Queue Formation Augmented with Particle Swarm Optimisation to Improve Waiting Time in Airport Security Screening

Abstract

Airport security screening processes are essential to ensure the safety of both passengers and the aviation industry. Security at airports has improved noticeably in recent years through the utilisation of state-of-the-art technologies and highly trained security officers. However, maintaining a high level of security can be costly to operate and implement. It may also lead to delays for passengers and airlines. This paper proposes a novel queue formation method based on a queueing theory model augmented with a particle swarm optimisation method known as QQT-PSO to improve the average waiting time in airport security areas. Extensive experiments were conducted using real-world datasets collected from Sydney airport. Compared to the existing system, our method significantly reduces the average waiting time and operating cost by 11.89% compared to the one-queue formation.