According to Gustavo Mercado, Senior Product Manager at Transoft Solutions, understanding runway capacity is one of the first and most critical steps in airport planning. Whether you are preparing for growth, addressing regulatory requirements, or optimizing existing operations, the Runway Capacity Analyzer (RCA) is designed to support realistic and credible capacity assessments.
Gustavo brings both product expertise and hands-on consulting experience to the conversation. “I’ve used AirTOP extensively to run fast-time simulations for airports all over the world,” he explains. “I’ve seen firsthand how powerful these tools are for operational planning.”
The RCA uses Monte Carlo simulation to account for uncertainty—whether in occupancy times, fleet mix, or variable use of runway exits. “You can run hundreds of scenarios, and you’ll have all your analysis done quickly,” Gustavo says. “You don’t need days to get meaningful results.”
Unlike traditional methods, RCA enables detailed modeling of complex runway setups, like cross-runway systems or mixed-mode operations. “It’s not as simple as just declaring a number. You need to know: are the runways really the bottleneck, or is it the airspace or gates? RCA helps you isolate that.”
One of the biggest challenges analysts face, according to Gustavo, is balancing throughput with delay. “Controllers can’t just endlessly reorder sequences. That’s why we introduced realistic constraints—so optimization stays within operational boundaries.”
RCA is also regulation-agnostic and can be used worldwide, giving users the flexibility to define separations based on ICAO, FAA, or local procedures.
“This is about rapid prototyping, realistic modeling, and smart decision making,” says Gustavo. “With RCA, you get a clear picture of capacity—and confidence in your conclusions.”
Want to know more?
Discover more about Runway Capacity Analyzers capabilities in this on-demand webinar.