Identifying Airspace Capacity Factors in the Air Traffic Management System

Accurate airspace capacity estimation relies on the correct identification of the factors that affect it. Given the current and envisaged developments of the Air Traffic Management system e.g. Single European Sky, which includes an Air Traffic Control automation plan, it is necessary to assess how the appropriate capacity factors will impact these initiatives. This paper introduces the background for this research and outlines the development of a holistic taxonomy of airspace capacity factors for the Air Traffic Management System based on United Kingdom’s airspace sector overload reports, on literature review and on interviews with subject matter experts (SMEs). The paper also highlights the methods by which airspace capacity can be estimated to account for a future automated ATM environment, which in turn depend on a correct factors identification.

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