Empirical analysis of airport network and critical airports

Air transport network, or airport network, is a complex network involving numerous airports. Effective management of the air transport system requires an in-depth understanding of the roles of airports in the network. Whereas knowledge on air transport network properties has been improved greatly, methods to find critical airports in the network are still lacking. In this paper, we present methods to investigate network properties and to identify critical airports in the network. A novel network model is proposed with airports as nodes and the correlations between traffic flow of airports as edges. Spectral clustering algorithm is developed to classify airports. Spatial distribution characteristics and intraclass correlation of different categories of airports are carefully analyzed. The analyses based on the fluctuation trend of distance-correlation and power spectrum of time series are performed to examine the self-organized criticality of the network. The results indicate that there is one category of airports which dominates the self-organized critical state of the network. Six airports in this category are found to be the most important ones in the Chinese air transport network. The flights delay occurred in these six airports can propagate to the other airports, having huge impact on the operation characteristics of the entire network. The methods proposed here taking traffic dynamics into account are capable of identifying critical airports in the whole air transport network.     

Evolution of airports from a network perspective——An analytical concept

Analyzing airports' role in global air transportation and monitoring their development over time provides an additional perspective on the dynamics of network evolution. In order to understand the different roles airports can play in the network an integrated and multi-dimensional approach is needed. Therefore, an approach to airport classification through hierarchi-cal clustering considering several parameters from network theory is presented in this paper. By applying a 29 year record of global flight data and calculating the conditional transition probabil-ities the results are displayed as an evolution graph similar to a discrete-time Markov chain. With this analytical concept the meaning of airports is analyzed from a network perspective and a new airport taxonomy is established. The presented methodology allows tracking the development of airports from certain categories into others over time. Results show that airports of equal classes run through similar stages of development with a limited number of alternatives, indicating clear evolutionary patterns. Apart from giving an overview of the results the paper illustrates the exact data-driven approach and suggests an evaluation scheme. The methodology can help the public and industry sector to make informed strategy decisions when it comes to air transportation infras-tructure.     

长江三角洲地区机场现状分析及优化建议

长江三角洲地区的机场分布密度已居全国之首,并且高于发达国家水平。通过分析比较当地基本情况和国外大都市的机场分布与经营状况,指出现在长三角地区机场的状况和存在的问题。在不修建新的国际机场条件下,提出了优化现有机场资源的思想和一些具体措施。     

中国民航旅客吞吐量的灰色马尔可夫模型预测

民航旅客吞吐量的规模和增长速度是民航基础数据,是衡量民航发展的重要指标,旨在通过统计学的一般方法揭示民航旅客吞吐量的变化规律、做出准确的预测。民航旅客吞吐量的规模和增长可以使用灰色预测模型进行预测．并且结果比较准确。在此基础上,提出了引入马尔可夫链预测理论,建立民航旅客吞吐量灰色马尔可夫预测模型的设想。以期使预测结果更加准确可靠。在实例中,对比了灰色预测模型和灰色马尔可夫预测模型的预测结果．验证了民航旅客吞吐量的灰色马尔可夫预测模型预测精度高于灰色预测模型预测精度。可见。灰色马尔可夫预测模型可用于民航旅客吞吐量预测,并可以提供比灰色预测模型更为准确可靠的预测结果。最后．依据灰色马尔可夫预测模型计算得出了2007年和2008年的民航旅客吞吐量预测值．     

Network analysis of Chinese air transport delay propagation

The Chinese air transport system has witnessed an important evolution in the last dec-ade, with a strong increase in the number of flights operated and a consequent reduction of their punctuality. In this contribution, we propose modelling the process of delay propagation by using complex networks, in which nodes are associated to airports, and links between pairs of them are assigned when a delay propagation is detected. Delay time series are analysed through the well-known Granger Causality, which allows detecting if one time series is causing the dynamics observed in a second one. Results indicate that delays are mostly propagated from small and regio-nal airports, and through flights operated by turbo-prop aircraft. These insights can be used to design strategies for delay propagation dampening, as for instance by including small airports into the system's Collaborative Decision Making.     

中欧枢纽机场航班协同放行需求与对策研究

随着中欧之间航空运输量的不断增加,中欧几个主要枢纽机场之间互飞的航班量增长迅速,从欧洲空中交通流量管理系统发展的经验来看,协调枢纽机场航班放行时间可以显著地减少空域拥挤,减少航班延误,提高航班的正常性和可预测性.尝试从分析中国北京首都机场等几大枢纽机场中欧之间航班飞行流量、起降时刻出发,从减少中国枢纽机场拥挤的角度分析中欧协同放行的必要性,从航班和机场信息共享、协同放行机制等角度分析其可行性,以期望为进一步加强中欧航空合作打下基础.由于时间和数据限制,研究无法从欧洲空管角度做出类似的分析.     

