Hotspot Capacity-Driven Scheduling Strategies for Reducing Airborne Delays in TMAs

This paper investigates the reduction of airborne delays in Terminal Maneuvering Areas (TMAs) through departure time adjustments based on hotspot levels at origin airports. While existing studies primarily focus on reducing airborne delays to support environmentally sustainable airport operations, this research proposes shifting such delays to the ground within the predefined capacity limits of critical areas (hotspots) at destination airports. Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport (LTFJ), its associated TMA routes and Point Merge System (PMS) were selected as the case study. Four virtual origin airports were defined for analysis. The proposed model represents hotspot locations (gates, taxiways, and runway holding positions) as virtual nodes with predefined congestion levels (low, medium, and high). The problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear programming model and solved using the CPLEX solver. The model achieves computational efficiency within reasonable solution times. Under the implementability bound in Eq. (31), the model reduces average airborne delay from 1552 s to 931.2 s and it corresponds to a 40 percent reduction within the prescribed acceptability band. Overall, the findings demonstrate that the proposed methods align with existing literature by enhancing delay management through realistic modeling at hotspot points. © 2026 Czech Technical University in Prague.