A 4D-sequencing approach for air traffic management

•We propose a 4D-sequencing of aircraft on structured lattices and orthodromic routes.•We provide a structural characterization of systems admitting a high density solution.•The efficiency of our approach is assessed through numerical experiments.•We work on real data sets depicting a full day of traffic over the whole European sky.

The current air traffic system is forecasted to face strong challenges due to the continuous increase in air traffic demand. Hence, there is a need for new types of organization permitting a more efficient air traffic management, with both a high capacity and a high level of safety, and possibly with a reduced environmental impact. In this article, we study a holistic approach, consisting in designing across Europe a very organized air traffic system, as opposed to free flight, to reduce costs while maintaining safety.Our work is based on the moving point paradigm, initially presented in Prot et al. (2010). We give theoretical background to design conflict-free routes with high capacity and propose, based on these results, the allocation of aircraft to a new system of air routes, that include both lattices and orthodromic routes. The efficiency of the approach is assessed through simulations based on real data sets representing a full day of traffic over the whole European sky. The numerical results demonstrates a drastic reduction of the conflicts rate compared to the actual commercial routes, with a very limited fuel overconsumption.