—This paper proposes a method to synchronize traffic flow optimization and sector opening scheduling, with the aim of achieving flexible demand and capacity balancing (DCB). Delay assignment, trajectory options and sector collapsing are used to manage the traffic demand, while sector opening schemes are to affect the airspace capacity. Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model is built to incorporate these initiatives. Three model variants are presented to illustrate the synchronization process, and their results in a real-world case study demonstrate some promising improvements for the DCB performances. Index Terms—air traffic flow management, trajectory options, dynamic sectorization, demand and capacity balancing

This paper was partially funded by grants from the CSC No 201506830050 and by the SESAR Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 699338.