Optimizing inbound baggage handling at airports

摘要

Since air traffic is increasing regularly it is necessary for airports to make optimum use of available facilities. There is intense competition among airports to keep facilities up to date. It is difficult to expand the baggage claim area due to nonavailability of space in most airports. Reducing waiting at the baggage claim area increases customer appreciation. The inbound baggage handling process starts as soon a flight reaches the parking slot. The unloaded baggage are towed to an infeed station and transferred to the baggage handling system (BHS). Then it is transported to baggage carousals for passenger retrieval. Based on the layout of the system, more than one infeed station can feed one handling system. There are two areas where decisions are made on inbound baggage handling. The first is on the airside where the decision is made on which BHS is to be used. If infeed is delayed then passengers have to wait for longer. If baggage from many flights use the same carousel then congestion will take place. At the airport, experienced planners called dispatchers determine infeed stations and baggage carousels for each flight. Because of the complexity of the problem, it may result in unbalanced usage of the as well as unwanted delays. The whole process depends on arrival times and hence, the problem is dynamic. The dispatchers update the plan throughout the process in irregular intervals. Outdated information and the intuitive approach reduces the quality of assignments. This is the first study to provide a mathematical model for this problem. The solution to the problem is based on an heuristic approach. The objective of the model is to balance the utilization of the BHS and baggage carousel in order to minimize passenger waiting times. The model can be applied to different types of airports. (21 refs.)