Boeing

Auckland International Airport (AKL) has purchased an air traffic software scheduling system from The Preston Group (TPG). AKL is the largest of the three major New Zealand airports, with a throughput of 7.5 million passengers in 1999. TPG is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Boeing Company.

The system, Terminal Management System (TMS), will be used by the airport and by domestic and regional carriers to allocate flights to both aero bridge and remote parking positions. TMS Stand and Gate modules will assist AKL in scheduling Stand and Gate Allocation across the airport. Air traffic controllers will also be provided with timely gate allocation information to assist them in managing airplane ground movements.

TMS is a sophisticated real-time Resource Allocation System that optimizes the scheduling and management of airport infrastructure resources in the terminal and apron areas. The system comprises:

• An Operational System - with a range of modules including Stand, Gate, Check-In, Baggage, and Webview
• A Planning System - to assist short- and long-term planning of these resources
• TMS Portal - to interface TMS with other management information systems, such as Flight Information Display Systems (FIDS)

TPG has invested 18 months in developing a scalable TMS. TMS can now achieve an ideal fit with any size airport or airline. The system has more modules, and enhanced user-friendliness. The software operates on Intel- and Sun-supported platforms.

The Preston Group