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China’s Hainan Airlines and Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) have the most fuel-efficient fleet of airplanes on the trans-Pacific route, according to a new study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT).
Both Hainan Airlines and ANA have a fuel efficiency of 36 passenger-kilometers per liter of fuel, meaning they were able to fly each passenger 36 kilometers per liter of aviation fuel.
While Air New Zealand followed closely behind at 35 passenger-kilometers per liter, Qantas Airways was rated the worst performer with a fuel efficiency of 22 passenger-kilometers per liter.
The researchers said, “Qantas Airways ranked as the least fuel-efficient, burning an average of 64 percent more fuel per passenger-kilometer than Hainan and ANA.”
The study compared the fuel efficiency of 20 airlines operating nonstop flights between the mainland United States and East Asia and Oceania.
The fuel efficiency of both Hainan Airlines and ANA is nearly 16 percent higher than the industry average. The study ranks China Airlines and Air China fourth and sixth respectively. China Southern and China Eastern jointly share a much lower rank of 13.
Interestingly, Hainan and ANA managed to achieve the same overall fuel efficiency using very different strategies. Hainan’s efficiency is a result of its advanced fleet.
According to the study the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the most fuel-efficient airplane. Hainan uses Dreamliners for more than 80 percent of the 3,200 trans-Pacific flights it operates per year, with Airbus A330 aircraft accounting for the rest.
The ICCT suggested Hainan could further increase its fuel efficiency by carrying more passengers and cargo.
On the other hand, ANA operated airplanes with higher fuel consumption but managed to maintain fuel efficiency by carrying more payloads, especially cargo. The report said ANA carried about three times as much cargo per passenger than Hainan, equaling 48 percent of total payload carried.
Qantas recorded poor fuel efficiency because it operated the most fuel-intensive aircraft yet carried few passengers and little freight.
ICCT experts in the study pointed out that there was an inverse relationship between aircraft size and fuel efficiency on trans-Pacific operations – the heavier the aircraft, the lower the fuel efficiency.
“This is predominantly because aircraft with four engines are generally less fuel-efficient than those with two engines,” said Dan Rutherford, ICCT program director.
According to an International Civil Aviation Organization estimate of future airline traffic, Europe and the Asia Pacific will account for more carbon dioxide than any other region by 2020.
“Europe and Asia/Pacific will have the largest share of CO2 emissions from international aviation with 36.6 percent and 31 percent, respectively, followed by North America with 14.8 percent.”
The aviation sector accounts for about 2.5 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Meanwhile, Qantas claimed that the ICCT study is not an accurate representation of the airline’s fuel efficiency. The carrier said the study failed to consider its Dynamic Airborne Reroute Procedures technology that allows flight path adjustment based on updated weather information increasing fuel efficiency.
“The reason Qantas ranks low in this study is chiefly because we use larger aircraft, fly very long distances and have premium cabins that naturally have fewer people on board,” said Alan Milne, head of fuel and environment at Qantas in a statement.
(CGTN)
