FAA Releases Airport Capacity Simulation Program

The FAA is making its runwaySimulator airport capacity program publicly available for aviation applications, such as airport planning. It has used the runwaySimulator program in recent years for its own airport capacity measurement purposes. Developed by Mitre, the program assesses existing capacity along with improvements that could increase capacity, such as new infrastructure or flight procedures.

The program simulates arriving and departing traffic at an airport, along with runway assignment, sequencing and flight operations. It generates a traffic sample, including a mix of aircraft types, that keeps pressure on the airport. It can simulate constant demand, with steady traffic flow for several hundred hours, to estimate capacity. RunwaySimulator does not measure non-runway constraints or limitations elsewhere in the National Airspace System.