Runway Operation Research Articles

Development Method of the Doratask Method in Its Use in Runway Capacity Calculations

Until now, Indonesia does not have its own method or a developed method for calculating runway capacity. The DORATASK method recommended by ICAO has the weakness that it can only be optimally used for single runway operations. Meanwhile, there are runway characters in Indonesia: Opposite Runway Operation, Crossing Runway Operation, Parallel Runway Operation, Staggered Parallel Runway Operation, and Low/Very Low Traffic for AFIS Airports. The aim of this research is to develop the DORATASK method so that it is compatible with runway capacity calculations with other characteristics. The method used in this research is mixed-method, with descriptive analysis categories and final results/research conclusions using ratio calculations/validity tests and formulas for new methods taken from main parameters, velocity and Pythagoras. The results of the validity test between the DORATASK method and the new method were obtained at the four airports, namely Soekarno Hatta Airport with the DORATASK method = 107 movements/hour and with the new method = 148 movements/hour, Budiarto Airport with the DORATASK method = 39 movements/hour and with the new method = 48 movements/hour, Ende Airport with the DORATASK method = 1 movement/hour and with the new method = 11 movements/hour, Rokot Airport with the DORATASK method = no results obtained and with the new method = 4 movements/hour. The principles and parameters used in the DORATASK method are still used, but are developed in the Aircraft mix, Runway Occupancy Time and Separation parameters.

Prediction of Aircraft Arrival Runway Occupancy Time Based on Machine Learning

Wake re-categorization (RECAT) has been implemented to improve runway capacity, and consequently, aircraft arrival runway occupancy time has become a crucial factor influencing runway capacity. Accurate prediction of the runway occupancy time can assist controllers in determining aircraft separation, thereby enhancing the operational efficiency of the runway. In this study, the GA–PSO algorithm is utilized to optimize the Back Propagation neural network prediction model using Quick access recorder data from various domestic airports, achieving high-precision prediction. Additionally, the SHapley Additive explanation model is applied to quantify the effect of each characteristic parameter on the arrival runway occupancy time, resulting in the prediction of aircraft arrival runway occupancy time. This model can provide a foundation for improving runway operation efficiency and technical support for the design of airport runway and taxiway structure.

Enhanced Model for Terminal Airspace Capacity Estimation

Terminal Airspace comprises the area around an airport in which various aircraft in its vicinity are in ascending or descending phases. This paper describes an enhanced model for estimation of Ultimate Capacity of Terminal Airspace, given its geometric layout, traffic data, and the separation minima maintained. This model can be used to determine the number of aircraft in the Terminal airspace of an airport that can be safely handled by the Air Traffic Controllers. An existing probabilistic model for Terminal Capacity assessment was enhanced to include operations on intersecting and parallel runways. An important out-come of this methodology is the minimum time gap between successive operation at the runway, which is utilized to draw a time space diagram of runway operation, and thus obtain an estimate of Delay under various operational scenarios. The model was first utilized to estimate the Terminal airspace capacity of the two most busy airports in India, viz., Mumbai and Delhi, and later for other main Airports viz., Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmadabad, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram. A critical analysis of the results lead to suggestions like slot distribution, rescheduling of aircraft, restructuring of spacio-geometrical conditions of airspace and airfield etc. that may be considered to increase capacity and reduce delays at Indian Airports.

Design of an active detection system for ice and snow pollutants and freezing temperature on runway

This paper studied the problem of ice and snow pollutants identification and freezing temperature detection under winter runway operation, and designed an active detection system for runway ice and snow pollutants and freezing temperature. The temperature change trend during the liquid freezing process was researched, and the freezing temperature detection model based on sequence segmented linear fitting and inflection point identification was proposed in combination with active cooling technology. The differences in dielectric properties of runway snow and ice cover are studied, and a multi-frequency detection-based forked-finger planar capacitive sensor was identified for snow and ice pollutants detection considering practical application scenarios. A finite element simulation model of the forked-finger planar capacitive sensor was established, to optimize the structural parameters of the sensor and verify the feasibility of the capacitor sensor. Finally, the detection device and control system were designed and fabricated, and built an experimental platform for system test. The field experimental results showed that the system has good reliability and stability, and the error of freezing temperature detection model is less than 0.3 °C. At the same time, it can identify three types of pollutants, including water, ice and ice–water mixture, with an accuracy of 89%.

