engineering

Low-cost carrier terminal

Low-cost carrier terminal is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Low-cost carrier terminal rather than just read about it. In short: A low-cost carrier terminal or LCCT (also known as a budget terminal) is a specific type of airport terminal designed with the needs of low-cost airlines in mind. Though terminals may have differing charges and costs, as is common in Europe, the concept of an all-budget terminal was promoted and pioneered by Tony Fernandes of AirAsia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2006.

Key takeaways

Low-cost carrier terminal belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Low-cost carrier terminal to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Low-cost carrier terminal from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A low-cost carrier terminal or LCCT (also known as a budget terminal) is a specific type of airport terminal designed with the needs of low-cost airlines in mind. Though terminals may have differing charges and costs, as is common in Europe, the concept of an all-budget terminal was promoted and pioneered by Tony Fernandes of AirAsia at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in 2006.

Description

In some cases, the designs of a low-cost carrier terminal mimic old designs of an airport terminal, such as the former airport of Hong Kong, Kai Tak Airport. With a stripped-down airport terminal, airports can reduce daily operating costs significantly, thereby passing along the savings to budget airlines and ultimately their passengers. It specifically entails cost reductions from normal airports in terms of:

Physical building: forgoing expensive architectural design for simple boxy warehouse-like design. low ceilings. foregoing steel and glass structures to reduce air conditioning overhead cost. Amenities: may have less choice in terms of restaurants and duty-free shops. decoration may be mostly airline ads. Support structures: long corridors, moving walkways, and jet bridges often replaced by transport with airport buses and boarding with airstairs. (This also allows quicker plane turnaround time, which may lower landing fees, and increase aircraft utilization). Baggage handling is much simplified, e.g. some LCCTs lack baggage carousels. However these terminals may also have modern facilities such as free Wi-Fi, and be comfortably air conditioned. A German study (Swanson 2007) of costs showed that at Malaysia's KLIA and Changi LCCTs, airlines were charged roughly 2/3 to 3/4 the total cost of landing at the main terminal; for budget-sensitive carriers, any savings advantage can be critical. Klia2 billed as the world's largest purpose-built terminal dedicated to low-cost carriers, is designed to cater for 45 million passengers a year with future capacity expansion capability. Built at a cost of US$1.3 billion, klia2 started commercial operations on May 2, 2014, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia.

Realisation of the projects While the concept of a simple basic terminal in theory would lower costs, in practice, it can be turned into a pork barrel project such as klia2.

When klia2 was first proposed MAHB said it would cost MYR2 billion, a figure that was later revised to MYR2.6 billion. Then came news that the terminal would cost MYR4 billion, double the original estimate. Now there’s talk that the bill could go as high as MYR5 billion. That makes no sense – the low-cost terminal will now cost much more than KLIA. Yes, I asked for a new terminal but one that has simple facilities. Did it have to cost 20 times our present LCCT? Budget terminals also have to consider if they only serve budget airlines or all airlines. In this way, a terminal can essentially "lose its budget identity". In the case of Macau airport, "from an airport perspective, having a separate LCCT is frequently more expensive than having one terminal for all carrier types because of the need to duplicate services and systems including check-in, security and immigration." In the case of KLIA2, Malaysia Airports has instructed Airasia in 2016 that the overbudget terminal isn't a LCCT terminal at all.

List of existing/expanding budget terminals

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Low-cost carrier terminal

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Low-cost carrier terminal claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Low-cost carrier terminal before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Low-cost carrier terminal ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Low-cost carrier terminal

In research: Low-cost carrier terminal appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Low-cost carrier terminal in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Low-cost carrier terminal is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Airport infrastructure, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Low-cost carrier terminal outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Low-cost carrier terminal in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Low-cost carrier terminal means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Low-cost carrier terminal in simple terms?

Why does Low-cost carrier terminal matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Low-cost carrier terminal?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Low-cost carrier terminal.