Dynamic Network Flow Model for Short-Term Air Traffic Flow Management

Since it is safer and less expensive to absorb delays on the ground, many models have been developed to assign ground holding delays optimally in the general network of airports, so that the total (ground plus airborne) delay costs of all fights are minimized. Still, the undeniable fact remains that airborne delays cannot be totally avoided. When there are airborne holds, such as when the local airspace capacity has a sudden decrease due to bad weather or other unpredicted disruptions, it is important to quickly minimize the costs of airborne holds. Much research has been conducted to explore ways to minimize airborne holds. Motivated by this, after analyzing the network structure of air traffic control areas and the dynamic nature of air traffic flow, this paper presents a model based on multicommodity dynamic network flow for short-term air traffic flow management. The model was validated by practical data from the Beijing ATC Center of the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).