6 Rate of fuel burn
6.1 EUROCONTROL recommended values
This section provides the average number of kilograms per minute of fuel burn, by aircraft segment, in different flight phases.
Table 6.1 originates from the Base of Aircraft Data (BADA), an Aircraft Performance Model (APM) developed and maintained by EUROCONTROL, with the active cooperation of aircraft manufacturers and operating airlines. The data extracted use three different families of the BADA model.1
The operator segment values are weighted averages calculated based on (i) the number of flights per aircraft type (taxi and arrival phases) or (ii) the number of flight hours per aircraft type (en-route phase). The analysis covers the most-flying aircraft models in Europe, as per the flight plans submitted to the Network Manager in 2022:
Scheduled aviation: Grouping three (3) categories from the EUROCONTROL Market Segment RulesGroups three (3) categories from the EUROCONTROL Market Segment Rules [1]:
Regional (top 5): AT76, E190, E195, CRJ9, and AT75.
Mainline + Low-cost (incl. Charter) (top 15): (a) narrow-body aircraft (B738, A320, A319, A20N, A321, A21N, B38M, BCS3, B734) and (b) wide-body aircraft (B77W, B789, A333, A332, B788, A359).
Due to the significant differences between them, Regional, narrow-body and wide-body values are included separately.
Business aviation (top 5): C56X, PC12, BE20, E55P, and GLEX.
Rotorcraft (top 5): S92, A139, EC75, AS32, and EC35.
The above selection of aircraft covers (i) 76% of the IFR flights and (ii) 79% of the IFR flight hours registered by NM in 2022. Noting that NM data does not include full data on rotorcraft flights, as they usually fly within one state only and provide flight plans locally.
6.2 Other possible sources
Below, a list of other applicable sources that consider fuel burn rates:
ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator [2]
ICAO has developed a methodology to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions from air travel for use in offset programmes. The methodology applies the best publicly available industry data to account for various factors such as aircraft types, route-specific data, passenger load factors and cargo carried.
EUROCONTROL Advanced Emission Model (AEM) [3]
Standalone application, developed and maintained by the EUROCONTROL Innovation Hub, which estimates aircraft emissions and fuel burn. The AEM can estimate (i) the mass of fuel burned by the main engines of a specified type of aircraft with a specified type of engine flying a specified 4D trajectory; and (ii) the corresponding masses of certain gaseous and particulate emissions which are produced by the burning of that fuel. Access to the tool requires an AEM user license.
ICAO Engine Emissions Databank [4]
Manufacturer’s datasheets that may contain the rates of fuel burn for different flight phases and individual engine types.
6.3 When to use the values?
The user should treat the values as high-level approximations of the average fuel burn per flight phase. Note that:
regional and business aviation groupings encompass turbofan-powered and turboprop-powered aircraft with fuel burn rates significantly different between them;
the performance data do not consider the weather and atmospheric influences; and
the performance data do not consider the impact of specific flight conditions (speed, altitude, aircraft weight, etc.).
Organisations interested in more aircraft types can request access to the full BADA model.
6.5 References
[1]
EUROCONTROL, “EUROCONTROL Market Segment Update 2022,” May 2022 [Online]. Available: https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/market-segment-rules
[2]
ICAO, “Carbon Emissions Calculator.” [Online]. Available: https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Carbonoffset/Pages/default.aspx
[3]
EUROCONTROL, “Advanced emission model.” [Online]. Available: https://www.eurocontrol.int/model/advanced-emission-model
[4]
ICAO, “Engine Emissions Databank.” [Online]. Available: https://www.easa.europa.eu/en/domains/environment/icao-aircraft-engine-emissions-databank
BADA 3 is a standard for aircraft performance modelling which models accurately aircraft behaviour over the nominal part of the flight envelope and covers close to 100% of aircraft types in ECAC area. BADA 4 is a new model that provides higher precision in aircraft performances parameters and enables modelling and simulation of advanced systems and future concepts. It covers close to 80% of aircraft types in ECAC. BADA Helicopters provides modelling for Helicopter aircraft types.↩︎