This study presents a procedure for the spatial-temporal clustering and optimization of aircraft descent and approach trajectories. First, the spatial-temporal similarity between two trajectories is defined. Clustering analysis are conducted to identify the prevailing trajectories. The clustering centers obtained based on spatial-temporal distance are compared with those obtained based on the traditional Euclidean distance. Second, a multi-objective optimization model is established to minimize fuel consumption, aircraft emission and noise impact considering flight constraints. The Pareto solution that has the highest similarity with the prevailing trajectories is selected as the final optimized trajectory. The performance indicators of the optimized trajectory are compared with the average values of historic trajectories. It is found that travel time, fuel consumption and noise impact for the optimized trajectory are reduced by 5.34%, 0.96% and 11.86%, respectively. The percentages are 0.96%, 1.32%, 9.18%, 3.54% and 4.00% for CO 2 , SO x , NO x , CO and HC, respectively. Also, the performance indicators for the two clustering centers based on spatial-temporal distance are generally closer to average performance of original trajectories, as well as those of the optimized trajectories, as compared with the two clustering centers based on Euclidean distance. The spatial-temporal clustering methods may help to discover the valuable information that lies in those indicators associated with features reflected in time dimension.