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A New Approach for Air Cargo Network Planning

Department of Information Systems and Operations Research (WINFORS), University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1,50969 Köln, Germany
Department of Information Systems and Operations Research (WINFORS), University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1,50969 Köln, Germany
Department of Information Systems and Operations Research (WINFORS), University of Cologne, Pohligstr. 1,50969 Köln, Germany
derigs{at}informatik.uni-koeln.de
stefan.friederichs{at}uni-koeln.de
simon.schaefer{at}uni-koeln.de

A central element of the air cargo planning process is the generation of optimal flight schedules. A flight schedule simultaneously defines the market potential of an airline and allocates its resources. The schedule design process is a difficult and time-consuming task that involves and affects virtually all business units. Because of its complexity, the process is traditionally decomposed into several steps that are executed in a sequential manner. In this paper, we present novel model formulations and solution procedures which have been developed in the course of a feasibility study for a decision support system (DSS) for a pragmatic approach to "freighter network planning" at one of the top international cargo carriers. We formulate two integrated models that combine the three planning steps: flight selection, aircraft rotation planning, and cargo routing. The aim of the schedule optimization is to maximize the network-wide profit by determining the best combination from a list of mandatory and optional flights, assigning the selected flights to aircrafts and identifying optimal cargo flows. Both model formulations are embedded in a solution procedure that builds on the column generation technique with shortest path algorithms for solving the subproblems. The applicability of the models in a DSS is demonstrated on realistic problem instances that match the requirements specified in the feasibility study.

Key Words: air cargo transportation; schedule and rotation planning; cargo routing
History: Received: October 2008; revised: February 2009; accepted: April 2009.