AODB — Airport Operational Database

AODB — Airport Operational Database

The AODB is the operational spine of a modern airport. Every system that needs to know what is happening at the airport — FIDS, gate management, ground handling coordination, resource planning — consumes data from the AODB.

What the AODB Holds

The AODB maintains: scheduled and actual arrival and departure times (STA, ATA, STD, ATD); stand and gate assignments; check-in counter allocations; aircraft registration and type; airline and handling agent assignments; slot times (TSAT, TOBT, CTOT); passenger and baggage counts as they become available.

System Integrations

The AODB acts as a data broker between: airline PSS/DCS systems (which provide schedule and passenger data), ATC and slot coordination systems (which provide movement and slot data), ground handling systems (which update actual times and resource usage), FIDS (which consumes AODB data for passenger displays), and airport resource management systems.

A-CDM Integration

In airports implementing Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM), the AODB is the shared data platform. Airlines, ground handlers, ATC and the airport operator all feed target times into the AODB, which calculates the Target Start-up Approval Time (TSAT) and distributes it to all stakeholders.

Data Quality Criticality

Because every downstream system depends on AODB data, data quality is critical. A delayed update of an actual off-block time (AOBT) in the AODB cascades through FIDS, ground handling and connecting flight management systems.