A roadmap toward airport demand and capacity management

This paper synthesizes the major interventions available to manage airport demand and capacity, the analytical tools that may support the underlying policy, managerial and operational decisions, and guidelines for policy and practice obtained from recent research. The resulting insights fall into three broad categories. First, airport throughput exhibits significant variability, and airport capacity depends on the available infrastructure and operating procedures. Second, airport on-time performance is highly non-linear, and thus sensitive to variations in demand and capacity. Third, airport demand management involves a trade-off between mitigating congestion and maximizing capacity utilization, and scheduling mechanisms can support and enhance existing practices. The implications for the development and management of airport systems worldwide are discussed.