Distribution Optimization Model for Passenger Departure via Multimodal Transit

International airports in China have become a complex hub between airport and multimodal transit stations. Dissimilar passenger departure demands in different transit mode cause wide gaps among departure times from airport to these modes. In this context, hub managers need to balance the distribution of air passengers to transit modes in order to reduce departure delays and alleviate the congestion in transit stations, even though they cannot change the operating plan of airport or transit stations. However, few research efforts have addressed this distribution. Therefore, we developed a distribution optimization model for passenger departure that minimizes the average departure time and is solved by Genetic Algorithm. To describe differences in passenger choices, without taking into consideration the metropolitan transportation network outside the airport, we introduced the concept of rigid and elastic departures. To reflect the tendency of elastic passengers to choose different transit modes, we assume that the passengers change to other modes in different proportions. A case revealed that the presence of rigid passengers allows managers to partly balance the distribution of passengers and improve the average departure time. When the volume of passengers approaches the peak volume, the optimized distribution significantly improves the departure time

A DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING CONVEYANCE OPTIONS AND MODELING PASSENGER FLOW IN AIRPORT TERMINALS

This dissertation focuses on the use of passenger conveyance systems and modeling passenger flow in airport terminals. The successfully designed airport concourse must perform at a level that meets the needs of its users - the passengers. In this research, we propose a database design methodology that allows key conveyance statistics to be analyzed within specific locations across the airport terminal. Using passenger conveyance observations collected at five North American airports, the database enables airport planners, operators and consultants to assess passenger behavior and conveyance device performance. Results from this section of the research were in direct support of the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). In both vertical and horizontal mode choice analysis, two logistic models are developed to serve as predictors to examine the relationship between passenger characteristics and their choice of conveyance system and analyze the probabilities of a passenger choosing different conveyance devices in airport terminals. Our analyses through logistic models show that passengers tend not to use moving walkway with increasing number of rollers. It is important for airport planners to provide an appropriate level of service (LOS) for airport passengers. To estimate potential congestion and meet service-level requirements in a concourse, we develop a series of simulation models to estimate the occupancy of any designated area (or footprint) within a concourse. Specifically, factors such as the number of gates, flight arrivals, aircraft size and gate configuration are considered in simulation models. We identify significant factors that affect the congestion and establish a service level design standard matrix in the footprint area. We also introduce zones inside the concourse and examine how various diversions (concessions, restaurants, etc.) within the concourse and the capacity of departure lounge in each gate affect passenger congestion in each zone. Finally, we combine the database and mode choice models into two comprehensive concourse simulation models: (1) concourse with moving walkway (2) concourse with vertical transition devices (escalator, elevator and stairs). We use these models to estimate passenger occupancy and the resulting LOS. This research provides an understanding into how various concourse operation strategies affect when and how passenger congestion forms within the terminal

Using Lean Philosophy to Improve Passenger Departure Flow in Abu Dhabi Airport

Lean is an established process improvement philosophy to achieve the operational excellence and the benefits can be more than just improving the process. This is evident as the benefits of Lean are truly exploited in automotive, aerospace and manufacturing sectors. There are numerous implementations of Lean philosophy in service sector such as banking, higher education, software development etc. The main aim of this paper is provide an overview of Lean philosophy and explore the benefits for airport processes. The airport processes are completely different than the manufacturing and other service sectors due to the complex interlinking between different stake holders such as airline regulations, national/international law etc. This paper exemplifies the Lean philosophy by drawing examples form Passenger Departure Process (PDP) in Abu Dhabi International Airport (a major international airport). This paper starts with examining the background to the project and why airports have many characteristic features, which are fundamentally different to the manufacturing environment in which Lean was originally devised. Since its origins, Lean philosophy has been also applied to many service environments. Further, Lean philosophy is introduced and Lean principles and waste is discussed from the PDP perspective. Along this, a brief literature review is presented on the existing process improvement approaches used in the airports. The ultimate aim of the project which it has achieved was to develop a practical methodology of applying Lean principles to the PDP help airline managers and staff eliminates the waste of available resources and so increases the passenger flow through various stages of the process in line with Lean philosophy

