A genetic algorithm considering earth curvature to plan a flight route of minimal distance

Abstract

The traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a common combinatorial optimization problem, often solved by nature-inspired algorithms. In this paper, a genetic algorithm (GA) is used to solve a particular TSP for planning a flight roundtrip with the shortest total distance between different airports, while taking into account the curvature of the earth. Test runs are conducted to assess the feasibility of the algorithm and to determine suitable parameter values.