Airbus works with major clients to design a plan on how the aircraft’s gate/stand will be laid out. The airlines want to know that all the required service vehicles will be able to reach their required area of the aircraft without interfering with each other. It would significantly increase the turn around time of an aircraft if, for example, the catering truck could not reach a galley door while lower deck bulk cargo is being loaded. Door locations are driven by weight, passenger seating layout, center of gravity and structural concerns, so it is a major undertaking to balance the needs of all of the servicing vehicles with door locations. Flipping a door to the opposite side of the aircraft doesn’t really affect the design of the ground service vehicles, but it might free up space on one side of the aircraft or another. Below is one such plan, though I’m not sure of the aircraft.
Legend: Tow = Tow/pushback, GPU=Ground power unit, AC=Portable Air Conditioner, CAT=Catering, LDCL=Lower Deck Cargo Loader, for palletized cargo) , CB=Cargo Belt (luggage), LV=Lavatory Service
Author – Mark Farver
