Rotating Floating Airport - RFA

Transport of people and cargo by air has grown more than anticipated. Most airports are situated near densely populated areas limiting the needed expansion to meet future demand. In this context, the Dutch Government intitially considered the feasibility of an airport serving as a twin for Amsterdam Airport planned to be built in the North Sea on an artificial island, some 15 – 20 kms from the mainland. Other examples: Krek Lap Kok in Hong Kong and Kansai International Airport in Japan. 

However, building an airport on an artificial island in open waters is a capital intensive affair and often harmful to the marine environment. An airport on a ‘fixed’ island needs runways in different directions to enable airplanes to take off and land against the direction of the wind, thus requiring a surface of a substantial diameter. 

For a much more cost effective and efficiently operating airport, Van den Noort Innovations BV in collaboration with Royal Haskoning Technical Engineering and the Technical University in Delft/Holland have developed the Rotating Floating Airport concept. This concept consists of a purely afloat platform and runway system rotating 360 degrees along  a "fixed" circular terminal solely constructed on the bottom of the sea. It is the ultimate solution to meet cost and environmental conditions. The central terminal has connection with the mainland through a tunnel tube line. The airport just needs  two parallel runways rotating into the wind direction. Hence, the total surface of such an airport demands minimum acreage.

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