A Simulation model for airport capacity and delay analysis

Air traffic, worldwide, keeps growing strongly, creating critical capacity situations and traffic congestion. As a consequence, large delays are suffered by airlines, passengers and airport authorities alike. When a rough estimate is needed, the results of traditional queuing theory can be used to analyse airport runway systems, but when airports are too congested or a more realistic description of the system behaviour is necessary, a simulation approach is a good alternative. This article outlines the limits of the analytical approach and shows how to build a simulation procedure. This procedure is able to measure the performance of an airport runway used only for arrivals, with different traffic mixes and operational variables. The impact of future technological systems is also considered, comparing their effects on various types of airports.