This paper describes a solution approach to the Aircraft Weight and Balance
Problem (AWBP). It involves maximising the total cargo prot and minimising
the dierence between the Centre of Gravity (CG) of the loaded aircraft and
its optimal value in the longitudinal as well as in the lateral direction. Loading
cargo is not only an issue of cargo
ights but it also strongly aects passenger
ights. In fact, it is one of the major revenue sources of airline companies and
obviously the core business of cargo carriers. The AWBP can be modelled as
a combinatorial optimisation problem. From a set of available cargo units, the
most protable selection has to be loaded into the aircraft while satisfying a
large number of safety constraints.