Transit time based sector capacity evaluation

Sector capacity is a fundamental parameter for undertaking air traffic operation management. This paper proceeds from observation of actual ATC (Air Traffic Control) operation in China, analyses the existing large amounts of data resource, references the current methods for sector capacity evaluation, and discusses sector capacity calculating methods by analyzing sector traffic flow patterns. At last, the results illustrate the effectiveness of the method. This method is a potential key technology supporting performance based operation of the new-generation ATM (Air Traffic Management) system.