Integrated Arrival Solution: Compatible Arrival Sequencing and Trajectory Solution

Extended air traffic congestion within the terminal maneuvering area has resulted in frequent flight delays and degraded arrival efficiency. Accumulated delays increase fuel consumption and traffic guidance workload, thereby posing potential risks to flight safety. To mitigate the impact, modern air traffic management systems combine manual and computer-based solutions in the decision-making process. The manual component, however, is typically less consistent and vulnerable to traffic conditions; this may result in a suboptimal performance that fails to fulfill the targets projected by the computational tools. Thus, an integrated arrival solution is necessary to reduce workload and alleviate delays during peak traffic periods. We propose an integrated arrival solution with the trajectory grafting method, which leverages historical trajectory solutions to synthesize high-fidelity new trajectories that retain embedded features. Without prior information on the arrival entry time, the arrival sequencing solution is trajectory-driven. Using fuel consumption reduction as the main objective, the proposed integrated arrival solution is demonstrated and tested using Hong Kong arrival schedules from 2018. Results show that arrival sequencing can be fully driven by trajectory solutions without pre-sequencing or prior knowledge of future arrival information. Our integrated arrival solution with trajectory grafting can reduce arrival fuel consumption while maintaining safety distances. Compared to the current decoupled processes, the resulting trajectories are more predictable and require less reactive decision-making. To a certain extent, this attempt aligns with the principles of trajectory-based operations and demonstrates the capability and potential of the trajectory grafting method.