Magnetic Signal Processing & Analysis for Airfield Traffic Surveillance

This paper presents an innovative system for airport surface surveillance based on a novel magnetic sensing technology. Ferromagnetic objects such as vehicle motors, aircraft engines, and landing gears are detected through their deformation of the Earth's magnetic field. Tests have shown that although the local changes of the Earth's magnetic field are extremely small, the proposed sensing technology is able to detect them reliably. The primary objective of the proposed approach is to provide a complementary surveillance system for existing and future Advanced Surface Movement Guidance and Control Systems (A-SMGCS) at large airports or a cost-effective surveillance solution for monitoring critical areas at medium and small airports. Unaffected by weather conditions, interference and shadowing effects, the system provides reliable position, velocity, and direction information without requiring any equipment in aircraft or ground vehicles. The outcome of a comprehensive market analysis is discussed and test results under real life conditions at two airports are evaluated analytically.     

机场协同决策的应用历史与研究趋势综述

机场协同决策可以有效提升机场的运行效率,进而提升整个民航运输网络的运行效率。本文查阅整理了机场协同决策的相关标准、政策文件与研究论文,梳理了机场协同决策的发展历程以及国内外学界业界有关协同决策的研究及应用现状;分析讨论了机场协同决策未来的发展趋势与当前时期协同决策所面临的挑战;同时基于我国的实际情况,给出了一些机场协同决策的发展建议;总结了机场协同决策的理论与应用价值以及协同决策在我国面临的问题与挑战。本文研究可以为提升机场与整个航空交通网络的运行效率与经济效益提供理论支撑和依据。     

Airport air quality

At local and national levels, more and more attention is being given to airports as sometimes major contributors to local air pollution. In consequence, airports are challenged to improve their knowledge of airport induced emissions and their contribution to local pollution and even mitigation planning.     

基于贝叶斯网络的航班延误传播分析

 由于机场航班之间存在前后衔接关系,每个航班的延误会波及到下游机场及其航班,因此需要一种有效手段来分析航班衔接时的延误传播。贝叶斯网络（BN）是一种有效的传播分析方法,从某个枢纽机场航班延误出发,对其关联机场的衔接航班的延误影响进行分析,提出了基于BN的航班延误传播模型。结合某航空公司实际数据,通过最大期望值算法对模型进行训练,给出了测试结果。实验表明,所提出的方法能有效地分析航班延误从局部到全局的传播。     

基于聚类分析和DEA的枢纽机场评价研究

针对枢纽机场运行效率低下和盲目追求建设超前性问题,用聚类分析明晰全国枢纽机场等级,通过DEA研究枢纽机场的运行效率,并根据各机场发展需求和功能定位,提出我国枢纽机场协同发展策略.结果表明:民用机场被分成4类,一级、二级、三级枢纽分别为3、15、31个.49个枢纽机场中,北京、广州、昆明、深圳、三亚机场效率为1,为DEA有效.评价方法对改善机场的运行业绩具有参考价值,为机场的顶层设计规划提供科学的管理决策依据.     

基于DEA模型的民用机场运行效率分析

针对当前一些民用机场运行效率低下和盲目追求建设的超前性,利用DEA模型对我国10个主要民用机场的运行效率进行评估,其结果可以为机场管理者提供科学的管理决策依据,对新建或改扩建机场确定合理的投资规模也具有一定的参考价值。     

亚洲10大枢纽机场运营绩效预测研究

提高机场未来运营绩效是可持续发展的关键,对其进行准确预测是改善机场运营绩效的基础。考虑到突发事件的影响,单纯定量预测存在预测失真问题,本文采用定性定量结合分析法预测亚洲 10 大枢纽机场“十四五”期间的运营绩效,对比灰色模型定量分析法和 ARIMA 模型的预测结果,并对机场运营绩效预测结果进行分析。结果表明：灰色模型定量分析法比 ARIMA 模型更适合预测机场运营绩效;与实际统计值相比,灰色模型预测的误差都小于 4%,预测精度较好;采用定性定量结合分析法得到了机场未来运营绩效预测的结果,比单纯定量预测更符合实际情况。     

Improved Antenna Systems for ILS Localizers

For many years Norwegian airports have been equipped with instrument landing system (ILS) localizers of conventional type. Most of the localizers, however, were found not to perform very well on these sites. The course bends were too large and even moderate amounts of snow and ice could cause the localizer to fall out of operation. To overcome these difficulties, the requirements for localizer operation at these airports were analyzed and a new and improved antenna system developed. After a long period of operational testing, during which it was made clear that a substantial improvement in performance had been achieved, the new localizer antenna system is now in operation at 13 Norwegian airports.     

