORF 4872 5:31p YX EWR STL 5131 5:35p S5 EWR GRR 4537 5:36p EV EWR PWM 4509 5:37p EV EWR DCA 6074 5:59p EV EWR RIC 4500 6:10p EV EWR ROC 5021 6:13p C5 EWR PIT 3885 6:22p YX EWR IND 3542 6:25p S5 EWR DTW 4113 6:26p EV EWR CMH 3559 6:29p S5 EWR CLT 4749 7:11p EV EWR SDF 4467 7:13p EV EWR TYS 4361 7:16p EV EWR BNA 4191 7:29p EV EWR YUL 3945 7:30p EV EWR DCA 4312 7:31p EV EWR IAD 6049 7:49p EV EWR PIT 4883 8:00p YX EWR SAV 5796 8:02p EV EWR SBN 4308 8:04p EV EWR ALB 4834 8:05p C5 EWR RDU 4904 8:10p YX EWR DSM 4543 8:10p EV EWR MEM 4216 8:15p EV EWR STL 6117 8:21p EV EWR MCI 3305 8:22p YX EWR CVG 3551 8:22p S5 EWR OKC 4444 8:24p EV EWR ORD 3458 8:25p S5 EWR MHT 4695 8:25p EV EWR BWI 4645 8:28p EV EWR ITH 4815 8:35p C5 EWR ORF 4092 8:40p EV EWR DFW 3496 8:51p S5 EWR BNA 4170 8:54p EV EWR PIT 3285 8:54p YX EWR CMH 3482 8:55p S5 EWR CHS 4370 8:56p EV EWR IND 3467 8:59p S5 EWR YHZ 4564 9:00p EV EWR RIC 4576 9:03p EV EWR ALB 4835 9:05p C5 EWR PWM 3543 9:05p S5 EWR DTW 3311 9:29p YX EWR MKE 5898 9:29p EV EWR SYR 4321 9:30p EV EWR JAX 4388 9:37p EV EWR DCA 4326 9:39p EV EWR RDU 3461 9:39p S5 EWR PVD 3874 9:42p YX EWR ROC 4853 9:45p C5 EWR AVP 4787 9:49p C5 EWR BWI 4900 9:54p YX EWR YOW 4612 9:59p EV EWR ORD 3460 10:15p S5 EWR PIT 3868 10:18p YX EWR BGM 3598 10:23p C5 EWR BUF 4882 10:29p YX EWR BTV 4910 10:39p YX EWR BDL 4276 11:00p EV
Aug 8, 2015, 9:31 am
#15
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I was once told by a customs officer in EWR that they will sometimes send UA flights over to B if the C customs facility is really packed and backed up. It allows for quicker passenger processing if B is emptier.