Airline Fuel Consumption Analysis

Fuel is one of the most important costs in airline operations, but knowing how much fuel an aircraft has used is only part of the picture.

To understand fuel performance properly, airlines need to look at the detail behind the numbers.

Comparing planned and actual fuel, analysing fuel burn against flight time, identifying higher-consuming routes and aircraft, and comparing performance over time can provide valuable insight into where efficiencies may be found.

With accurate flight data captured directly from the skybook EFB solution, operators can move beyond simply recording fuel usage to analysing how their operation is performing.

What is airline fuel consumption analysis?

Airline fuel consumption analysis is the process of examining fuel data from individual flights, routes, aircraft and fleets to understand how actual fuel usage compares with planned performance.

For flight operations teams, this can help answer questions such as:

• Are aircraft consistently using more fuel than planned?
• Which routes have the highest fuel burn?
• Is a particular aircraft consuming more fuel than others?
• Are differences between planned and actual fuel becoming more significant?

Looking at these trends can give operators a clearer picture of fuel performance and help identify areas that may require further investigation.

Analyse planned vs actual fuel consumption

One of the most useful comparisons is planned fuel against actual fuel usage.

Planned fuel provides the expected fuel requirement from the flight plan, while actual fuel data provides a view of what happened during the flight.

Comparing the two can highlight routes or aircraft where fuel consumption is consistently different from expectations.

For example, if a route regularly uses more fuel than planned, flight operations teams can investigate potential causes such as weather, routing changes, operational constraints or aircraft performance.

skybook Reporting & Analytics provides planned versus actual fuel analysis across 30, 60 and 90-day periods, with the ability to compare performance against the same period in the previous year.

Analyse fuel consumption in kg or lbs

Fuel data needs to be presented in a format that works for the operator.

The Fuel Dashboard allows fuel analysis to be viewed in either kilograms or pounds, making it easier to work with the units used within your existing flight operations and reporting processes.

Being able to switch between units also means the data can be used across different teams, locations and operational requirements.

Understand fuel burn against flight time

Total fuel consumption doesn't tell the whole story.

A longer sector will naturally consume more fuel than a shorter flight, so looking only at total fuel used can make comparisons difficult.

This is where flight time and fuel burn analysis become important.

By analysing fuel consumption alongside total flight time, operators can gain more context around the performance of individual routes and flights.

An operator may find that a route with a high total fuel consumption is performing as expected once flight duration is considered, while a shorter route with a disproportionately high burn may warrant further investigation.

Analyse hourly fuel burn rates

Hourly burn rate provides another useful way to assess fuel efficiency and performance.

Looking at how much fuel is being consumed relative to flight time can help operators compare flights more meaningfully and identify trends that may not be obvious from total fuel consumption alone.

For example, comparing hourly fuel burn across aircraft or routes can help highlight where fuel performance is consistently higher or lower than expected.

Combined with planned and actual fuel figures, flight time and historical data, this creates a more complete picture of aircraft fuel performance.

Compare fuel performance with the previous year

Fuel consumption can change over time for many reasons...

Routes may change, aircraft may be introduced or removed from a fleet, operational procedures can evolve, while weather and other external factors can also influence individual sectors.

That's why comparing current fuel performance with the same period from the previous year can be particularly useful.

Instead of looking at fuel data in isolation, operators can identify whether performance is:

• Improving over time
• Remaining broadly consistent
• Showing an increase in fuel consumption
• Changing on particular routes or aircraft

This historical perspective can help flight operations teams identify longer-term trends and decide where further analysis is worthwhile.

Identify the routes, aircraft and fleets using the most fuel

Fuel analysis can also help operators identify where the greatest fuel consumption is occurring across the operation.

The Fuel Dashboard provides analysis of the highest-burning routes, aircraft and fleets over 30, 60 and 90-day periods.

For routes, operators can investigate differences between:

Fuel burn
The difference between planned fuel burn and actual fuel burn.

Block fuel
The difference between planned fuel from the OFP and actual block fuel on departure.

Arrival fuel
The difference between planned arrival fuel and actual arrival fuel.

Download fuel analysis data for further reporting

Fuel analysis doesn't necessarily stop with the flight operations team.

Fuel performance data may also be useful to management, finance, performance, planning and sustainability teams.

skybook allows fuel analysis to be downloaded, making it straightforward to share data with other stakeholders or use it within wider reporting processes.

From EFB data to fuel performance insight

The quality of any fuel analysis depends on the quality of the underlying data.

With skybook, flight data is automatically transferred from the EFB Journey log into Reporting & Analytics when the pilot signs off the flight. The data can also be integrated into skybook from 3^rd party providers.

This removes the need for separate manual data collection and provides instant access to post-flight information for analysis.

Turning fuel data into better decisions

Effective airline fuel consumption analysis is about more than knowing how much fuel an aircraft has used.

By bringing together planned fuel, actual fuel, fuel burn, flight time, hourly burn rate and historical performance; operators can develop a much clearer understanding of fuel performance.

With skybook, fuel data from the electronic flight bag helps airlines identify trends, investigate differences and find opportunities to improve fuel performance.

Want to see how your flight data could be used for more detailed fuel analysis? Arrange a skybook demo today.

Frequently Asked Questions