The extension of the current urban transportation system utilising the third dimension by air taxi (AT) operations represents a potential solution for the congestion of metropolitan areas. A major asset for AT operations is the connection to existing airports enabling the access to multiple other transportation systems. This paper develops an analytical model for AT operations and their capacity impact on airports, exemplary for Hamburg airport. The model is developed, based on the results of a fast time simulation (FTS) considering multiple aspects, such as vehicle configuration and touchdown and lift-off areas (TLOF). Collectively, three integration methods were analysed, each of them impacting the conventional air traffic differently. The results show that an integration using the runway-system is not possible with five ATs per hour. Further methods allow an integration of up to 20 air taxis per hour. Additionally, an energy consumption analysis of the ATs is conducted. Finally, proposals are given for integrating ATs at an airport and further strategies to extend the analytical model. Through this work, a model to calculate and predict an AT’s influence on the airside capacity of an airport is designed. This is an important step for the practical implementation of AT operations at airports.

Increasing demand for drones or remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS) and their applications, e.g. monitoring of infrastructure or transport of goods, likewise demands for a structured integration into the existing airspace used by conventional traffic. Integration and management of smaller drones in lower airspace is investigated by U-space, the initiative of SESAR Joint Undertaking to ensure safe and secure integration of drones in Europe [1]. The non-segregated integration of RPAS traffic into the existing Air Traffic Management structure, especially at and around airports, is still an open task, which is investigated by the INVIRCAT project. The project aims at developing a concept of operations for RPAS in terminal manoeuvring areas and airports under instrument flight rules. Furthermore, the project assesses this concept through real-time simulations, and drafts a set of requirements and recommendations for rule-makers and standardization bodies.One part of the simulation activities of INVIRCAT has been performed at DLR premises in November 2021. The simulation at DLR focused on the arrival of instrument flights at an international airport, in this case Düsseldorf airport (EDDL). A baseline traffic scenario has been constructed based on recorded traffic at EDDL from 2019, with approximately 35 arrival movements per hour, combining unmanned and conventional aircraft. Up to three selected aircraft have then been replaced by remotely piloted aircraft systems, and RPAS-specific scenario events have been injected, such as data communication loss or high latency on the data communication link. This yielded a total of eight scenarios available for simulation purpose.

Growing political pressure and widespread social concerns about climate change are triggering a paradigm shift in the aviation sector. Projects with the target of reducing aviation’s CO2 emissions and their impact on climate change are being launched to improve currently used procedures. In this paper, a new coordination process between aircraft flight management systems (FMSs) and an arrival manager (AMAN) was investigated to enable fuel-efficient and more sustainable approaches. This coordination posed two major challenges. Firstly, current capacity-centred AMANs’ planning processes are not optimised towards fuel-efficient trajectories. To investigate the benefit of negotiated trajectories with fixed target times for waypoints and thresholds, the terminal manoeuvring area was redesigned for an independent parallel runway system. Secondly, the FMS-AMAN negotiation process plan the trajectories based on time, whereas air traffic controllers guide traffic based on distance. Three tactical assisting tools were implemented in an air traffic controller’s working position to enable a smooth transition from distance-based to time-based coordination and guidance. The whole concept was implemented and tested in real-time human-in-the-loop studies at DLR’s Air Traffic Validation Center. Results showed that the new airspace design and concept was feasible, and a reduction in flown distance was measured.

Dynamic sectorization is a powerful possibility to balance the controller workload with respect to traffic flows changing over time. A multi-objective optimization system analyzes the traffic flow over time and determines suitable time-dependent sectorizations. Our dynamic sectorization system is integrated into a radar display as part of a working environment for air traffic controllers. A use case defining climate-sensitive areas leads to changes in traffic flows. When using the system, three controllers are assessed in two scenarios: the developed controller assistance system and the work in a dynamic airspace sectorization environment. We performed a concept validation in which we evaluated how controllers cope with sectors adapting to the traffic flow. The solution was rated as highly applicable by the involved controllers. The trials revealed the necessity to adapt the current procedures and define new aspects more precisely. In this paper, we present the developed environment and the theoretical background as well as the traffic scenarios. Furthermore, we describe the integration in an Air Traffic Management (ATM) environment and the questionnaires developed to assess the functionality of the dynamic sectorization approach. Finally, we present a proposal to enhance controller guidelines in order to cope with situations emerging from dynamic sectorizations, including naming conventions and phraseology.