Optimal Aircraft Stands Assignment for Close Proximity Parking Demands

Major events like COVID-19 can lead to a sudden decline in passenger demand for airlines globally, resulting in the grounding of aircraft by carriers worldwide. To ensure ample parking space, carriers have implemented a close proximity parking strategy for aircraft, ensuring efficient use of available space. When multiple aircraft can park in a single space, inadequate planning may lead to various blockages. This not only raises airline costs but also reduces the operational efficiency of the airport. At present, the problem of assigning airplanes to airplanes in such a close proximity parking situation is planned manually, which is inefficient and may not be the optimal solution for the system. In this study, we employed time-space network flow techniques and mathematical programming to develop an optimal stand assignment model from the perspective of a planner. Then, based on the real flight data of Taoyuan International Airport, we conducted a case study and different scenarios. The results show that the proposed model is an effective auxiliary tool to assist the planners in optimizing the aircraft stand assignments under a close proximity parking strategy.