Vertiport terminal scheduling and throughput analysis for multiple surface directions

Abstract Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) vehicles are gaining traction in both the delivery drone market and passenger transportation, driving the development of urban air mobility (UAM) systems. UAM seeks to alleviate road congestion in dense urban areas by leveraging urban airspace. To handle UAM traffic, vertiport terminals (vertiminals) play a critical role in supporting VTOL vehicle operations such as take-offs, landings, taxiing, passenger boarding, refuelling or charging and maintenance. Efficient scheduling algorithms are essential to manage these operations and optimise vertiminal throughput while ensuring safety protocols. Unlike fixed-wing aircraft, which rely on runways for take-off and climbing in fixed directions, VTOL vehicles can utilise multiple surface directions for climbing and approach. This flexibility necessitates specialised scheduling methods. We propose a mixed integer linear programme (MILP) formulation to holistically optimise vertiminal operations, including taxiing, climbing (or approach) using multiple directions and turnaround at gates. The proposed MILP reduces delays by up to 50%. Additionally, we derive equations to compute upper bounds of the throughput capacity of vertiminals, considering its core elements: the touchdown and lift-off (TLOF) pad system, taxiway system and gate system. Our results demonstrate that the MILP achieves throughput levels consistent with the theoretical maximum derived from these equations. As a case study, we applied our throughput analysis on a vertiminal topology in the literature and used our MILP to find the optimal configuration. This dual approach, MILP and throughput analysis, allows for comprehensive capacity analysis without requiring simulations while enabling efficient scheduling through the MILP formulation.