≥Late arrivalsNearly one in three holidayflights, and one in five otherflights, at Britain’s busiestairports arrive more than15 minutes late.

Air passengers could enjoy more timely flights thanks to new planningtechnology developed by researchers at Strathclyde University andfunded by EPSRC.

The system, which uses ArtificialIntelligence (AI) technology in anautomated planner, should help airportsmake the best use of their capacitythrough efficient scheduling of landings.It could also benefit the environmentby reducing fuel usage.

IMPACT ON AIR TRAVEL ANDTHE ENVIRONMENT> Passengers should benefit from more

punctual flights.> Airport managers should benefit from

increased efficiencies and cost savings.> Fuel usage should decrease as there

should be fewer early flights and fewerlate flights that have to circle overheadwaiting for other slots.

Busy, busy, busyAt a busy airport schedulers must try tokeep planes landing as close to theirlanding times as possible. Early, as well aslate, landings incur penalties for airlines.They must also allow enough time forplanes to clear the runway betweenlandings and for ground staff, such asbaggage handlers, to be on standby.

“This means that efficient scheduling isvital for the best use of airport capacityas well as ensuring landing times aremet as much as possible,” says researchfellow Dr Andrew Coles. “Reducing thenumber of late landings also reduces fuelusage, as planes waiting to land burn upmore fuel while they’re in stacking.”

A balancing actBased on arrivals data from UK airports,the system uses a formula that strikes abalance between target landing times and‘cost trade-off data’, such as the amountof fuel used and the impact on groundsupport staff. For example, an early landingsaves fuel but could disrupt ground supportstaff. The system then directs when eachplane should land while ensuring enoughtime is left between landings, explains DrColes. It can also help to clear backlogs ifbad weather prevents planes from landingfor some time.

In the real world“For the solutions to be useful in the realworld, the important thing is the costtrade-off data,” explains Dr Coles. To thisend, the team is now developing a ‘userinterface’ that specifies cost trade-offdata in terms of factors such as planetype or passenger load. Planners usingthis information should be able to schedulelandings more efficiently because theywill be taking into account a wide rangeof factors.

The novelty of this planning system isthat a single problem-solving kernel canbe used for a wide range of applications,explains Dr Coles, such as controllingelectricity substation voltages or cost-effective investment in computer systeminfrastructure.

For more information aboutEPSRC and the impact it is makingvisit www.epsrc.ac.uk

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council I Case study 24

NEW SYSTEMCOULD ENDAIRPORT DELAYS

AIRPASSENGERSCOULDENJOYMORETIMELY

TAKEOFFS ANDLANDINGS

Engineering and Physical SciencesResearch Council

www.epsrc.ac.uk