Study on Arrival Aircraft Sequencing Based on Optimization of Point Merge Procedure

With the air transport industry developing dramatically, the problem of flight congestion in the terminal area (TMA) has been aggravated. Particularly for arrival aircraft, the extraholding and delay not only increase the workload of air traffic controllers and aircrew but also reduce the operational efficiency. To struggle with this issue, it is crucial to study how to improve the operational efficiency of arrival aircraft. Under the background of the rapid promotion of Point Merge (PM) procedure program in the busy TMAs in the world, this paper firstly combines the optimization of PM procedure and arrival aircraft sequencing, aiming to maximize the operational benefits of arrival aircraft in TMA. Firstly, the framework of the PM procedure is set up to replace the traditional approach route known as Standard Instrument Arrival (STAR). After that, the PM procedure optimization model is established to provide a better approach route for each arrival aircraft. Then for a flow of arrival traffic, an aircraft sequencing model is established to readjust the landing sequence of arrival aircraft, thus further improving the operational benefits of arrival aircraft. Finally, taking the TMA of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport as the case, we compare the impact of different flight procedures and different landing sequences on the operational benefits of arrival aircraft. The experimental results show that the application of the PM procedure optimization model and sequencing model can effectively improve the operational benefits on the premise of ensuring safety, thus realizing the safe and orderly approach in TMA.