Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive framework for vertical transportation (VT) design in modern airports, where lifts, escalators, and moving walks form mission‑critical infrastructure that directly influences passenger satisfaction, accessibility, and operational resilience. Airports are among the most demanding VT environments, required to absorb intense, scheduled surges – where a single wide‑body aircraft may deliver more than 800 passengers within minutes – creating circulation pressures far exceeding those in commercial buildings.

Unlike predictable up‑peak and down‑peak conditions in offices, airports operate with continuously variable demand shaped by flight schedules, aircraft mix, immigration and security processing, and the growing complexity of multi‑modal transfers. VT must therefore accommodate a highly diverse user group: business travellers, families with prams and heavy luggage, elderly and reduced‑mobility passengers, airline crew, and staff operating across secure and landside zones.

A defining challenge is designing VT systems not just for people but for people-plus-luggage. Suitcases and trolleys consume significant car area, reduce effective capacity, slow passenger exchange, and alter flow patterns. Consequently, airport VT requires conservative loading assumptions and simulation calibrated to real passenger behaviour rather than commercial norms.