Abstract:Air traffic flow modeling is an essential way of studying the evolution laws and influence mechanism of air traffic system congestion. Considering the generalized attributes implied in air traffic flow which is under centralized control, current air traffic flow models are innovatively divided into “flow-centered” and “human-centered”. The core ideas, modeling techniques, main characteristics and models’ applicability are summarized and discussed with emphasizing the importance of “human-flow” interactions. To address the bottleneck of current models and to adapt to the tendency of air traffic system development, the trend of generalized air traffic flow modeling is proposed: differentiated resolutions, stochastic behaviors, integrated “human-flow” modeling, complexity aspect, and future adaptability. This review can bring some valuable references for fundamental and application research in air traffic management domain.