Airport management is regularly challenged by the task of assigning flights to existing parking positions in the most efficient way while complying with existing policies, restrictions and capacity limitations. However, such process is frequently disrupted by various events, affecting punctuality of airline operations. This paper describes an innovative approach for obtaining an efficient stand assignment considering the stochastic nature of airport environment. Furthermore, the presented methodology combines benefits of Bayesian modelling and metaheuristics for generating solutions that are more robust to airport flight schedule perturbations. In addition, this paper illustrates that the application of the presented methodology combined with simulation provides a valuable tool for assessing the robustness of the developed stand assignment to flight delays.
DOCUMENT
The aeronautical traffic capacity is approaching its limits. This is especially true for airports where airports are constrained to resources such as runways. Consequences of full capacity traffic can be translated to delays and safety issues such as higher collisions risks. One important part of traffic are points where traffic is routed, such as transfer of flights to different ANSPs, sector changes, and merging to meter fixes for landing. There are cases where some entry points to sections are close to maximum capacity, while other entry points to the same section have more capacity. Within the framework of FF-ICE, this paper presents the operational idea of Tactical Demand Tailoring, which consists of balancing traffic by re-routing traffic hours before the arrival of aircraft to a given congested section. This paper proposes the conditions that must be met for TDT to be operationally feasible, and it discusses the potential benefits to increase capacity at overloaded parts of the airspace. Results showed that flights exist under the current flight conditions that can be re-routed to increase capacity. On average, these re-routes result in an approximate 1.9% increase in flight track length. Furthermore, a real-world case study conducted at the Terminal Manoeuvring Area of Schiphol Airport demonstrates that the implementation of Tactical Demand Tailoring effectively mitigates delays.
DOCUMENT
Mexico City airport is located close to the center ofthe city and is Mexico’s busiest airport which is consideredcongested. One of the consequences of airport congestion areflight delays which in turn decrease costumer’s satisfaction. Airtraffic control has been using a ground delay program as a toolfor alleviating the congestion problems, particularly in the mostcongested slots of the airport. This paper uses a model-basedapproach for analyzing the effectiveness of the ground delayprogram and rules. The results show that however the rulesapplied seem efficient, there is still room for improvement inorder to make the traffic management more efficient.
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