Reducing uncertainty in air traffic flow management is crucial for maintaining safety and efficiency in modern aviation. In particular, forecasting Actual Take-Off Times (ATOT) for flights across Europe is challenging due to the diverse flight-specific variables and operational conditions. Additionally, to help operations, this prediction must be done well in advance in order to prevent future traffic densities from being higher than the airspace capacity. However, recent studies often make predictions on shorter horizons and do not consider the effect of knock-on delays. This study covers this gap, by focusing on larger prediction horizons and different types of delay. We enhance ATOT prediction for flights arriving at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport from European out-stations by leveraging machine learning techniques, specifically a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) neural network, augmented with a Multihead Attention mechanism. A model capable of capturing complex temporal dependencies and operational factors influencing the ATOT is developed utilizing data from Electronic Flight Data messages, weather reports and a EUROCONTROL dataset. The model’s performance is evaluated against traditional ensemble methods and the current Decision Support Tool (DST) system used by Luchtverkeersleiding Nederland (LVNL). Results indicate that the LSTM model outperforms existing models including a reproduction of the DST, achieving a Mean Absolute Error of 12.05 minutes at a forecast horizon of 4 hours, demonstrating significant improvements. Finally, this assessment underscores the importance of factors such as the knock-on effect in delay prediction can significantly enhance demand forecasting, leading to more efficient air traffic management and reduced delays.

On final approach, an approach controller is responsible for separating aircraft lining up on the instrument landing system. In an attempt to increase traffic throughput, especially in strong headwind conditions, European regulation advises all European airports to move from distance-based to time-based separation. This effectively changes the controller’s task from a distance-based to a time-based problem. Further complications arise because of the European recategorization of aircraft types initiative, and experts fear that the gains foreseen with time-based separation will not be realized. This paper presents a visual tool integrated into the radar screen to assist controllers in performing time-based separation, the ideal turn-in point (ITIP) display. To assist controllers in selecting optimal approach strategies, starting from the moment aircraft enter the terminal control area, the display shows the possibilities and restrictions in the system rather than giving (restricting) advisories. A proof-of-concept experiment was performed with people knowledgeable in air traffic control (N = 8) and compared the ITIP to a current industry state-of-the-art display designed by U.K.’s National Air Traffic Services in scenarios of varying difficulty. Results show that with the ITIP tool, efficiency improved with similar or higher levels of safety and similar or lower workload. These promising results justify testing the interface with professional air traffic controllers. Future work aims at reducing clutter, increasing simulation fidelity, and increasing the level of support in complex traffic situations.