Due to the nature of KLM being a hub and spoke carrier, a lot of importance is placed on connecting passengers at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Because of this, KLM operates using closely placed together bunches of arrivals and departures, such that transfer times are manageable for passengers. With an increasing amount of traffic, this often poses problems as the amount of traffic exceeds the available capacity at the airport, which leads to delays and missed transfers. In prior research, possibilities have been identified to implement inbound priority sequencing (IPS), which takes into account factors such as the potential for missed transfers. Using the priority of individual aircraft, IPS gives in-flight course corrections such that the aircraft are based on priority at the start of the approach. To make this viable, accurate predictions are required for the arrival times at the start of the approach, which have thus far been too inaccurate. To do this, the most accurate source of data for estimated landing times has to be identified, which then has to be used to obtain an estimated time at the start of the approach. For any inbound flight, this estimated time should be calculated early in the flight and be updated at least every hour until it arrives at the approach.
Graduated: July 2024