This paper presents a model for determining the practical capacity of an air route network. The model is based upon the theory of queueing networks. In the model presented here the Air Traffic Control sectors being parts of an airspace, are considered to be network nodes, while the segments of the air routes along which aircraft can fly from one sector to another are called network branches.
The main inputs for the model are divided into two groups: inputs referring to demand for service within the air route network and those referring to service characteristics of the network. The inputs on demand are: intensity of incoming aircraft flow which demand service within each of the Air Traffic Control sectors of the network and distributions of traffic among these sectors in a given time unit; these distributions are represented by probabilities of aircraft passing from one sector to another. The inputs of service characteristics are: ultimate capacity of the micronetwork of air routes in each sector as a part of airspace, ultimate capacity of each Air Traffic Control unit which has jurisdiction over each of the sectors and the average time of aircraft flying in each sector. A special group of inputs are the length of the time interval in which the aircraft processing through the network is being observed, and the time interval which defines particular time cuts in which the state of the system is registered.
The outputs of the model are average aircraft delays at the entrance of the air route network and of each particular sector, calculated as a function of intensity of incoming aircraft flow and demand for service. These outputs can be used for the following purposes: (a) The estimate of the practical air route network capacity which is expressed as a number of aircraft processed through the network in a given time unit with delay imposed on each of the aircraft in advance, i.e. before the beginning of processing. (b) The estimate of the level of service provided to aircraft; one of its elements is the average aircraft delay at the entrance of the network. (c) The model enables a delay sensitivity analysis in relation to changes in service characteristics being consequences of the introduction of new air route network configurations with the purpose to adjust its capacity to demand.
A practical capacity model of an air route network
Transportation Planning and Technology ; 11 , 2 ; 87-103
1986-08-01
17 pages
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Elektronische Ressource
Unbekannt
Effect of Route Choice Models on Estimating Network Capacity Reliability
Transportation Research Record | 2000
|Effect of Route Choice Models on Estimating Network Capacity Reliability
Online Contents | 2000
|Simulations help boost route capacity
Online Contents | 2006
Viewpoint: Not route to capacity
Online Contents | 1995
|