OPTIMUM SIZING OF AIRPORT TERMINAL FACILITIES

Abstract This paper reports on the development of an algorithm for computing the minimum amount of space required for an airport terminal. Current practice of computing space requirements relies heavily on “peak-hour” forecasts. These forecasts are suspect because they fail to show the variations which occur within a peak hour, especially now with the use of wide-body jets. To overcome this deficiency an algorithm was devised which takes as input an airline schedule and produces the minimum amount of space required. Since no formal mathematical technique could be found to solve this large combinatorial problem, the algorithm was based on heuristic programming. It allocates loads from flights to facilities in such a manner that the sum of the areas of the facilities is a minimum.