I am a professor at Beihang University. Before joining Beihang, I worked for eight years in the German Aerospace Center (DLR). I am a Theodore von Kármán fellow of RWTH Aachen, a TU Dresden fellow, an Executive Committee member of the Air Transport Research Society, and a board member of ALICANTO. I am an Associate Editor for the Journal of Air Transport Management and the IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems.

In my research, I am mostly interested in air transportation systems and the solution of hard optimization problems in all domains of aviation, with a strong emphasis on policy implications. Results of my research have been published in venues such as Transportation Science, Transportation Research Part A/B/C/E, Transport Policy, Networks and Spatial Economics, Transportmetrica A/B. I have reviewed for various international journals in the past, covering domains of transportation (Transportation Research Part A/B/C/D/E/F, Journal of Air Transport Management, Research in Transportation Business & Management, Transportmetrica A/B, IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems), optimization (Computers & Operations Research, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Operation Research Perspectives), and networked systems (Reliability Engineering & System Safety, Complexity, Applied Network Science). A list of my key publications can be found below. A detailed CV is available on request.

Ten selected key publications:

1. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Ghostbusters: Hunting abnormal flights in Europe during COVID-19.
   Transport Policy 127, pp. 203-2017, 2022, IF=6.173 (Q1) DOI
2. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. STARTUPS: Founding airlines during COVID-19 - a hopeless endeavor or an ample opportunity for a better aviation system?.
   Transport Policy 118, pp. 10-19, 2022, IF=6.173 (Q1) DOI
3. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Technological and Educational Challenges Towards Pandemic-Resilient Aviation.
   Transport Policy 114, pp. 104-115, 2021, IF=6.173 (Q1) DOI
4. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Delayed reaction towards emerging COVID-19 variants of concern: Does history repeat itself?.
   Transportation Research Part A-Policy and Practice 152, pp. 203-215, 2021, IF=6.615 (Q1) DOI
5. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Vaccination Passports: Challenges for a Future of Air Transportation.
   Transport Policy 110, pp. 394-401, 2021, IF=6.173 (Q1) DOI
6. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. On the degree of synchronization between air transport connectivity and COVID-19 cases at worldwide level.
   Transport Policy 105, pp. 115-123, 2021, IF=6.173 (Q1) DOI
7. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. COVID-19 pandemic and air transportation: Successfully navigating the paper hurricane.
   Journal of Air Transport Management 94, pp. 102062, 2021, IF=5.428 (Q2) DOI
8. Sebastian Wandelt, Weibin Dai, et al. Towards a Reference Experimental Benchmark for Solving Hub Location Problems.
   Transportation Science 56, pp. 543-564, 2022, IF=4.898 (Q2) DOI
9. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Competitiveness of on-demand air taxis regarding door-to-door travel time: A race through Europe.
   Transportation Research Part E-Logistics and Transportation Review 119, pp. 1-18, 2018, IF=10.047 (Q1) DOI
10. Xiaoqian Sun, Sebastian Wandelt*, et al. Multiple airport regions based on inter-airport temporal distances.
    Transportation Research Part E-Logistics and Transportation Review 101, pp. 84-98, 2017, IF=10.047 (Q1) DOI