Browsing by Author "Leonard, Trudie"

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    Apron layout design and flight-to-gate assignment at Lanseria International Airport
    (Southern African Institute for Industrial Engineering, 2013-05) Leonard, Trudie; Bekker, J.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Air traffic is continuously increasing and more efficient air transport systems are required to handle the air travel demand. The study investigates the expansion of Lanseria International Airport in Gauteng, South Africa. Expansion of Lanseria requires a study of the airport apron layout to ensure efficient passenger-aircraft flow as well as the efficient flow of aircraft to and from the airport. The candidate layout designs are based on the layout concept of the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta, USA. In the study, different airport apron layouts were compared, including the existing layout of Atlanta Airport, via a simulation model of each. Designs based mainly on passenger transfer distance between the terminal building and aircraft were evaluated. The cross-entropy method was used to develop a generic flight-to-gate assignment program that minimises passenger transfer distances.
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    Comparing airport apron layout designs using computer simulation and the cross-entropy method
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2011-12) Leonard, Trudie; Bekker, James F.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Engineering. Dept. of Industrial Engineering.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The demand in air travel is continuously increasing. In order to handle this increase in demand, airports need to physically expand or the management of the airports needs to improve. When the demand at OR Tambo International Airport gets too high, more passengers will need to travel to Lanseria International Airport, which will therefore need to be expanded. The study was done in collaboration with Virtual Consulting Engineers, who decided that the concept of Atlanta International Airport in Georgia, USA, which is ranked the busiest airport in the world, will be used in this expansion. The aim of the study was to minimise passenger walking distances and waiting times at Lanseria International Airport. This was done by comparing di erent airport apron layouts, using simulation, and improving the aircraft gate assignment, using the cross-entropy method. Four di erent designs of airport layouts, all based on that of Atlanta International Airport, were compared in the study. A model of each was developed using simulation. The performance measures used to compare the designs included 1) the average walking distance of arriving and departing passengers at the airport, 2) the average time spent at the airport by arriving and departing passengers, 3) the average distance travelled by aircraft at the airport, 4) the average time by which each aircraft is delayed and 5) the average number of aircraft present at the airport. The walking distance of arriving and departing passengers was largely a ected by the way in which ights were assigned to gates. The gates at the airport are of three di erent sizes: small, medium and large. Small aircraft can park at any of the gates, while medium aircraft can only park at medium or large gates and large aircraft can only park at large gates. Three rules for the ight-to-gate assignment process were developed. In the rst two rules an arriving ight was assigned to the available, suitable gate closest to the terminal building. The constraint that small aircraft cannot be assigned to medium or large gates if there are small gates available and that medium aircraft cannot be assigned to large gates if there are medium gates available, was used in Rule 1 and not in Rule 2. In the third rule, metaheuristic optimisation was used to determine a ight-to-gate assignment schedule with the objective of minimising the passenger walking distances. This metaheuristic optimisation was performed in real-time and was thus repeated every time a delay occurred at the airport. The background of airports, simulation, metaheuristics and relevant case studies were investigated in the literature review. The simulation and metaheuristic optimisation models were then developed. The results identi ed the best of the four designs that were compared. It was also concluded that the use of metaheuristic optimisation, using the cross-entropy method, results in a reduction in passenger walking distances at the airport.