Benefits Derived from Arrival Management and Wake Turbulence Re-Categorization in China

Abstract

Air traffic administration requires evidence when promoting new technology or a new concept of operation. Therefore, when decision support tools are applied, it is necessary to analyze the costs and benefits quantitatively. This paper focuses on the evaluation of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) correlated with the improvement of arrival operations after the implementation of the Arrival Management (AMAN) system and Wake Turbulence Re-categorization in China (RECAT-CN). Firstly, we give an overview of the implementation of the AMAN system and RECAT in China. Secondly, the KPIs related to the arrival operation are established according to the characteristics of AMAN and RECAT-CN, based on the existing KPI systems in the field of Air Traffic Management (ATM). The proposed KPIs are: airport acceptance rate; final approach interval; flight time within the terminal area (TMA); and taxi-in time. Thirdly, arrival operation within the TMA around Guangzhou International Airport is used as an example to carry out the quantitative analysis. The region and time range were defined for the performance comparison, and external factors were also examined. Finally, using descriptive and inferential statistics, the proposed KPIs’ comparison results are presented and visualized. Such results indicate a significant improvement in arrival operation with the AMAN system and RECAT-CN at Guangzhou International Airport.