- Fuel accounts for approximately 30pc of airline operating costs in 2026, with carriers expected to spend $350 billion on jet fuel.
- IATA has confirmed that airlines must use data to identify marginal efficiency gains after industry improvements have stalled since 2024.
- Cooperation with Air Navigation Service Providers has been identified as essential for more efficient flight trajectories.
- Annual efficiency gains have slowed from 2.4pc to 1.9pc between the 2000s and the 2010s, making precision management more important.
- Accurate high-resolution data is required to quantify fuel penalties and benchmark operational performance effectively.
Fuel has been accounting for approximately 30pc of airline operating costs in 2026, with global prices driven higher by conflict in the Middle East. The International Air Transport Association has been projecting that airlines will spend $350 billion on jet fuel this year, making efficiency a critical factor in profitability and sustainability performance. IATA Director of Flight and Operations Stuart Fox has confirmed that airlines have been using data and benchmarking to identify savings within their own operations, though he has stressed the necessity of cooperation across the wider aviation ecosystem to maximise fuel efficiency .
The aviation industry has been experiencing a slowdown in annual efficiency gains, with improvements having stalled since 2024 due to backlogs in aircraft and engine deliveries. While new-generation aircraft deliver up to 21pc lower emissions per seat than their predecessors, many operational efficiencies have already been captured, forcing airlines to focus on marginal gains. IATA has been promoting the use of accurate, high-resolution performance data to quantify weight-related fuel penalties, benchmark route-level efficiency, and identify procedural inefficiencies that were previously overlooked. The association has emphasised that estimating fuel performance is no longer sufficient for airlines in the current environment .
Airlines have been working with Air Navigation Service Providers to support more efficient flight trajectories from gate to gate, addressing inefficiencies related to suboptimal routing, unnecessary holding, and inefficient descent profiles. The gap between theoretical fuel savings and realised efficiency has been influenced by weather conditions and human performance, making data collection and analysis essential for detecting the remaining opportunities for improvement. IATA has been advising that fuel performance management should move from being a project-based initiative to a structured corporate programme embedded in daily operations .
IATA Director of Flight and Operations Stuart Fox shared, “In today’s environment, every drop of fuel counts. Airlines can use data and benchmarking to identify savings within their own operations.”
IATA Senior Manager for Fuel Efficiency Solutions Hélène Manzoni shared, “Today, airlines operate in a more mature data-rich environment. Fuel programmes are more structured, governance is stronger, and many of the obvious inefficiencies have been addressed.”
