Passenger Boarding - Model and Operations

Abstract

Aircraft boarding is always on the critical path of the turnaround. Efficient boarding procedures have to consider both operational constraints and the individual passenger behaviour. In contrast to the handling processes of fuelling, catering and cleaning, the boarding process is mainly driven by the passenger and not by airport or airline employees. Models for evaluating boarding sequences mainly depend more on assumptions concerning the individual passenger processes in the aircraft than on reliable field measurements. This paper provides a set of operational data including classification of boarding times, passenger arrival times, time to store hand luggage, and passenger interactions as a fundamental basis for the calibration of boarding simulation models. In this paper, a microscopic approach is used to model the passenger behaviour, where the passenger movement is defined as a one-dimensional, stochastic, and time/space discrete transition process. This model is used to compare measurements from field trials of boarding procedures with simulation results.