A linear programming approach to maximum flow estimation on the European air traffic network

A linear programming (LP) approach is proposed to estimate the maximum flow in the European air traffic network, based on empirical traffic data and capacity constr aints at airports and in Area Control Centres. In order to validate the model and the associated results, we treat historic al data collected on 1 July 2012 as the empirical maximum f low and compare them with the theoretical maximum establish ed by the LP model. The results show that the proposed model, d espite its relatively simple structure and assumptions, has ca ptured the overall congestion status and the saturated state o f the network, which is verified statistically. Meanwhile, we util ize data on Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) delays to validate a queuing model by comparing the empirical data with predicted data obtained from Little’s theorem. The ATFM delays, when combined with the proposed LP model, suggest a viabl e way of identifying and quantifying several capacity factors that impact on network capacity such as airspace availability a nd ATFM. Future work will describe and predict more accurately the air traffic network in Europe. Keywords-capacity factor,linear programming,maximum flow, network capacity, SESAR.