Scientists' bid to end misery of air delays

Published on Saturday 5 September 2009 19:54

IT IS what every weary air passenger often longs for in vain – planes that take off and land on time, and baggage waiting for them when they reach the airport terminal.

But new technology being developed by Scottish researchers could make that hope a reality more often by helping to streamline airport operations.

The academics believe it could help keep fares down and even see aircraft landing early.

Computer experts at Strathclyde University in Glasgow have devised a system to work out the best order for aircraft to use runways to minimise delays and fuel use.

They hope it could save time for passengers by cutting aircraft congestion both in the sky and on the ground. This would also be achieved by improving baggage handling efficiency.

Airline punctuality has improved over the last year, partly because flights have been cut due to fewer people travelling during the recession.

However, nearly one in three holiday flights and one in five other flights at Britain's busiest airports still arrive more than 15 minutes late.

Holidaymakers on charter flights at Edinburgh airport were delayed by an average of more than half an hour between January and March – the latest available figures. Only just over half such flights arrived on time.

Air travel growth is also expected to resume when the economy picks up, with Edinburgh airport forecast to nearly triple its passengers from 9 million to 26 million by 2030.

The Strathclyde University system automatically calculates the optimum order for aircraft to use runways and move around airports.

It is based on factors such as the size of each aircraft, its fuel efficiency and the number of passengers and amount of baggage it is carrying.

Aircraft with the poorest fuel efficiency may be allowed to land first to minimise carbon emissions.

On the ground, arrivals would be arranged to avoid baggage handling backlogs.

The system would build on current procedures to maximise efficiency during delays caused by disruption such as poor weather.

These include smaller planes landing one after another rather than being interspersed with larger aircraft such as jumbo jets.

The minimum distance between the largest aircraft and other planes can be as much as six miles – twice as much as between smaller ones.

Dr Andrew Coles, a research fellow at Strathclyde's department of computer and information sciences, who is leading the project, said it took a holistic view of how an airport worked.

He said: "It's a piece of joined-up thinking, taking lots of different factors into account, then boiling them down to provide the most cost-effective operation.

"If we can bring down delays by ten minutes, that would be great.

"Aircraft rarely take off or land on time, and even when they do, they may to have to sit on the ground doing nothing while they wait for a parking stand to become available.

"For example, if a plane from America lands early, as a result of favourable Atlantic winds, it may not be immediately serviced if the airport is busy.

"Efficient scheduling is vital for the best use of airport capacity and keeping landings close to the times when ground support staff expect them."

The next stage of the project is to feed in airline information to calculate how much time and cost savings can be made.

Coles said: "If we can get costs down, that will keep airport charges under control, which is good from both a ticket price and environmental point of view."

He admitted the system would require the co-operation of competing airlines, along with airports, air traffic control and baggage handling firms, to work.

However, he said the cost of operating it could be reduced by details of each flight being fed in automatically.

National Air Traffic Services, which runs air traffic control in the UK, said a similar system – known as airport collaborative decision-making (A-CDM) – was being trialled at Heathrow airport.

A spokesman said: "A-CDM is something we know about and are considering carefully.

"However, before implementation it has to be a joint decision between all the parties involved."

James Fremantle, a spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council, the official passenger watchdog, said: "We welcome attempts to reduce delays as long as it does not affect safety. Even small delays can cause significant inconvenience, particularly with connecting flights."