Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Singapore University of Technology and Design

Optimization of Airside Operations from Runway to Gate and Gate to Runway

Research Problem

Aircraft do not operate independently once they land. From runway exit to the gate, and later from gate departure to the runway, aircraft movements interact with stands, taxiways, towing operations, ground vehicles, and other airport resources.

These operations are tightly coupled. Delays in stand availability or aircraft towing can propagate to taxi-out queues and runway demand, while arrival uncertainty can disrupt gate occupancy and ground-resource plans.

As airports become busier and ground operations increasingly incorporate automation, decision-support tools are needed to coordinate aircraft movements and resources across the entire airside system.

Contributions

Our research develops optimization and simulation methods for coordinated airport surface operations, connecting aircraft movement, towing, stands, and ground resources.

Key contributions include:

  • Optimization models for aircraft towing allocation, scheduling, and routing
  • Models that account for tug availability, crews, equipment compatibility, operational deadlines, and airport-surface routing constraints
  • Rolling and event-driven re-optimization methods that can update plans as operational conditions change
  • System-level modeling of interactions between gates, remote stands, taxiways, and runway demand
  • Integration of optimization algorithms with simulation and digital-twin capabilities for evaluating alternative operational concepts
  • Development of analytical foundations for future automated and mixed-autonomy airport ground operations

Research Funding

  • National Research Foundation Singapore
    Total Environment for Next-Gen Airport Management Experimentation Platform (TEN-X)
    Overall Project Award: SGD 6,920,853
    SUTD Work Package: SGD 1,158,307

  • Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore
    Airfield and Airspace Management
    Total Award: SGD 720,000

Research Collaboration

This research is being developed through TEN-X in collaboration with A*STAR, the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), Changi Airport Group (CAG), SATS, and SIA Engineering Company (SIAEC).