Cellular automata for the investigation of navigation dynamics and aircraft mix in terminal arrival traffic

Investigating the impact of traffic mix and route flexibility on the arrival traffic dynamic within the terminal maneuvering area (TMA) is challenging, mainly due to the spatial constraints and wake turbulent separation requirements. In this study, we capture the dynamism of complex interactions and non-linearity in traffic by using a cellular automaton that is modified to enable more realistic representation of air traffic movements. Our results show that route flexibility makes traffic less sensitive to changes caused by size-based traffic mix and demonstrate the emergence of an organized flow zone in the fundamental diagram of the flexible strategies. When a gentle TMA saturation behavior is preferred, however, less flexible routes are deemed more suitable. As a general principle, we propose to adopt a mixed strategy that uses a fixed routing strategy at low TMA occupancies and a flexible routing strategy at medium to high TMA occupancies.