Research on Flight Schedule Optimization Based on Different Runway Operation Modes

The update and iteration of the airport facilities completed in the runway operation system raise a request for more scientific control operation restrictions. In the old, optimized method of flight slot, no consideration was given to the runway operation strategy. As a result, the flight slot failed to meet the operation restriction and would incur unavoidable delays. This paper sets the research objective as the system composed of an apron, runway entrance and exit, and parallel runway. It focuses on matching the corresponding relationship between time and space of flights in the studied system. It establishes three flight slot optimization models to meet the requirements of isolated operation, semi-mixed operation, and mixed operation, respectively. On a practical level, the computer simulation software AirTOp is employed for simulation verification in the example of Wuhan Tianhe Airport. The results show that the delay in the isolation operation mode is reduced by about 59%, the semi-mixed operating mode reduces delays by about 48%, and mixed operating mode delays are reduced by approximately 52%. Therefore, it proves its feasibility of effective reduction in overall delay and its ability to provide decision support for the allocation of the flight time resource in parallel dual runway airports.

김포공항 활주로 운영에 따른 항공기 소음개선 방향

There are two runways at Gimpo airport; one runway is used exclusively for takeoff and the other is used exclusively for landing. Further, 32 direction runways are divided according to time and the take-off and landing runways are changed. As a result of the study, the number of uses of each runway was different, and aircraft noise also significantly differ. This is because runways change depending on the wind direction, and many flights take-off and land at certain times. Runway operation is directly related to aircraft noise levels, and current operational methods do not cause equal aircraft noise damage to the surrounding residents. The government should introduce runway operations that consider the equal generation of aircraft noise.

Runway determination using two-point time difference method

Around airports having multiple runways, aircraft noise affected areas vary depending on the runway operation because the flight path changes by the operation. Therefore, it is important to figure out exactly which runway was used for analyzing the noise impact on the surrounding area. For this purpose, runway information included in flight data provided by the airport operator can be used in most commercial airports. However, for some airports, the data is unavailable or not always accurate. We developed "Takeoff/ landing runway determination system; DL-TLS" for determining runway operations and have been utilizing it to aircraft noise analysis. However, that system requires to place measurement stations at the end of each runway to ensure the high level of accuracy. To solve this issue, we focused on difference in acquisition time of the same transponder signal at two measurement stations. This new approach achieved satisfactory level of runway determination accuracy, by matching the time difference changes with template for each runway. We proved that this method can be used in combination with the current DL-TLS with even higher accuracy. In addition, we showed the possibility of reducing number of measurement stations and eliminating the measurement location constraint.

An Improved Runway Operation Capacity Model for V-Open Multirunway Airports in China

Diverging runways are receiving considerable attention as replacements for parallel runways when constructing three or more runways in China. This has been prompted by the limitations associated with a single-direction airspace and associated regulations when using parallel runways. However, the operating efficiency of diverging runways is still greatly constrained by the separation standard for departing aircraft in CCAR-93TM-R5 and Decree of CAAC NO.123. To address these problems, an improved runway operation capacity model for a V-open multirunway airport is proposed to reduce the separation standard based on the equivalent lateral separation operation (ELSO) standard. A collision risk module is first proposed to assess the feasibility and safety of the proposed policy. Also, a novel runway capacity model for V-open multiple runways is then built to improve the operating efficiency for diverging runway. A series of comparative experiments based on actual flight data from Chengdu Tianfu International Airport demonstrated that reducing the divergence angle from 15° to 10° improved the runway operation capacity by about 8% based on the proposed improved policy. These research results could play a major role in facilitating appropriate amendments to the associated CAAC operation regulations.

Research on early runway incursion warning based on Petri net

In this study, an early runway incursion warning method was developed based on a Petri net model in order to achieve zero missing and false runway incursion warnings. The runway incursion warning scenario is analyzed based on the output states of the aircraft/vehicles in the airport surface. The runway operation model based on a Petri net model was established by considering Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport as an example. In addition to the runway warning rules, the standard runway operation constraints are imposed on the Petri net model to provide early warnings in nine runway incursion scenarios. The zero missing and false early runway incursion warning method based on a Petri net model was tested based on scenario simulations and realized warning display on surveillance map.

Pretactical Runway Operations Scheduling for Multirunway Airport

Airport runway operations are managed hierarchically. Initially, a runway configuration is determined several hours before the commencement of actual runway operations. Thereafter, each aircraft is assigned to a runway based on the runway configuration. Finally (or in certain instances, synchronous with runway assignments), runway times are scheduled for the runway assignment. Though typical runway operations management is carried out sequentially, runway configuration, runway assignment, and runway times are highly correlated. Hence, to the greatest extent practicable, runway operations should be managed both strategically (e.g., runway configuration determination) and tactically (e.g., runway assignment and runway time scheduling). As certain minor strategic changes, such as switching runway operation mode, can be implemented with a relatively short lead time, this study proposes a pretactical scheduling optimization problem of runway operations, especially for airports with multiple runways. The proposed scheduling method determines runway operation mode, runway assignments, and runway times concurrently. A numerical example of Incheon International Airport demonstrates that pretactical management can improve runway utilization and operational efficiency by reducing the disparity between active runways and runway queue delays.