Airport Passenger Processing Technology: A Biometric Airport Journey

A passengers’ traveling journey throughout the airport is anything but simple. A passenger goes through numerous hoops and hurdles before safely boarding the aircraft. Many airports today are implementing isolated solutions for passenger processing. Some of these technologies include automated self-service kiosks and bag tag, self-service bag drop-off, along with automated self-service gates for boarding and border control. These solutions can be integrated with biometric systems to enhance passenger handling. This thesis analyzes the current passenger processing technology implemented at airports around the world and their associated challenges that passengers face. A new passenger processing technology called a biometric single token identification (ID) is presented as a solution to help alleviate current issues. By using a medium-sized international airport as a case study, the results show that a single token ID is beneficial to the time it takes to process a passenger. Furthermore, it demonstrates that implementation of a single token ID with self-service technology can provide enhanced passenger travel experience, improving operational process efficiency, all while ensuring safety and security

How to drive passenger airport experience: A decision support system based on user profile

This work presents a decision support system for providing information and suggestions to airport users. The aim of the study is to design a system both to improve passengers\u2019 experience by reducing time spent queueing and waiting, and to raise airport revenues by increasing the time passengers spend in discretionary activities. Passengers\u2019 behaviour is modelled with an activity-choice model to be calibrated with their mobile phone traces. The model allows to predict activity sequences for passengers with given socio-demographic characteristics. In order to predict queue length at check-in desks and security control and congestion inside commercial areas, passengers\u2019 movements are simulated with a microscopic simulation tool. A system to generate suggestion has been designed: passengers are advised to perform mandatory activities when the predicted queue length is reasonable and specific discretionary activities according to time available, user profiles, location distance, location congestion and airport management preferences. A proof-of-concept case study has been developed: passengers\u2019 behaviour in both cases of receiving and not receiving suggestion has been simulated. In the first case, passengers experienced less queueing and waiting time; the time saved was spent in discretionary activities, improving passengers\u2019 airport experience and increasing airport revenues

Analysis with modelling and simulation of the potential benefits of automation of ground controller functions.

Aviation demand has been growing steadily for many years, but airport infrastructure capacity cannot keep pace. We have recently seen new expansion projects at Europe's main airports to increase their capacity and maintain an excellent level of service. For Barcelona to maintain the level of major European airports such as Heathrow, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Amsterdam Schiphol and others, it is not enough to simply improve the infrastructure, but the operations are even more important. This improvement can be made using the latest technologies (automation, artificial intelligence,...). The purpose of this work is to implement a simulator that automates the functions of a ground controller. These functions are to guide and avoid conflicts between the gate and runways and vice versa. At the same time, by using this simulator, human errors will disappear and taxiing time will be optimised. To carry out this work, a simulator was created from scratch using a known scenario such as Barcelona - El Prat airport and data obtained from websites such as FlightRadar24 or FlightStats. During the simulations, the code was modified each time an aircraft did not perform the desired movement, and then simulated again. Once the 24 hours of movement data had elapsed, a series of variables allowed us to analyse the behaviour of the simulator. Finally, it can be said that the programme does not generate delay, and that it substantially improves airport operations by minimising queues before the runway. It is also true that it does not produce the same improvement in departures as in arrivals. This simulator is a first step towards the automation of air traffic controllers' functions, demonstrating that it has both economic and operational benefits

Contribution to the evaluation and optimization of passengers' screening at airports

