Efficient traffic flow management in pre-tactical runway capacity utilization

Abstract

This paper studies an essential application of Air Traffic Management. It investigates the runway capacity allocation with the aim of pre-tactical planning in the time scope of, for instance, a day. To analyse and to solve air traffic problems for such planning horizon we have to control traffic flows of aggregated flights rather than individual flights. Hence, queue caused by capacity allocation decision is the unique physical value characterizing it. Throughput, delay, punctuality depend on distribution of arrival and departure queues. Therefore, it is important to have effective method of queue management. Here we introduce the efficient algorithm of capacity utilization which is based on the properties of weighted queues sum as a function of capacity allocation. The developed iterative solution method gives a controlling tool for outcome of arrival and departure queues. It allows straightforward construction of robust solutions for the problems of minimization of the end and total weighted queue sums. Moreover, the minimal finite solution set, which contains an optimal flow for each weight value in the mentioned problems, can be easily constructed. The obtained iterative method is a tool for the control and management of flow construction and queue outcome depending on the strategies we follow. It gives an optimal solution of considered problems for the whole day with interval length from 5 to 15 minutes in maximum 0.1 seconds on a standard PC.