The omnidirectional runway with infinite heading as a futuristic runway concept for future free route airspace operations

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to create and analyze the effectiveness of a new runway system, which is totally created for the future free route operations.Design/methodology/approachThis paper researches and analyses the new generated runway concept with the fast time simulation method. Fuel consumption and environmental effect of the new runway system are calculated based on simulation results.FindingsAccording to different traffic density analyses the Omnidirectional Runway with Infinite Heading (ORIH) reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions up to 46.97%. Also the total emissions of the ORIH concept, for the hydro carbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollutants were lower than the total emissions with the conventional runway up to 83.13, 74.36 and 51.49%, respectively.Practical implicationsFree route airspaces bring many advantages to air traffic management and airline operations. Direct routes become available from airport to airport thanks to free route airspace concept. However, conventional single runway structure does not allow aircraft operations for every direction. The landing and take-off operations of a conventional airport with a single runway must be executed with only two heading direction. This limitation brings a bottleneck direct approach and departure route usage as convenient with free route airspace concept. This paper suggests and analyzes the omnidirectional runway with infinite heading (ORIH) as a solution for free route airspace.Originality/valueThis paper suggests a new and futuristic runway design and operation for the free route operations. This paper has its originality from the suggested and newly created runway system.

Research on Comprehensive Evaluation Method of Airport Runway Operational Effectiveness

In order to assess whether the runway can meet safe, reliable and efficient objectives, a comprehensive evaluation indicator system needs to be established for evaluation. Firstly, the runway operation system is established, and the evaluation indicators of runway performance are divided into five aspects: personnel factors, support facility, mission demand, operating environment and management factors and then establish a comprehensive evaluation index system. Secondly, the TOPSIS evaluation model of game theory combination weighting is established, game theory is used to optimize the weights of the weights obtained by AHP and CRITIC, and the ideal solution (TOPSIS) is used to comprehensively evaluate the runway performance. Finally, the model was used to evaluate the runway performance levels of the three airports, and the three evaluation methods were compared. The results show that the results of the runway performance evaluation using the model are in line with the actual operation of the airport. The method is simple and the results are scientific and objective, and it have good versatility.

Aircraft rerouting and rescheduling in multi-airport terminal area under disturbed conditions

The disturbances, caused by resource competition, weather changes, and demand uncertainties, frequently occur and result in obvious fluctuations (e.g., the increase or decrease of demand and capacity) in demand and capacity. This work addresses the problem of aircraft rerouting and rescheduling in presence of disturbances, characterized by the increase or decrease of demand and capacity, at a multi-airport terminal maneuvering area (TMA). A multi-objective optimization model is proposed to minimize the total flight delays and total extra flying time, considering the aircraft wake turbulence separation, runway operation rules, air traffic control regulations, scheduling time windows, and airport/airspace capacity, etc. Based on the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), we designed an efficient evolutionary algorithm to solve the proposed model and search the Pareto solutions. Five scenarios are designed to analyze and compare the operation performance under normal and disturbed conditions, using the classic First-Come-First-Served (FCFS) and optimized scheduling (OPTS) methods. A case study is conducted for Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao Airports, and the computational results show that, compared with the FCFS method, the proposed OPTS method significantly performs a overall better performance in minimizing total flight delay and total extra flying time, while slightly inferior in optimizing the delay and extra flying time of one single flight.

基于民航多种跑道运行模式下军航中距双跑道应用探究

基于民航多种跑道运行模式下军航中距双跑道应用探究

How job satisfaction can influence air traffic controllers' backup‐providing behavior in parallel runway operation

AbstractTeam members can request and provide backup from one to other members, which can help teams with high workload achieve dynamic workload optimization at the group level. However, studies on this issue are limited, especially on real‐world high‐risk operations. This study explored how to approach air traffic controllers make backup decisions in the dependent parallel approach operation. In this study, we focused on how individual difference factors can influence the controller's backup willingness and decision. Forty licensed controllers performed 32 simulated scenarios varied in their own task load, the backup recipients' task load, and shorter taxing possibility. We also measured their job satisfaction and work experience. Multilevel regression analyses showed that controllers with a higher level of job satisfaction were more likely to provide help to their colleagues. Moreover, when their job satisfaction was high, they were less sensitive to the seemingly inappropriate request, but they only used their additional resources to help others. The findings were discussed in the literature of teamwork and aviation safety.

