Floating airport

A Floating airport is an airport that would be built and situated on a very large floating structure (VLFS) located many miles out at sea utilizing a floatation type of device or devices such as Pneumatic Stabilized Platform (PSP) technology.

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As the population increases and land becomes more expensive and scarce, very large floating structures (VLFS) such as floating airports will help solve land use, pollution and aircraft noise issues.

Wave of the Future: Airport issues tackled

Many issues and problems of land-based airports could be minimized by locating airports several miles off of the coasts. Takeoffs and landings would be over water, not over communities, thereby eliminating noise pollution and substantially reducing risks of aircraft crashes to the land-locked population.

Because the oceans are endlessly expansive, growth and alterations in configuration would be relatively easy to achieve with minimal impact to the environment and/or to local residents who would utilize the airport. Water taxis or other high speed surface vessels could be a part of an offshore mass transit system that could connect the floating airport to coastal communities and minimize traffic issues.

The environmental impact of a floating structure, such as a floating airport, would be more benign than its land-based alternative. There is no dredging or moving of mountains or clearing of green space and the floating structure provides a reef-like environment conducive to marine life. Wave energy could also be harnessed using the structure to convert waves into energy to help sustain the energy needs of the airport.

The ocean and seas are much easier to patrol and secure than land-based airports and a floating airport could conceivably reduce the risk of terrorist attack by shoulder-fired missiles.

Floating airport projects

In 2000, the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport sponsored the construction of Mega-Float, a 1000 meter floating runway in Tokyo Bay. After conducting several real aircraft landings, the Ministry concluded that floating runways' hydro-elastic response would not affect aircraft operations, including precision instrument approaches in a protected waterway such as a large bay.

The U.S. military and Japanese government are considering the construction of a floating runway in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

The Pneumatic Stabilized Platform (PSP) was originally designed as a means for constructing a new floating airport for San Diego in the Pacific Ocean, at least three miles off the tip of Point Loma. However, this proposed design was rejected in October, 2003 due to the difficulty in accessing such an airport, the difficulty in transporting jet fuel, electricity, water, and gas to the structure, failure to address security concerns such as a bomb blast, inadequate room for high-speed exits and taxiways, and environmental concerns. [1] The project is known as "FloatPort" and was and still is being considered as an alternative option to building "yet another land-locked airport in southern California."