Impact of Aviation Electrification on Airports: Flight Scheduling and Charging

TL;DR

This paper analyzes how electrification of aircraft impacts airport energy demands and proposes optimized scheduling and charging strategies to mitigate infrastructure upgrades, demonstrated through a JFK case study.

Contribution

It quantifies increased energy demands due to hybrid electric aircraft and introduces an optimization model for flight scheduling and charging to reduce peak power needs.

Findings

Smart charging reduces peak power demands significantly.

Optimized scheduling can manage airport congestion effectively.

Electrification increases airport energy requirements but can be mitigated with proper planning.

Abstract

Electrification can help to reduce the carbon footprint of aviation. The transition away from jet fuel-powered conventional airplane towards battery-powered electrified aircraft will impose extra charging requirements on airports. In this paper, we first quantify the increase in energy demands at several airports across the United States (US), when commercial airline carriers partially deploy hybrid electric aircraft (HEA). We then illustrate that smart charging and minor modifications to flight schedules can substantially reduce peak power demands, and in turn the needs for grid infrastructure upgrade. Motivated by our data analysis, we then formulate an optimization problem for slot allocation that incorporates HEA charging considerations. This problem jointly decides flight schedules and charging profiles to manage airport congestion and peak power demands. We illustrate the efficacy of our formulation through a case study on the John F. Kennedy International Airport.