Impact of Intermediate Stops on Long-Range Jet-Transport Design

Abstract

Long-range aircraft have the benefit of versatility. They are able to transport a certain payload over short, medium and long ranges. This versatility however comes with a price. Long-range aircraft are heavier, cost more, produce more noise and need relatively more fuel than medium-range aircraft. An alternative strategy could be to split up a long-range mission into two flights covering the same distance with an intermediate stop in between and to apply medium-range aircraft on these two medium-range flights. Splitting up a long-range flight this way not only improves fuel eciency but also direct operating costs, certainly for high fuel prices. Thirdly, emissions and environmental impact, for instance the Greenhouse eect, will reduce. A method was set up to compare a long-range and a medium-range aircraft, covering the same distance in one respectively two flights. This medium-range aircraft is optimized for half the range of the long-range aircraft. The results showed that the medium-range aircraft despite the intermediate stop increases fuel eciency by 27%, reduces costs by 9% and the contributions of emissions to the Greenhouse eect by 13%.