Enhanced Operational Management of Airport Ground Support Equipment for Better Aircraft Turnaround Performance

Within the context of airport operations, this work focuses on enhancing the planning and real-time allocation of certain resources that are used to turn around an aircraft between two consecutive flights. This sort of operations takes place in the area of an airport that is called its apron. At peak times in particular, and when resource capacity is really tight, apron operations tend to be affected by either unavailability or late arrival of certain assets at the stand. The key element of this paper is the proposal of a new resource booking system, which operates in real-time, and deals with the related uncertainties. The booking mechanism aims to allow the airlines to book in advance certain resources, in particular ground support equipment. Our choice of a real case study will help us to assess the likely benefits, pros and cons of this system.