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Optimising airport slot allocation considering flight-scheduling flexibility and total airport capacity constraints

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  • Katsigiannis, Fotios A.
  • Zografos, Konstantinos G.

Abstract

The lack of airport capacity hinders the growth potential of global air travel, inflicting delays and economic losses to passengers, airlines, and airports. Airport Slot Allocation (ASA) is used in congested airports as a short-term measure for providing access to air-carriers to scarce airport resources. A rich literature has been developed during the last decade around the formulation and optimisation of the ASA problem using the IATA World Scheduling Guidelines (IATA WSG). However, existing models do not address airlines’ flight scheduling flexibility preferences which are expressed through the Timing Flexibility Indicator (TFI). Additionally, in considering the airport's capacity, existing ASA literature does not treat endogenously the allocation of the available airport capacity to match the demand's characteristics. This paper addresses these issues by proposing a novel modelling and solution framework that considers airlines’ flexibility preferences and its seamless integration with constraints that enable the dynamic allocation of the airport's resources. Our approach takes into account the number of rejected requests, the total, and maximum displacement objectives and addresses several primary and additional policy criteria of IATA WSG. The preferences of the airlines are introduced through the Timing Flexibility Indicator (TFI) which is incorporated in a weighted objective function considering the number of slot requests which fall within their specified TFI. The proposed framework benefits from valid tightening inequalities which reduce the required computational times. Our computational study using data from a coordinated airport suggests that the joint consideration of the TFI and the endogenous and dynamic capacity constraints, improves airport capacity utilisation, thus leading to improved airport slot schedules with reduced total and maximum displacement and significant improvements in terms of displaced slot requests and passengers.

Suggested Citation

  • Katsigiannis, Fotios A. & Zografos, Konstantinos G., 2021. "Optimising airport slot allocation considering flight-scheduling flexibility and total airport capacity constraints," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 50-87.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:transb:v:146:y:2021:i:c:p:50-87
    DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2021.02.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ribeiro, Nuno Antunes & Jacquillat, Alexandre & Antunes, António Pais & Odoni, Amedeo R. & Pita, João P., 2018. "An optimization approach for airport slot allocation under IATA guidelines," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 132-156.
    2. Ribeiro, Nuno Antunes & Jacquillat, Alexandre & Antunes, António Pais & Odoni, Amedeo, 2019. "Improving slot allocation at Level 3 airports," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 32-54.
    3. Konstantinos G. Zografos & Michael A. Madas & Konstantinos N. Androutsopoulos, 2017. "Increasing airport capacity utilisation through optimum slot scheduling: review of current developments and identification of future needs," Journal of Scheduling, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Katsigiannis, Fotios A. & Zografos, Konstantinos G., 2023. "Incorporating slot valuation in making airport slot scheduling decisions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 436-454.
    2. Keskin, Merve & Zografos, Konstantinos G., 2023. "Optimal network-wide adjustments of initial airport slot allocations with connectivity and fairness objectives," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    3. Jin, Zhongyi & Ng, Kam K.H. & Wang, Haoqing & Wang, Shuaian & Zhang, Chenliang, 2025. "Electric airport ferry vehicle scheduling problem for sustainable operation," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
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    6. Wang, Yiqun & Ni, Yaodong, 2025. "Airport slot allocation with low-carbon consideration," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    7. Berktas, Nihal & Zografos, Konstantinos G., 2025. "Generic model for capacity allocation on transportation terminals," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    8. Anton-Sanchez, Laura & Landete, Mercedes & Saldanha-da-Gama, Francisco, 2023. "The discrete p-center location problem with upgrading," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
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    10. Zeng, Weili & Xu, Changxing & Shu, Xiang & Chen, Xinyuan & Wei, Wenbin, 2025. "A novel slot optimization model for congested airports integrating IATA priority and operational priority," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).

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