Author(s)

Tan Wei,Sheng Minmin, Wu Qian

Corresponding Author

Tan Wei

ABSTRACT

with the rapid development of the economy, China's air transportation volume has maintained a high growth rate of about 10% per year for nearly ten years. The consequent ever increasing air traffic congestion and flight delays have also made the Authority aware of the importance of air traffic flow management. It is clearly stated in the relevant planning and development report of the Civil Aviation Administration that an air traffic management system with air traffic flow management as the core should be established. Collaborative Trajectory Options Program (CTOP) is a tactical traffic flow management initiative (TMI). Compared to the traditional TMI such as minutes in trail (MIT) or ground delay program (GDP), the aircraft no longer passively receives the Calculated Takeoff Time (CTOT) or delay assignment (DA) given by the Air Traffic Control (ATC). Through the process of Collaborative Decision Making (CDM), airlines can send route preference to the automation system used by ATC. According to the Trajectory Options Set (TOS) submitted by the airlines, the ATC can regulate the overloaded air traffic by allocating ground delay, re-route or both, to each flight in a more reasonable manner. Such choices can effectively improve operational predictability, and are also effective in reducing operating costs and improving passenger experience. This paper describes the core concepts of CTOP and the application practice of this TMI in Sanya Flight Information Region (FIR) of China.

KEYWORDS

FCA, CTOP, AFP, air traffic flow management, traffic management initiatives