A Firefly Algorithm for Bi-Objective Airport Gate Assignment Problem

Abstract

The Airport Gate Assignment Problem (AGAP) is a challenging combinatorial optimization problem that arises in the efficient management of airport operations in daily basis. The task involves assigning arriving and departing aircrafts to appropriate gates within an airport terminal while maintaining safety and security of passengers along with various problem-specific constraints. Efficient gate assignment is of paramount importance for smooth airport operations since it directly affects such crucial factors as passenger flow aircraft turnover time gate utilization and overall airport capacity. The AGAP is rendered increasingly complex with factors such as multiple airlines varying aircraft sizes gate capacities maintenance requirements etc. In real life most hub-and-spoke airports have deals with numerous arriving and departing aircrafts and bridge-equipped gates. Consequently solving the AGAP requires tackling a complex combinatorial optimization task which cannot be solved using traditional optimization methods. In such cases metaheuristic algorithms have emerged as effective tools to address this NP-hard problem. In this study we employ a Firefly Optimization Algorithm to handle the AGAP in a reasonable amount of computational time. Firefly Optimization Algorithm is applied by formulating it as an optimization problem and aims to find an optimal gate assignment solution that maximizes total flight-to-gate assignment utility and minimizes numbers of flights assigned to apron. The algorithm is coded through MATLAB ® 2016 of a personal computer. The results obtained using Firefly Optimization Algorithm is compared to those solutions obtained through IBM ILOG CPLEX 12.0 Optimization Tool. © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.