The aviation industry is known for its rapid growth, and fierce competitiveness. To keep up to the competition, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AAS) needs to extend its infrastructure, resulting in the development of the new A-Pier. The development of the new A-Pier provides an opportunity to KLM to implement improvements in apron design. Safety is highly prioritised in the turnaround process at the apron. At the same time, an aircraft at the ground does not generate any profit, in fact it only costs money. To reduce operational costs the turnaround time needs to be reduced. This results in the following problem statement: How can the new aprons of the A-Pier be arranged in order to increase safety, be efficiently suitable for wide and narrow body aircraft, decrease turnaround time and fulfil the needs of the distant future? A lack of space at the apron is seen as the main occasion of safety issues and inefficiencies. These issues are caused by increasing aircraft sizes, larger gatehouses for CSNS and a raising demand for quick turnarounds. Quick turnarounds result in more ground support equipment that is simultaneously in operation at the apron. This led to the following hypothesis: The lack of space at AAS is the main cause of safety issues and inefficiencies. To provide an answer to this question, the project is divided in two phases; an analysis phase and a design phase. The analyses phase has been carried out by following the deconstruction steps of the VIP method. Three separate researches (observations, interviews and benchmarking) were conducted to answer the hypothesis. During the design phase, continuous iterations between the logistically desirable and the technologically possibly, were made. Therefore the steps of the Basic Design Cycle were followed. As final step, an implementation plan has been written. This is done according to the theory of Operational Excellence and a practical implementation of this theory, named Fitness Factory. The observations indicated redundant driving movements at the apron by the transporter and re(coupling) of dollies and baggage carts. This decreases transparency at the apron. An interview with business unit managers has been carried out, to obtain in-depth knowledge about the operation. The respondents stated that behaviour of operators is of more influence on the improvement of safety than the available space. This is indicated by examples such as parking discipline and speeding. Some respondents referred to behaviour as culture, because the shown behaviour became accepted. Next to that the respondents pointed out that there exist many inconsistencies in apron arrangement at AAS. A qualitative benchmark study added up to these findings. Top?views of several (competitive) airports were retrieved through Google Maps. The actual surface area of the WB aprons at AAS, are on average larger than at other airports. But compared to other airports, the aprons at AAS are less transparent due to inconsistencies in apron design. The benchmark also showed that the reachability of the aircraft is compromised by a lack of service roads at AAS. The findings of the three researches have led to the refutation of the hypothesis. AAS does not face a lack of space but a perceived lack of space. The perceived lack of space is caused by the combination of inconsistent apron design and the behaviour of operators which compromises the comprehensibility of the aprons. Note that inconsistency in design and behaviour amplify each other, as undesired behaviour triggers safety issues that are solved by introducing incremental changes. This introduces new inconsistencies in procedures or apron design. To turn the tide, standardisation of apron design and accompanied procedures and equipment is required. In order to aid operators in working safe and efficient and to maintain transparency at the apron. The existing conceptual drawing of the A?Pier has been evaluated. The substitution of height restraint non?motorised equipment into service roads, as shown, is a first step. But service roads on their own will not solve the identified problems. Service roads do increase the reachability, which decreases risky manoeuvring actions, and thus increases safety. But without the area to preposition dollies and baggage carts, the transparency remains low and the perceived lack of space will just increase. Therefore, the assigned racking area under the pier body should be utilised differently. By using the racking area as a feeding buffer for both the in- and outbound process, the aprons will become more transparent. The buffer functions as a push-pull interface between the baggage basement and the cargo facilities. This enables to dispatch the load based on the actual turnaround status. In return this requires additional operators to control the buffer zone and to bring the load to the apron. Considering the theory of Operational Excellence this is a logical step, because a proper mix of buffers should be used to deal with variety in the processes. The sandcone model explains how each addition should add to the foundation, safety, and subsequently provide benefits to reliability, flexibility and eventually efficiency. Hence that, the service roads and buffer zone enables all this. Due to the gained transparency at the apron, manoeuvring actions are reduced, which increases safety. The pull based process enables to maintain transparency at the apron, because unused dollies and carts are not parked at the apron anymore. This allows operators to drive the same route to the aircraft each time. It also eliminates waiting times for operators before they can drive to the desired spot, increasing the efficiency. The buffer concept has been further developed. So called ‘scan lanes’ can be added to the buffer. These scan in the incoming load of the buffer. Based on the load sheet the load is automatically assigned to a buffer lane. The system could also determine if it is more efficient to split a load among lanes. This enables to optimize the release of loads to the apron. Decreasing the driving movements between the buffer and apron and at the apron itself. The scan lane is beneficial to the safety and efficiency at the buffer and the ground handling process at the apron. Hence, the steps of the sandcone model. The scan lane also allows to partly eliminate the introduced occupancy of the buffer. Further improvement to safety and efficiency can be made by implementing autonomous driving vehicles. Several working principles of autonomous vehicles have been considered. Due to the congested and uncontrolled environment at airside, autonomous vehicles based on a LIDAR system are favoured. These systems are currently expensive but will become affordable in the near future. Also the reliability of these systems and accompanied software will increase. Besides a LIDAR system allows to implement additional functionalities. These are called ‘on?the?go prioritising’. Based on the three?dimensional image of the system the status of the turnaround can be monitored real-time. This allows the vehicle to make rational decisions that increase the responsiveness. The implementation of the scan lane and autonomous vehicles largely depends on expensive software development. It is questionable if these costs are justified by gained savings on accidents. An implementation plan has been made according to theory of Operational Excellence and Factory Fitness. This plan divides the concept in a pilot phase, three implementation phases and a future phase. The pilot is needed as a proof of concept and to obtain tacit process knowledge. The plan describes how each phase adds to the layers of the sandcone model. The last phase explains how this eventually enables to reduce process time. But this does not decrease turnaround time. Before this concept is able to decrease turnaround time the processes below the wing need to become part of the critical path. According to the Theory Of Constraints this will occur in the future. Actually, there are some situations in which this is already the case. Therefore it is relevant to be able to reduce process times of processes below the wing. Beyond all, the concept provides the means to directly increase safety and efficiency at the apron. Further research should prove if the technological additions are financially feasible. Above all tacit process knowledge from the buffer can be obtained. This knowledge can be used to set the focus on possible improvements, to attune the process of the baggage handling in the basement, with the turnaround process. Overtime this allows to completely eliminate the buffer, and enable a just in time delivery of load from basement to apron. But for now the focus should be on direct improvement to safety. Achievable by implementing a combination of service roads and a feeding buffer under the A-Pier.