SOFTWARE
EMBRACE THE GROWTH
The latest fast-time simulator can help ATC meet the challenges of future air traic growth
with insight provided by modeling and simulation
Gustavo Mercado and Pier Ferraris, product managers, Airtopsoft ‘a Transoft Solutions company’
Air traffic is bound for continued
growth in the foreseeable future.
Long term growth factors such as
further globalisation in business and an
increase in tourism will outweigh potential
disturbances such as an occasional economic
crisis or terrorist attack.
Last year, Eurocontrol published the fifth
study of the “Challenges of Growth” series of
reports. The reports identify and quantify
the related airport and airspace capacity
challenges for Europe until 2040. The latest
report describes four scenarios of growth
with the moderate “regulation and growth”
scenario as most likely, with traffic in Europe
expected to grow to just over 16 million
flights in 2040 from around 10 million in
2008. Current airport capacity plans are
addressing this growth, and yet they will fall
1.5 million flights short of demand. In
addition to that, the report mentions that a
typical Summer day in 2040 will have 16
airports as congested as Heathrow is now,
pushing the network to its – already stressed
– limits. Climate change will also play a key
role, as the quantification of the
environmental impact of air traffic has
become a recurring topic among regulators
and operators. Albeit the aviation industry
started addressing the need for adaptation,
there is much to be done.
Fast-time simulation
Fast-time simulation is and will continue to
be one of the most cost-effective
technologies for analysing and
communicating airport capacity plans and
airspace redesign. Within a short time and
with minimum staff and equipment
requirements, it enables the modelling and
analysis of airspace and airport
environments, including the work of air
traffic controllers. After calibration, fast-time
simulation models can provide a reliable
evaluation of new solutions and alternative
configurations, allowing airports and Air
Navigation Service Providers (ANSP) to
handle uncertainty.
66 AIR TRAFFIC TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL 2020
AirTOP software
AirTOP is as an advanced worldwideaccepted
airspace and airport fast-time
simulation tool that helps airport operators,
ANSPs, airlines and other aviation actors to
measure operation performances, assess
traffic complexities, estimate air traffic
controller workload, and evaluate future
scenarios. The modular nature of the
software allows organisations to select the
module configuration that best fits their
needs and extend this configuration as the
circumstances require. These modules are
split into two functional areas; airspace and
airside. The available airspace modules are
called “En-Route”, “Flow Management”, and
TMA/TRACON, whereas airport operations
are simulated with the “Airside Aircraft” and
“Airside Vehicle” modules. An additional
module called “Runway Capacity Analyzer”
targets the runway performances adopting a
Monte Carlo simulation approach. An
extensive list of users worldwide has been
able to experience that the simulations