Classification of airports can be started through the function Airports within the administration section.
The function call first displays a search dialog on all airports. To search for a single airport for classification one can use the option to put in the airports ICAO in the upper right corner (red arrow). Through choosing country, state (province) and class in the drop down fields in the upper left section (green arrows) the function is able to display a list of specific airports regarding to the selected region.
To classify an airport mark it in the list and press the button Bearbeiten (means: edit).
Within the classification screen every section marked with a red number must be correctly filled. Green numbered sections can optionally be filled. One must not touch the black crossed sections.
Field and button meanings:
- airport class
- maximum amount of passengers generated per day
- maximum amount of cargo generated per day
- length of the longest runway
- surface of the runway (concrete, grass, dirt, etc.)
- done and useable in FTW (mark Yes if you’re finished)
- county/ state/ province
- Luftversorgung (Ja/ Yes: no refuelling station at this airport | Nein/ No: AVGAS and JETFUEL is available at the airport)
Note to fields 2 and 3: Putting in the daily generated amount of passengers and cargo is not neccessary. When the airports class is chosen these fields are automatically filled with the correct amounts regarding to table 1.
Scroll down to check if the airports location is correct. If not correct replace it by just dragging it with your mouse and click on the button “Save” located on the top of the screen.
Don't forget to save your work.
Table 1:
| Passengers per year | Class | Example | Start-FTW PAX | Start-FTW Cargo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50.000.001 < | 1 | EDDF, KATL, LFPG, EGLL | 1.250 | 700.000 |
| 20.000.001 - 50.000.000 | 2 | EDDM, ESSA, EGKK, KEWR | 700 | 360.000 |
| 5.000.001 - 20.000.000 | 3 | EDDL, ESGG, EGSS, EFHK | 400 | 200.000 |
| 1.000.001 - 5.000.000 | 4 | EDDK, EGLC, ESSB, ENTO | 300 | 100.000 |
| 20.001 - 1.000.000 | 5 | EDDR, EDDE, EKRN | 200 | 75.000 |
| 10.001 - 20.000 | 6 | EDBM, EDKB, ENHA | 150 | 50.000 |
| 1.000 - 10.000 | 7 | EDCG, EDKL | 100 | 30.000 |
| < 1.000 | 8 | EDXO, EDRJ | 30 | 20.000 |
| Military runways | Class | Example | Start-FTW PAX | Start-FTW Cargo |
| more than 1 | 10 | PABI | 300 | 300.000 |
| 1 or heliport only | 11 | KAGR | 100 | 100.000 |
Rules:
- If the airports ICAO is incorrect change it to the correct ICAO and leave a NOTAM referring to the old ICAO.
- Before changing an ICAO every airport admin has to contact Lead Airport! Do not change without permission. This can have fatal consequences on job generation algorithm.
- If an airport is not available in FTW / ICAO is not present in FTW create it by clicking on the New - button just below the country selection. Additionally fill in the airports correct elevation and set the runways condition to 100.
- Classify the airport based on your local knowledge, internet information (e.g. SkyVector.com, airportnavfinder.com, wikipedia.org), satellite maps to obtain information on nearby cities or industry. That may help choosing a good airport class.
- Ask other airport admins for help: DocBrown (languages: german, english), Omarza (language englisch)
- Try to find information on real world passenger and cargo numbers or on aircraft movements for the airport and try to match them to the sample chart. Refer to table 1 on how to classify airports regarding to their real world passenger movements.
- Always remember: if you feel that class 6 is not matching to KCPR from the view of aircraft operations (41.712) and you think this airport has to be a class 5 because of infrastructure and surrounding cities, etc. then make it a class 5 airport.
- But don’t make an airport a class 1 to 4 airport based on it’s name “international airport”. In FTW all airport classes are able to deliver pax and cargo to international destinations!