An Application of Operations Research in Airport Ground Path AI Decision for Apron Operation Control

Airport apron operation control aims to command and manoeuvre flights taxiing in and out smoothly at the airdrome surface movement area by eliminating ground traffic congestion, and limiting taxiing conflicts of flights both at taxiways and parking stands through digital surveillance measures (e.g., Airport Surveillance Radar, real-time video surveillance). This paper provides a means to solve the problem of coordinating flights ground taxiing route, push-back timing and take-off sequencing by the contribution of operations research. From an operating standpoint, assessing the impact of on-time rate requires to improve current time-slot priority algorithm rules of collaborative decision-making. This paper proposed a framework to fast analyze time-slot optimization adjustment schemes, through artificial intelligence technique by simulating the mindset of apron operation controllers. It enables intelligent aid decision-making for apron operation control, and is proved be able to enhance airport safety, reduce flight ground taxiing time and improve on-time rate.