Operational Procedures to Increase Runway Capacity

Current procedures for air traffic require that certain distance separations be maintained between aircraft operations on the same runway. The capacity of the runway is inversely proportional to the time headway between operations. With a fixed distance separation this headway can be reduced by increasing the speed of aircraft. However, increased speeds will invariably result in increased runway occupancy times, and consequently, a reduction in capacity. Therefore, the attempt to match aircraft headways with runway occupancy times might prove to be a useful way of increasing capacity. The implications are that aircraft separations should be based on time headway rather than distance. Aircraft speeds and distance separations could be adjusted to achieve desired headways. The operational implications, and some technological suggestions, are presented in this paper. The safety implications of these types of procedures are identified as a subject that needs further research.