fact sheet: U.s. and eUrope

TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE FUEL EFFICIENCY RANKING, 2014A new report by the International Council on Clean Transportation compares the top 20 airlines on transatlantic routes in terms of fuel efficiency (i.e., carbon intensity) in 2014.

communications@theicct.org www.theicct.org

november 2015

NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN

CARIBBEAN SEA

NORTHSEA

BLACK SEA

RED

SEA

LABRADORSEA

MEDITERRANEAN SEA

BALTIC S

EA

FRENCH GUIANA

WESTERNSAHARA

WEST BANK

AUSTRIA

NETHERLANDS

FRANCE

GERMANY

DENMARK

ITALY

MALTA

GREECESPAIN

BELGIUM

SWITZ.

TURKEY

CYPRUS

GEORGIA

FINLAND

ICELAND

UNITEDKINGDOM

IRELAND

PORTUGAL

ISRAEL

NIGERIA

BURUNDI

RWANDA

ALGERIA

LIBYAEGYPT

SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

KENYA

TANZANIA

DEM. REP.OF CONGO

CENTRALAFRICAN REPUBLIC

UGANDA

CONGO

CAMEROON

GABON

NIGER

EQUAT. GUINEA

GAMBIA

GUINEA-BISSAU

SIERRA LEONE

LIBERIA

CÔTED'IVOIRE

SÃO TOMÉ AND PRINCIPE

DJIBOUTI

TUNISIA

ERITREA

MOROCCO

MAURITANIA

CAPE VERDE

HUNGARY MOLDOVA

CZECH REP.

SLOVAKIA

POLAND

ROMANIA

SAUDI ARABIA

IRAQSYRIA

JORDANKUWA

LEBANON

ESTONIA

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

BELARUS

UKRAINE

HAITI

CUBA

DOMINICANREP.

BELIZE

PANAMA

COSTA RICA

EL SALVADOR

EMALA

NICARAGUA

HONDURAS

JAMAICA

GUINEA

VENEZUELA

COLOMBIASURINAME

ECUADOR

PERU

ARMENIA

NORWAY

SWEDEN

CHAD

GHANA

TOGO

BENIN

BURKINA

MALI

SENEGAL

GUYANA

RUSSIA

CANADA

UNITED STATES

CPH

OSL

SVO

AMS

LHR

DUB

CDG

ZRH

ISTFCOMAD

YYZ

DTWORD

CLT

JFK

BOS

DUS

FRA

KEF

EWR

1

2

2

2

5

6

6

8

9

9

9

12

12

14

14

1617

17 19

19

rank Airline Airport pair pax-km/Lkg Co2 per

round-trip itinerary

1 JFK & OSL 42 720

2 DUS & JFK 36 840

2 AMS & JFK 36 830

2 DUB & JFK 36 720

5 JFK & SVO 35 1100

6 IST & JFK 34 1200

6 AMS & DTW 34 1000

8 LHR & YYZ 33 870

9 BOS & KEF 32 620

9 JFK & MAD 32 920

rank Airline Airport pair pax-km/Lkg Co2 per

round-trip itinerary

9 CDG & JFK 32 930

12 FCO & JFK 31 1100

12 JFK & ZRH 31 1000

14 CLT & FRA 30 1200

14 CPH & EWR 30 1000

16 LHR & ORD 29 1100

17 JFK & LHR 28 1000

17 LHR & EWR 28 1000

19 FRA & JFK 27 1200

19 LHR & JFK 27 1100

Fuel efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions for nonstop, round-trip intinerary, top 20 airlines’ most prevalent routes, 2014.

Fact sheet TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE FUEL EFFICIENCY RANKING, 2014

HigHLigHts » The gap between the most and least fuel-efficient

airlines on 2014 transatlantic operations was 51%. That is roughly twice the performance gap between the best and worst U.S. airlines on domestic operations (25% in 2014).

» The three least-efficient airlines (Lufthansa, SAS, and British Airways) were collectively responsible for one-fifth of transatlantic available seat kilometers and burned 44%-51% more fuel per passenger kilometer than the most efficient, Norwegian Air Shuttle.

