COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR ASSESSMENT OF AIR CORRIDOR INSTALLATION INTO JAPANESE AIRSPACE

Abstract

 An air corridor is a kind of airspace concept where only the aircraft capable of self-separation can operate. Its installation is expected to increase the traffic capacity of the whole airspace, and aircraft flying inside it can reduce their fuel consumption and flight time. In contrast, aircraft flying outside it inevitably consume extra fuel and time in order to avoid the corridor airspace. In this study, the cost-benefit analysis is performed in order to clarify the feasibility and condition that the air corridor installation becomes beneficial. The operational cost increase of the flights outside the air corridor is analyzed as the difference between operational costs of the current trajectories and those of the trajectories modified to avoid the corridor airspace. The reduction of the operational cost by flying along the optimum trajectories inside the air corridor is also analyzed. Through an example analysis on the air corridor installation into the air traffic route from Fukuoka to Tokyo, the heaviest traffic in Japan, it has been found that even a small number of flights operated inside the air corridor can achieve the operational cost reduction larger than its increase per day.