Terminal area capacity model-A problem concerning air traffic controller workload

The ultimate capacity of air traffic control sectors can be expressed by a maximum number of aircraft which can be controlled in a given time unit under the conditions of constant demand for service. The paper presents a model of ultimate capacity of the terminal area representing a sector of air traffic control. Only arriving traffic is considered. The model is based upon a workload quantification of air traffic controller performing their activities in connection with the control of arriving aircraft. It uses the following input data: distributions of arriving traffic between terminal entry gates, traffic mix at each entry gate, average time of flights of aircraft arriving from each entry gate to the final approach gate, distributions of estimates of weights of particular control activities over aircraft arriving in the terminal area, obtained by air traffic controller interviews, and average time of each control activity duration. The outputs from the model are: air traffic controller workload depending upon arriving traffic flow intensity expressed in seconds of a control activity performed within a given time unit and an average number of arriving aircraft which are to be found in the terminal area simultaneously.