An Influence Analysis Method of Wake Turbulence in V-open Runway Operation Mode

In the design of large airports in China, Beijing Daxing international airport and Chengdu Tianfu international airport have adopted V-open runways. However, there is a relative lack of operational regulations for the V-open runway at home and abroad, it is of great significance to study the mutual influence of wake of aircrafts running parallel runway and V-open runway at the same time. The formation process, change period and movement characteristics of aircraft wake are systematically studied, and the wake movement model affected by the anisotropic wind speed is established. Taking the east one and the north one runways of Chengdu Tianfu international airport as an example, the influence of the wake on each other is analyzed by using the wake movement model. The specific values of the coverage of wake dangerous area under different conditions are obtained. Calculation results show that when the runway east one and the runway west one takes independent parallel instrument approach mode, the track offset angle of go-around aircraft from the runway east one is greater than 20.3°, its wake will affect aircraft departing from runway north one.

Optimization of departure runway scheduling incorporating arrival crossings

AbstractThe runway is a key airport resource and an efficient runway operation is critical to enhance the airport efficiency and to reduce delays. This paper addresses the problem of scheduling aircraft departures incorporating arrival crossings. Constraints for wake turbulence separations, flight time window restrictions, and holding queue capacity at runway threshold are explicitly considered. We present two integer linear programming models and a simulated annealing (SA) algorithm. Comparison tests are conducted for the south side of Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport and show that the three proposed methods can significantly improve the solutions based on the simple first‐come‐first‐served rule. Moreover, SA has sufficiently small computation time for real‐time deployment.

Modelling and simulation studies of the runway capacity of Changi Airport

ABSTRACTInternational air travel becomes more affordable over the years with the introduction of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in Asia Pacific. As a result, this region has seen an exponential growth in its air traffic movements. Asia Pacific has been recording faster air traffic growths, compared to regions such as Europe and North America. This is largely due to emerging markets and developing economies in Asia Pacific. This is especially seen in the demand and supply for LCCs in Southeast Asia. Changi Airport, being one of the major air traffic hubs in Asia, is facing overloaded traffic in the future due to this exponential growth. Although a new runway and new terminals are proposed and in the process of being built, the coming years could still bring a huge challenge to the airport, if its existing capacity is not maximised to cope with the increasing traffic demand. Hence, we studied the impacts of increasing LCC flights on the airport runway capacity. Different runway operational scenarios were simulated to investigate their advantages and disadvantages. It is found that the segregated parallel arrival-departure runway operation is beneficial. By simulating various operational scenarios with the projected increasing flight movements, it is found that a dedicated runway to medium-sized arrival aircraft may be more beneficial, as this would possibly enable it to have a higher runway capacity.

Risk Assessment of Separation Between Runway and Taxiway Not Meeting Standard During Take-off

In view of the fact that the separation between runway and taxiway of the flying area can’t meet the standard separation and the risk of aircraft operation, this paper analyses factors causing aircraft veer off the ground in taking off and uses entropy of information to select 15 factors in the 25 factors combines with the multiple Logistic regression method to set up the accident frequency deviation model. On this basis, combining with accident event model which is based on the history data of the plane veer off the runway, the risk model of the taking off stage is established when separation does not meet the standard requirements of the running slip distance. By running the risk model, this article takes the airport as an example to analyse the collision risk of sliding on the ground in taking off under the existing conditions and put forward the operation method of determining the separation between runway and taxiway and the operation constraints when the separation can’t meet the standards, providing a theoretical basis for determining runway operation conditions and designing the separation between runway and taxiway.

Review on computational techniques in solving aircraft landing problem

The problem of sequencing and scheduling arriving aircraft landing is commonly known as aircraft landing problem (ALP). This problem, due to various constraints such as the number of arriving aircrafts, the number of runways, the mode of runway operation, the type of arriving aircrafts, the minimum separation between each arriving aircraft, and the weather condition, is considered to be a NP-hard problem. Therefore, it is almost impossible to compute every possible solution and computational intelligence methods had been adopted to solve ALP. In this paper, we review the computational intelligence techniques used in ALP. The main techniques include the evolutionary algorithms namely; genetic algorithm, genetic programming, scatter search and bionomic algorithm, the swarm intelligence algorithms like particle swarm optimization and ant colony optimization and also other methods such as the constrained position shifting and dynamic programming.