» A nonstop round-trip transatlantic flight averaged about one tonne of CO2 emissions per passenger, equivalent to emissions from a 35-kilometer daily commute in a Toyota Prius over a work year.

» Seating configuration and aircraft fuel burn (i.e., fuel economy of the aircraft operated) are the two most important factors influencing airline fuel efficiency; together they explain about 80% of the variation in fuel efficiency among the airlines studied.

» Passenger load factor (i.e., percentage of seats filled) and freight carriage are relatively less important drivers of fuel efficiency.

» Airlines that have invested in new, advanced aircraft (e.g., Norwegian Air Shuttle) are significantly more fuel-efficient than airlines flying older planes, highlighting the crucial role of technology (and thus performance standards) in driving down fuel consumption and associated carbon emissions.

» The impact of premium seating on emissions is substantial: first class and business seats accounted for only 14% of available seat kilometers flown on transatlantic routes but approximately one-third of total carbon emissions. For carriers like British Airways and Swiss, premium seating was responsible for almost one-half of their total emissions from passenger travel.

bACkground » Globally, aircraft emitted about 700 million metric

tons of CO2 in 2013. If global aviation were a country, it would rank 21st in terms of GDP, but 7th in terms of CO2 emissions, just behind Germany and well ahead of South Korea.

» Absent policy interventions, aviation emissions are on pace to triple by 2050 — a period in which many developed countries hope to reduce their emissions by up to 80%.

Pax-km/L fuel Excess fuel/

pax-km

40 —1. Norwegian 35 +14% 2. Airberlin

34 +20% 3. Aer Lingus 33 +22% 4. KLM 33 +22% 4. Air Canada 33 +22% 4. Aeroflot 33 +22%4. Turkish33 +22%4. Air France

32 +26% 9. Delta 32 +26% 9. Icelandair

31 +30% 11. Iberia 31 +30% 11. American31 +30% 11. Alitalia

30 +36% 14. United29 +38% 15. US Airways

29 +38% 15. Virgin Atlantic

29 +38% 15. Swiss

28 +44%18. Lufthansa28 +44% 18. SAS

27 +51% 20. British Airways INDUSTRY AVERAGE

Average overall fuel efficiency of the top 20 airlines on transatlantic routes, 2014

Fact sheet TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE FUEL EFFICIENCY RANKING, 2014

PubLiCAtion inFormAtionTransatlantic Airline Fuel Efficiency Ranking, 2014Authors: Irene Kwan and Daniel Rutherford, Ph.D.

ContACtDan Rutherford, 650.336.3536, dan@theicct.orgIrene Kwan, 415.202.5755, irene@theicct.org

The International Council on Clean Transportation is an independent nonprofit organization founded to provide first-rate, unbiased research and technical and scientific analysis to environmental regulators.

2015 © INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON CLEAN TRANSPORTATION

BEIJING | BERLIN | BRUSSELS | SAN FRANCISCO | WASHINGTON

doWnLoAd www.theicct.org/transatlantic-airline-efficiency-2014

» The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has committed to develop a global framework — an aircraft CO2 (efficiency) standard and a framework for market-based measures — for controlling CO2 emissions from aviation by 2016. But the process has been hampered by disagreements over how to equitably distribute reduction targets by country or carrier.

» The European Union in 2012 suspended its action requiring foreign air carriers flying to or from EU airports to participate in the EU Emissions Trading System. An insufficiently effective MBM framework agreement from ICAO could cause the EU to reimpose that requirement.

» The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2015 published a draft “endangerment finding,” which is the first formal step toward regulating aviation greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act. The eventual outcome will be a rule to limit emissions — either U.S. domestic enforcement of ICAO’s CO2 emission standard for new aircraft or a more stringent U.S.–only aircraft standard.

» Delegates to the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 21) will be meeting in early December at Paris’s Le Bourget Airport. Among other issues, they will discuss how to incorporate greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation into a global climate protection framework.