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The overall European Air Traffic Management aims for an efficient utilisation of ATM sub-systems like the European Air Traffic Management Network. Highly congested hub airports and controlled airspaces may lead to Demand-Capacity-Balancing issues during high demand periods. Air Traffic Flow Management as one of the European ATM domains resolves these issues with certain capacity balancing measures. Besides slot allocation, one frequently used measure is (lateral) re-routing, which often leads to less efficient trajectories resulting in additional CO2-emissions and costs for airspace users. Recent research suggests that the share of inefficient short-term re-routing measures could be reduced by high-quality predictions of future flight trajectories through Machine Learning methods. One essential requirement for the development of ML models is the optimal choice of input parameters. In this study, a structured analysis of an extensive set of flight plan data is conducted in order to identify key operational parameters for ATFM routing decisions. An extensive flight plan data sample covering three months in 2016 is parametrised and analysed to gather a sufficient data baseline. A set of representative Origin-Destination pairs with high demand rates are investigated in more detail. Results show that flights approaching large hub-airports have a higher chance of being re-routed resulting in a less efficient trajectory in terms of lateral ATS-efficiency. The parameters with the highest relevance on ATFM routing decisions were found to be lateral ATS-efficiency, demand along the individual sector profile as well as the weekday of departure for planned trajectories.

Approximately two third of aviation’s climate impact is caused by non-CO2 effects, like the production of ozone and the formation of contrail-cirrus clouds, which can be effectively prevented by re-routing flights around highly climate-sensitive areas. Although climate-optimized re-routing results in slightly longer flight times, increased fuel consumption and higher operating costs, it is up to 60% more climate-friendly. However, if mitigation efforts are associated with a direct increase in costs, this immediately raises the question of the willingness of primarily profit-oriented airlines to act in a more climate-friendly manner and the passengers´ willingness to pay for environmental protection. In order to create an incentive for climate-optimized flying, a climate charge is imposed on airlines when operating in these areas. If climate-charged airspaces (CCAs) are (partly) bypassed, both climate impact and operating costs of a flight can be reduced: a more climate-friendly routing becomes economically attractive (explanation video). By implementing the precautionary and polluter-pays principles of environmental economics, the concept introduces key requirements of a sustainable development into the field of aviation. The proposed extension of the accounting system clearly reduces the discrepancy between the marginal costs estimated by the airlines and the consequential costs for society. Accordingly, this resolves the trade-off between economic viability and environmental compatibility and creates a financial incentive for climate mitigation. The feasibility of this concept is demonstrated on a small route network in the North Atlantic flight corridor (NAFC). If flights are completely re-routed around altered CCAs, on average more than 90 % of the mitigation potential of climate-optimized flying is achieved.

Within this study, a method is proposed that allows an effective fuel planning for a follower aircraft in aerodynamic formation flight missions. The special characteristic of such formation missions in the context of fuel planning is the uncertainty of the successful formation execution. The required trip fuel of the follower, therefore, strongly depends on the unknown factor of the formation success. The proposed method aims at minimizing costs due to carrying excess fuel and balancing the expected benefits with potential costs that might result from a refueling stop. For a set of 14 atmospheric days of the year 2012, the fuel planning by the proposed method is applied. It is shown, that an accurate fuel planning can help saving major amounts of fuel and money additionally to the formation benefits itself.

Air traffic is an important part of our mobility with an increasing rate in transport volume of around 5% per year. Air traffic also contributes to anthropogenic warming by around 5%. Here we present a climate impact assessment tool AirClim and give an overview on the recent technology assessments. Finally, we present a best practice for a robust climate impact assessment, which combines a comprehensive four-layer approach to model the air traffic system with AirClim and includes aspects of atmospheric uncertainties, sensitivities, and verification procedures.

In this paper, the suitability of using additive manufacturing to fabricate aircraft test model components for use in wind tunnel testing will be reported. The purpose is to investigate the aerodynamic performance of a joined-wing aircraft model under subsonic flow conditions. The resulting test model wings are both complex and thin, and hence significant challenges surround the use of conventional machining due to vibrations from the cutting tools and non-trivial wing thinness. In contrast, additive manufacturing technique was able to overcome these fabrication issues, with a faster turnaround time, less material wastage and ease of design. However, surface finishing and cost issues associated with the additive manufactured components were observed during the study. In particular, significant deflections of the additive manufactured component were observed during testing, which could have explained discrepancies found between the experimental and numerical simulation results. Nonetheless, possible ways to correct these discrepancies will be described and discussed here. Published version

During the early stages of aircraft design, limited information is available to conduct decisions that base on the quality of aircraft configurations. In the present study, information on physical and statistical models is supplemented by the uncertainty that is inherent to the applied analysis modules and propagated through the complete design workflow. Using this method, the possibility arises to make a statement on the level of certainty with which one concept is preferred above another.

The revenue space of an aircraft consists of the passenger cabin and the cargo hold. In case of passenger aircraft, the most important parameter is the cabin floor area. It correlates directly with the possible number of passengers. Blended Wing Body concepts do not have a tubular fuselage. The cabin can be arranged in different layouts within the aerodynamic shape. This paper analyses different concepts for passenger cabin and cargo hold arrangements, and investigates their potential benefit. Conceptual methods are used to estimate the mass of the pressurized vessel. Three different aerodynamic shapes are being investigated. The basic conclusion is that BWBs are a useful alternative beyond the capacity of current aircraft. Further, a twin deck arrangement appears as most promising solution to maximize revenue potential of the aircraft.