18  Turnaround time

18.1 EUROCONTROL recommended values

Turnaround time represents the time taken for unloading and ground handling preparation for the return journey of an aircraft. This corresponds to the time during which the aircraft must remain parked at the gate, including air traffic flow management (ATFM) delay.

Table 18.1 presents the evolution of mean scheduled and mean actual turnaround time, in minutes, for medium and heavy aircraft. Please note that this data was provided by EUROCONTROL Central Office for Delay Analysis (CODA) and can be accessed, upon registration, together with a number of additional information, on the MIRROR tool.

Table 18.1: Scheduled vs. actual turnaround time in ECAC, in minutes

Year	Heavy1		Medium1
	Scheduled	Actual	Scheduled	Actual
2018	117	131	49	57
2019	117	131	50	57
2020	116	127	50	56
2021	116	125	51	57
2022	119	134	50	59
Source: EUROCONTROL – Computed from data supplied by the airline members to CODA
1 Heavy, medium, and light (not included here) relate to ICAO wake vortex aircraft categories based on the maximum certified take-off mass: Heavy aircraft types of 136,000 kg (300,000 lb) or more; Medium aircraft types less than 136,000 kg (300,000 lb) and more than 7,000 kg (15,500 lb); Light aircraft types of 7,000 kg (15,500 lb) or less

The values presented in Table 18.1 include the data on the following market segments: traditional scheduled, low-cost and charter.

The total ground time of an aircraft includes overnight stops, maintenance slots, fire breaks, etc., so specific cut-off values are applied to obtain the turnaround time. The turnaround cut-off time for wake turbulence category H (Heavy) is 180 minutes, and for M (Medium) 150 minutes.

The actual turnaround time represents the difference between the actual off-block time (AOBT) of a departing flight and the actual in-block time (AIBT) of the same aircraft on the previous inbound flight. The scheduled turnaround time is the difference between scheduled time of departure (STD) of the departing flight and the scheduled time of arrival (STA) of the same aircraft on the previous inbound flight.

18.2 Other possible values

Table 18.2 presents, for 2022, an overview of turnaround time ranges for the 10th (Low), 50th (Base) and 90th (High) percentiles.

Table 18.2: Turnaround time ranges, in minutes, in 2022

Aircraft category	Low	Base	High
Actual
Heavy	67	106	168
Medium	31	52	93
Scheduled
Heavy	60	90	150
Medium	25	45	80
Source: EUROCONTROL – Computed from data supplied by the airline members to CODA

18.3 Comments

Turnaround time and ground time typically vary as a function of:

• the airport

• the market segment (traditional scheduled airline, low-cost, business aviation, etc.)

• the type of service/segment (charter, scheduled, positioning, etc.)

• the type of flight (short, medium, or long-haul)

• the type of aircraft (B738, A320, etc.)

The turnaround process involves activities related to the handling of tasks to ensure the cleanliness, safety, and efficiency of the next flight. The difference between a turnaround and ground time is that an aircraft at its home base airport will have longer ground time to cover, for example, the time it needs for maintenance. Figure 18.1 shows the scope of the various activities, including ground handling time.¹

Figure 18.1: Overview of activities involved in turnaround process

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1. An exhaustive definition and list of ground handling services is given in Council Directive 96/67/EC of 15 October 1996