The historical fuel efficiency characteristics of regional aircraft from technological, operational, and cost perspectives

To develop approaches that effectively reduce aircraft emissions, it is necessary to understand the mechanisms that have enabled historical improvements in aircraft efficiency. This paper focuses on the impact of regional aircraft on the US aviation system and examines the technological, operational and cost characteristics of turboprop (TP) and regional jet (RJ) aircraft. Regional aircraft are 40-60% less fuel efficient than their larger narrow- and wide-body counterparts, while RJs are 10-60% less fuel efficient than TPs. Fuel efficiency differences can be explained largely by differences in aircraft operations, not technology. Direct operating costs per revenue passenger kilometer are 2.5-6 times higher for regional aircraft because they operate at lower load factors and perform fewer miles over which to spread fixed costs. Further, despite incurring higher fuel costs, RJs are shown to have operating costs similar to TPs when flown over comparable stage lengths. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.