A Case Study of Arrival and Departure Managers Cooperation for Reducing Airborne Holding times at Destination Airports

Congestion of flights arriving at terminal areas invariably leads to aircraft having to extend their flying time, which often results in the need to orbit at a holding point as aircraft are sequenced to land. This extended flying time can be significantly reduced by the implementation of the delay-on-ground concept, where aircraft flying short sectors are delayed in their departure from the respective airport, thus reducing the amount of congestion at the destination point. This paper analysis the impact, in terms of reduced flying time, fuel burn and carbon emissions, that can be achieved at Oslo-Gardemoen airport if the present flights that have a flying time of 1 hour or less are delayed on the ground at their departure point. The impact such a concept would have if traffic densities of 15% and 30% above current levels were to be experienced is also considered.