Amadeus awarded for best application of airport operations research

With just 35 of Europe’s 2,000 airports accounting for 50% of all flights (Eurocontrol ), main airports are already congested at peak hours and traffic is set to rise steadily. So just what can airports do to optimise their operations? It starts with optimising aircraft parking positions, ground routing, and flight take off sequences. To this end, the Amadeus Airport IT and Innovation & Research teams partnered to deliver solutions that optimise airport operations and deliver real world value to key stakeholders.

Real world results

Within a few months we were able to develop a prototype solution. We then collaborated with customers such as Munich Airport to refine the solution, as well as our academic partners Grenoble INP, who helped us unify stand allocation and take off sequencing as a single problem. With this ‘dream team’ in place, we were able to synchronise the work of many experts who delivered the winning results.

All of this hard work has translated into real world gains. Munich has reported a 50% reduction in runway wait times, a 22% improvement in flight slot adherence, and a 24% improvement in outbound delays (compared to inbound). According to our estimations, these results could increase annual airport profits by 1% and reduce CO2 emissions at taxi time by 20%.

These great accomplishments in airport operations have earned us the award for ‘Best Professional Application of Operations Research’ (Les Pros de la RO) from the French community of Operational Research (ROADEF ). This prize is very valuable to us because it recognises not only the quality of our research, but also its implementation in the real world.

Have a look at theAmadeus Airport IT page for more information about our solutions and to see what we can do to optimise your airport operations.