Air cargo load and route planning in pickup and delivery operations: instances data and algorithms.

We model and solve the problem of planning the loading and routing of an aircraft according to a utility score, weight and balance principles, fuel consumption, and cost increases due to centre of gravity displacement in a tour of simultaneous pickup and delivery.

This is necessary because in the aerial pickup and delivery of goods, transport aviation faces risks of cargo unbalancing and wrong delivery due to the urgency required for loading for mission accomplishment.

It is solved by integer programming and four known meta-heuristics to select the method that most fits the operational requirements.

We also created a heuristic that quickly finds viable solutions for a wide range of problem sizes in much less than the operationally acceptable time.

The output is an essential part of airlift because it guarantees flight safety, makes ground operations more efficient, and makes sure that each item gets to its right destination.