An extended memetic algorithm for multiobjective routing and scheduling of airport ground movements with intermediate holding

Routing and scheduling of airport ground movements poses a critical issue for efficient surface operations. For real-world applications, multiple objectives should be considered, leading to a multigraph representation of the search space. Meanwhile, intermediate holding is often needed to a) release availability of scarce resources such as runways and gates for more cost-effective routing and scheduling, b) provide additional solutions in the speed profile database that can be used during routing and scheduling, and c) keep airport ground movements functional during disruptive events that may paralyse part of the taxiway network. This paper presents an extended multiobjective memetic algorithm upon the multigraph model to search for desirable solutions with intermediate holding. The performance of the proposed algorithm is examined with problem instances of different airport layouts. The results demonstrate prominent savings in both time and fuel costs compared with solutions without intermediate holding.