SINGAPORE: Singapore Airlines performs below the industry average for the amount of carbon dioxide per passenger-kilometre it emits, according to an analysis of 20 major airlines operating nonstop passenger flights across the pacific.
The Transpacific Airline Fuel Efficiency Ranking by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) – the group that exposed the Volkswagen emissions scandal in 2014 – modelled fuel burn for the airlines using flight schedule and detailed operational data in 2016.
Singapore Airlines had an average fuel efficiency of 30 passenger-kilometres per litre of fuel (pax-km/L) , below the industry average of 31 pax-km/L.
Of the 20 airlines analysed, 12 had a fuel efficiency above the industry average. Singapore Airlines’ score, which was the same as four of the other airlines, was the fourth-lowest in the analysis.
(Table: ICCT)
The national carrier uses Airbus A350-900, A380-800 and Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on its flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco, the ICCT noted in the report released on Tuesday (Jan 16).
The A380, configured with either 379 or 441 seats, was the least fuel-efficient aircraft in its fleet, with an average of 304 passengers per flight. If an additional 50 passengers flew on each A380 flight, then the aircraft’s fuel efficiency metric would increase from 24 to 27 pax-km/L, ICCT said.
The same fleet fuel efficiency metric of 30 pax-km/L could be achieved by loading an additional 1,000kg of freight or 10 passengers to all flights, it added.
Hainan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA) were the most fuel-efficient among the 20 airlines, with both achieving an average fuel-efficiency of 36 pax-km/L.
Their strategies for being more fuel efficient were very different, according to the ICCT white paper. Hainan’s efficiency rating mostly reflected its very “advanced fleet”, with most of its travel in the region aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft.
ANA, in contrast, operated aircraft with higher fuel burn but carried a heavier load on its flights, especially cargo. ANA carried about three times as much cargo in its baggage hold per passenger as Hainan, equaling 48 per cent of the flights’ payload.
Australian flag carrier Qantas was the worst airline for fuel efficiency, at 22 pax-km/L. It operated the most fuel-intensive aircraft at very low load factors for both passengers and freight, according to ICCT.
