Characterization of air traffic performance in terminal airspace with point merge at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport

Abstract

Advancing Air Traffic Management with the implementation of novel airspace structures, systems and procedures is crucial to enhancing the economic and environmental performance of aviation. This requires a solid understanding of operational performance through advanced data analysis. In this paper, large-scale historical aircraft tracking data and aeronautical information data are used to characterize the performance of terminal area operations at São Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport (SBGR) after the most recent airspace redesign, known as TMA-SP Neo. A key aspect of the TMA-SP Neo project was redesigning the SBGR arrival procedures with a Point Merge (PM) system, an innovative operational concept for terminal area traffic management. A trajectory classification approach is developed to identify the use of arrival procedures and several performance indicators are proposed to evaluate the actual utilization of the terminal airspace structure with PM and to quantify trajectory efficiency and conformance. The results reveal an uneven distribution of air traffic across arrival gates and types of procedures and a significant utilization of the novel PM structure for delay absorption during the sequencing process. The findings also highlight air traffic control preferences and opportunities for further improvements in delay management.