Mathematical optimization in enhancing the sustainability of aircraft trajectory: A review

Abstract

Rapid advances in technologies that improve the management of aircraft have provided a new opportunity for practitioners to address key social, environmental and economic impacts resulting from aircraft operations. A problem which has been extensively analyzed in the literature is the aircraft trajectory optimization problem. This is due to its relevance and direct impact on social, environmental and economic factors associated with flight operations. A need therefore exists to review the state-of-the-art literature on sustainable aircraft trajectory planning. This paper proposes a novel classification framework for categorizing research conducted on the sustainable fixed-wing aircraft trajectory mathematical optimization problem. Specifically, the proposed framework addresses the following integral research questions: (1) how is aircraft trajectory optimization modeled in the literature to ensure sustainable operations? (2) Which objective functions are optimized? (3) Which methods are used to solve sustainable trajectory optimization problems?

Keywords:

• Survey
• sustainable aircraft trajectory optimization
• optimal control theory
• sustainable air transport