Security threats have emerged in the past decades as a more and more critical issue for Air Transportation which has been one of the main ressource for globalization of economy. Reinforced control measures based on pluridisciplinary research and new technologies have been implemented at airports as a reaction to different terrorist attacks. From the scientific perspective, the efficient screening of passengers at airports remain a challenge and the main objective of this thesis is to open new lines of research in this field by developing advanced approaches using the resources of Computer Science. First this thesis introduces the main concepts and definitions of airport security and gives an overview of the passenger terminal control systems and more specifically the screening inspection positions are identified and described. A logical model of the departure control system for passengers at an airport is proposed. This model is transcribed into a graphical view (Controlled Satisfiability Graph-CSG) which allows to test the screening system with different attack scenarios. Then a probabilistic approach for the evaluation of the control system of passenger flows at departure is developped leading to the introduction of Bayesian Colored Petri nets (BCPN). Finally an optimization approach is adopted to organize the flow of passengers at departure as best as possible given the probabilistic performance of the elements composing the control system. After the establishment of a global evaluation model based on an undifferentiated serial processing of passengers, is analyzed a two-stage control structure which highlights the interest of pre-filtering and organizing the passengers into separate groups. The conclusion of this study points out for the continuation of this theme

Application of ICT as a Key Element for Airport Safety and Security Operations

Airport risk management is a demanding task as several different areas have to be monitored including outer edges, car parks, terminals, and other passenger facilities. Information and communication technologies (ICT) are key elements for airport operation safety and security. One of the advantages of ICT based systems is they can react better and faster in real time and perform certain tasks at airports. This paper aims to present a safety overview of ICT and multi-agent systems (MAS) usage in the implementation of various airport operations. This paper aims to present a safety overview of ICT and MAS systems usage in the implementation of various airport operations. This paper summarizes a multi-agent concept that highlights their applications at airports such as passenger transfer, baggage management, aircraft handling, and field service through a detailed and extensive literature review on related topics. Much of the information on processes within the airport, processes in air traffic, and the processes of operators, i.e. airlines, is the result of monitoring work on a software development project for individual airports that serves to manage all processes in airports. The analysis led to the conclusion that safety and security in airports can be additionally improved by greater use of ICT as well as greater use of MAS, which ultimately contributes to the optimization of the airport

Lean Improvements to Passenger Departure Flow in Abu Dhabi Airport: Focus on Data from the Check-in Element

This is the second paper of three which concerns improving Passenger Departure Flow. The main aim of this paper is provide a summary of the research results, which includes both the reporting of empirical data collected at the Airport and the results obtained from simulation of existing flow for passenger departure process. The large quantity of data means this paper focuses on reporting data for the economy check-in element only. The project led towards development of rules for process of improvement for the entire departure process and explored the benefits of using the Lean philosophy for improving a range of airport processes. Airport processes are completely different than the manufacturing and other service sectors due to the complex interlinking between different stake holders such as airline regulations, national/international law etc

Rethinking Dalian New International Airport: The Exploration of a Net-Zero Airport Powered by Tidal Power Energy on an Artificial Island.

Fossil fuel is still the number one energy resource in China, and among the fossil fuel, coal is the primary resource to generate electricity and heat during heating days. Fossil fuel will result in global warming, sea level rising, but we may not perceive these because of the relatively subtle changes. Nevertheless, China got the punishment from the natural in recent years, most of the mainland China is experiencing the terrible smog, which gets worse in the winter. The cause of the smog is same to London, a huge amount of coal has been consumed in last few decades. To stop the smog spreading in China, the energy resource transformation is imperative. Oceans cover almost 70% of the earth’s surface which have a tremendous amount of energy in the form of a wave, tidal, ocean current, thermal resources and salinity gradients. Ocean energy is one of the renewable energy that human ancho’s their hope on, and researchers are seeking approaches to capture that energy and convert it to electricity more and more efficiently. As buildings consuming about 40% of global energy consumption, the architects need to emphasize more on energy saving aspect compare to the past. Dalian has sea area about 29000 square kilometers. It is reasonable to invest and develop on ocean energy. Among different types of ocean energy, tidal energy, which is created by the gravitational forces of the moon and the sun and the rotation of the moon, is one of the most predictable efficient and developed ocean energy. The New Dalian Airport locates in Jinzhou Bay Area, which provides more opportunities for integrating the tidal power to generate energy on site. With the thought of incorporating tidal energy, this thesis will develop a proposal for Dalian Jinzhou Bay International Airport, which aims at being a sustainable, educational, and Net-Zero airport on an artificial island that powered by tidal energy