Description

Sector capacity is a metric that shows how much traffic can be safety handled by an ATC unit (or sector thereof).

Note: This article does not explain aerodrome and runway capacities although one of the methods described can be used for this purpose as well.

There are three main methods to describe a sector's capacity:

• Entry counts.
• Frequency occupancy.
• Controller workload.

Regardless of the method in use, the main principles of capacity management are:

• If the traffic forecast exceeds the capacity, then either another sector should be open or traffic restrictions need to be applied.
• If the traffic forecast shows that much more traffic can be handled, then excessive sectors need to be closed and restrictions need to be eased.

Improper capacity determination can lead to two different scenarios: