Integrating AAM vertiport infrastructure into Australian airports: A hybrid simulation framework

Integrating Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) aircraft into commercial airports presents airport operational and regulatory challenges. Existing Air Traffic Control (ATC) infrastructure is built over decades based on traditional aircraft and not designed for the high-frequency, on-demand patterns of AAM aircraft. The characteristics of AAM aircraft introduce sequencing conflicts and increase ATC personnel utilisation when mixed with existing airliner traffic within an airport ecosystem. These challenges influence vertiport infrastructure layout and specific AAM propulsion servicing methods, as each directly affects AAM turnaround times and passenger flow throughout the airport terminals. To address these challenges, this study developed a hybrid simulation model combining Agent-Based Modelling (ABM) and Discrete Event Simulation (DES), focused on Melbourne Airport. Simulation experiments assessed performance across ATC utilisation, vertiport layout, propulsion type, and passenger flow. In AAM-only operations, ATC utilisation averaged 4.46%, indicating minimal increase to ATC personnel at low initial AAM demand. Under mixed traffic with a single ATC, utilisation rose to 43.15%, while adding a second controller reduced utilisation to 39.33% and increased completed AAM movements by 8% relative to the single controller mixed traffic case. The simulation results highlight the relationship between ATC personnel utilisation, vertiport layouts and AAM propulsion servicing requirements, all which offer insights for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to assist with policy implementation.