ASrIA -

Technological advancement has increased aircraft fuel efficiency significantly over the past 40 years or so, and improvements look set to continue with projections of a further 20% improvement in efficiencies to be achieved by 2015.

Fuel costs are a significant component of any airlines’ budget, potentially representing over a third of operating costs depending on operational requirements. Consequently, maximizing fuel efficiency is both fundamental to the business and crucial to reducing carbon emissions. Inevitably higher fuel prices will act a catalyst for more aggressive company strategies linked to carbon management.

Many efficiency improvements come from technological advancements in aircraft engineering, the utilization of lighter materials on the aircraft itself as well as onboard, improvements in airframe design, and the use of energy saving equipment. The newest offerings from Boeing www.boeing.com/ [e.g. Boeing 777 series, 787 Dreamliner] and Airbus www.airbus.com/en/ [e.g. A380 family] contain many such improvements.

Many smaller airlines lack the capital to acquire the latest technology and the recent proliferation of budget airlines increases the likelihood that there are a lot of older, less efficient aircraft in use. The average fleet age globally is reported to be 11 years.

Ground technologies can also help airlines cut overall emissions. Key technology strategies include the use of LED based lighting, alternate heating and air conditioning of facilities, towing planes rather than using the jet engines to taxi, and using green-vehicle, low-to-zero emission technology in maintenance and support vehicles.

While there is ongoing research into newer cleaner technology, a constraint to the implementation of such technology is a development cycle of 11-15 years on average. Once in the air, the lifetime of an aircraft is in the region of 20-30 years. This also has implications regarding the development of alternative fuels, as any such fuels must be compatible with the existing fleet. At present there is no feasible alternative to jet fuel, however in the long term, research into this area seems to hold some potential.

Considering the proliferation of air transport, however, the question remains as to whether the volume of fuel consumption is likely to outpace efficiency gains.

Unfortunately relative fuel efficiency between airlines is difficult to assess due to the lack of standardized metrics in reported data. It would appear from publicly available data that those airlines operating in a more regulated environment tend to be addressing the climate issue more seriously than their less regulated counterparts. Indeed there is little public data to indicate whether or not airlines are factoring in other environmental risks of climate change, such as emissions trading, carbon taxes and the impacts of climate change itself on the business, into their short- or long-term financial plans, beyond fuel consumption and efficiency considerations. Things are at a very early stage, but looking to the future it is likely that there will be increasing pressure for airlines to take further action.

Listed airline companies disclose the following fuel efficiency information in their environmental/sustainability reports:

Airline	On Fuel Efficiency
Asia	Fuel as % of costs	Fuel consumption	Average age of fleet	Fleet modernization
Cathay Pacific	23.5% of net operating costs	3,325000 tonnes Fuel Efficiency: g/ATK – 200 g/RTK - 976		Rigorous fleet development programme over the next five years – will purchase 777-300 ER for long haul routes and phase out seven classic 747-200 freighters
Singapore Airlines (SIA)Environmental Report 2005/2006	35% of SIA Group expenditure	1,427.54 million (AG) American Gallons Fuel productivity 11.07LTK/AG (passenger and freight Fuel productivity: of SIA passenger fleet as measured by load-tonne-km per US gallon (LTK/AG) in 2005-06 increased by 1.9% over the previous year to 9.52 LTK/ AG Improvement could be attributed to fuel conservation measures and network efficiency. CO2 emission per unit of LTK also improved in equal ratio	6 years 4months	Purchase of Airbus 380 - The Airbus A380 has been marketed as one of the most environmentally friendly aircraft available that will comply with ICAO Annex 16 standards on engine noise and emissions at the point of certification. On order seven A380-800s, nine Boeing 777-300ERs
KLM Air France Air France KLM sustainable Development Report 2005-06	34% KLM Air France External Expenses	Air France 2005 - 3.1 liters / standard passenger / 100 covered km KLM 2005 - 2.59 kg of fuel per 100 km transported	9.3 years as of March 31, 2006 Air France-KLM (excluding regional subsidiaries).	Purchase of 16 new aircraft, mainly B777s, A330s and A318s
JAL JAL CSR Report 2006		JAL Group is targeting fuel-consumption cuts of 20% per transported ton by 2010 compared with 1990 levels		Introduced 12 new aircraft, including 777s and 767s. Planning to retire more 747s and introduce 737-800s and 777s in fiscal 2006, along with 787s
SAS SAS Group Annual Report & Sustainability Report 2005	14.0% (10.6%) of the Group’s total costs including depreciation	Total fuel consumption, 1,963,000 tonnes Scandanavian airlines businesses - 0.185 kg/RPK Subsidiaries and affiliates – 0.24kg/RPK An extensive program to save jet fuel began in June 2005. It is expected to yield annual savings of approximately MSEK 250 and cut CO2 emissions by 160,000 tonnes. Via AEA the SAS Group participates in the big European R&D project ACARE (Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe). ACARE comprises representatives of the EU countries, European Commission, researchers, the aviation industry, airport owners and aviation industry bodies. The goal of the project is by 2020 to find solutions to cut fuel consumption and CO2 emissions in half	9.8 years
BA 2005/06 Corporate Responsibility Report	21% of group operating expenditure (fuel and oil)	Target: 30% improvement in core aircraft fuel efficiency by 2010 on 1990 baseline
Lufthansacompany social / Responsibility / Environmental Corporate Citizenship key data on Sustainability at Lufthansa Issue 2006		Fuel consumption 6,751,355 tons 4.39l/100pkm passenger transport 185g/tkm freight transport kerosene consumption of only 2.8 liters per 100 passenger kilometers Fuel consumption of the passenger fleets is to be reduced by 33 percent from 1991 to 2008 – and by 38 percent by 2012	9.4 years	Ordered a total of 15 A380s
Virgin Atlantic AirwaysCorporate Responsibility 2004/05			6 years	Six A380s on order, for delivery between 2008 and 2010

General Electric's page for their new line of engines, provides a good interactive overview of its features and new technology as well as links to info about their other engines
http://www.geaviation.com/engines/commercial/genx/

The home page of Syntroleum the company making FT-fuel, this contains good info on where FT-fuel is today and related links.
http://www.syntroleum.com