Analysis of airport check-in counter allocation policies using simulation

Abstract

This study tackles the check-in counter allocation problem of Ataturk International Airport. Check-in process is required for all passengers and has to be completed 30 minutes before the flight time. Resources of this operation are check-in counters which are allocated to airline firms. This study analyses two different check-in counter allocation policies. The first policy allocates a fixed number of counters for a fixed duration of time to each flight. Second policy is the dynamic allocation policy-which allows airline firms to rent new counters or release counters dynamically by considering the time left until flight and the number of passengers that have not checked in yet. We used simulation to analyze the effects of these policies on passenger waiting times and counter utilizations. Results showed that dynamic policy reduce the waiting times by using counters in a more efficient way.