An innovative approach for integrated airline network and aircraft family optimization

The determination of optimal aerial transport networks and their associated flight frequencies is crucial for the strategic planning of airlines, as well as for carrying out market research, to establish target markets, and for aircraft and crew rostering. In addition, optimum airplane types for the selected networks are crucial to improve revenue and to provide reduced operating costs. The present study proposes an innovative approach to determine the optimal aerial transport network simultaneously with the determination of the optimum fleet for that network, composed of three types of airplanes (network and vehicle integrated design). The network profit is maximized. The passenger’s demands between the airports are determined via a gravitational model. An embedded linear programming solution is responsible for obtaining potential optimal network configurations. The optimum fleet combination is determined from a database of candidate aircraft designs via genetic algorithm. A truly realistic airplane representation is made possible thanks to accurate surrogate models for engine and aerodynamics is adopted. An accurate engine deck encompassing a compression map and an innovative engine weight calculation besides an aerodynamical artificial neural network module enable a high degree of accuracy for the mission analysis. The proposed methodology is applied to obtain the optimum network comprised of twenty main Brazilian airports and corresponding fleet.     

Stable two-sided matching of slot allocation in airport collaborative decision making by top trading cycles mechanism

The problem of capacity shortage in some airports needs to be dealt with sustainable solutions including a more efficient use of the existing runway slots at the airports. The Collaborative Decision Making (CDM) is an important approach applied to Air Traffic Management (ATM) to achieve this efficient use of the slots allocation. Using the Matching approach for two-sided markets of Game theory, the Top Trading Cycle CDM (TTC-CDM) algorithm developed in this research is an extension of the CDM approach aggregating the Ground Delay Program (GDP) of the air sector. The paper compared the developed TTC-CDM model to the existing models such as the conventional Compression algorithm in CDM, the Trade Cycle algorithm and the Deferred Acceptance CDM (DA-CDM) model to evaluate the performance of the proposed model. Through a case study, the results show the effective application of TTC-CDM model to slot allocation in ATM and also presents the advantage of considering the preferences of airport managers beside ATC controllers and airlines in the decision processing.     

所需性能导航的飞行模拟机视景仿真实现

为实现适合所需性能导航(RNP)程序训练的飞行模拟机机场视景仿真数据库,从拉萨机场对RNP飞行程序训练的实际需求出发,研究RNP程序,对地形网格算法进行人为干预,引导地形生成需要的效果和精度,满足飞行验证和训练的要求,实现机场三维全态仿真与RNP程序的结合,研究结果可推广到其他类似机场的视景仿真开发。     

基于地面等待策略的航班时刻规划方法

地面等待是空中交通管理中普遍应用的一种方法。根据机场实际容量的约束,从地面等待策略的思想提出了航班时刻规划专家系统,即通过修改航班时刻表中高峰时段的航班,以达到平滑交通流量的目的。最后根据全国航班时刻表,选择了10个主要的繁忙机场进行了仿真计算,验证了方法的实用性。     

多机场系统内外部航线网络构建的优化问题

区域多机场系统已经成为航空业中颇具规模的机场群实体,但是现阶段区域多机场系统的发展面临诸多问题:系统内部各机场的发展不均衡,客源主要集中在区域内的主要枢纽机场;整体规划不严谨,造成各机场内出现不良竞争.针对此问题建立了0-1整数规划模型,通过合理地整体规划来满足航线流量的需求,同时减轻枢纽机场的负担.实验表明,利用求解该整数规划问题,经过模型优化后,使得整个区域多机场系统的运作效率大大提高.     

Developments of hubbing at European airports

Passenger growth at many of Europe's airports is being driven by expansion of connecting traffic. The major airlines are increasing the effectiveness of their hubbing activities through improved flight scheduling, commercial partnerships and alliances, the utilisation of regional jet aircraft and high speed rail feeders. This article examines these key developments and considers the implications for different airports.