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Table 4-21M: Energy Intensity of Certificated Air Carriers, All Servicesa

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  1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Aircraft-kilometers (millions)                                              
Domestic operations 1,381 1,825 3,328 3,135 4,060 4,902 6,378 6,202 6,429 6,690 7,049 7,450 7,743 7,903 8,103 8,581 9,116 8,929 9,039 9,792 10,608 (R) 10,550 10,478
International operations 293 457 764 607 645 668 1,223 1,299 1,455 1,547 1,577 1,606 1,679 1,793 1,918 1,971 2,063 2,037 1,971 2,031 2,258 (R) 2,134 2,298
Available seat-kilometers (millions)                                              
Domestic operations 84,040 152,545 343,048 388,306 556,878 717,487 906,165 874,901 897,996 919,722 942,171 971,910 1,008,075 1,049,160 1,065,889 1,125,463 1,170,046 1,118,816 1,089,443 1,108,943 1,193,608 (R) 1,210,429 1,194,875
International operations 21,480 47,529 83,622 99,335 139,220 164,094 274,087 276,101 313,474 322,112 320,087 326,954 335,841 368,039 382,280 391,040 408,850 378,696 346,984 329,521 369,808 (R) 404,879 429,252
Passenger-kilometers (millions)                                              
Domestic operations 49,177 83,504 167,608 211,996 322,334 435,463 547,549 535,213 559,941 569,993 609,925 635,221 684,930 725,190 745,548 785,934 830,629 782,956 776,202 812,974 897,841 (R) 941,460 952,465
International operations 13,367 27,019 44,358 50,022 87,489 105,925 189,412 185,701 210,216 218,079 225,937 234,881 246,337 272,552 277,218 290,115 310,278 287,015 276,582 271,344 312,491 (R) 340,422 354,277
Fuel consumed (million liters)                                              
Domestic operations 7,397 14,721 29,742 28,610 32,249 38,289 46,648 43,557 44,527 45,268 46,880 47,967 50,033 51,341 50,479 54,518 56,193 53,062 48,636 49,054 (R) 51,567 52,197 50,944
International operations 2,143 4,845 8,491 7,378 6,614 9,418 14,797 14,913 15,596 15,571 16,196 16,817 17,483 18,605 18,636 19,875 20,724 19,826 18,892 18,308 (R) 18,668 (R) 20,899 22,059
Seats per aircraft                                              
Domestic operations 60.9 83.6 103.1 123.9 137.1 146.4 142.1 141.1 139.7 137.5 133.7 130.5 130.2 132.7 131.5 131.2 128.4 125.3 120.5 113.2 112.5 (R) 114.7 114.0
International operations 73.3 104.0 109.4 163.7 215.7 245.7 224.1 212.6 215.5 208.3 203.0 203.6 200.1 205.3 199.3 198.4 198.2 185.9 176.1 162.3 163.7 (R) 189.7 186.8
Seat-kilometers per liter                                              
Domestic operations 11 10 12 14 17 19 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 21 21 21 21 22 23 (R) 23 (R) 23 23
International operations 10 10 10 13 21 17 19 19 20 21 20 19 19 20 21 20 20 19 18 18 (R) 20 (R) 19 19
Energy intensity (Kilojoule/passenger-kilometer)                                              
Domestic operations 20,305 23,800 23,956 18,219 13,506 11,870 11,501 10,987 10,735 10,722 10,376 10,194 9,861 9,558 9,141 9,365 9,133 9,149 8,459 8,146 (R) 7,754 (R) 7,485 7,221
International operations 21,638 24,209 25,840 19,911 10,206 12,003 10,546 10,842 10,016 9,639 9,677 9,666 9,581 9,215 9,075 9,249 9,017 9,325 9,221 9,108 (R) 8,065 (R) 8,288 8,406
Load factor (percent)                                              
Domestic operations 58.5 54.7 48.9 54.6 58.0 60.7 60.4 61.2 62.4 62.0 64.7 65.4 67.9 69.1 69.9 69.8 71.0 69.1 70.3 72.6 74.4 (R) 77.3 79.0
International operations 62.2 56.8 53.0 50.4 62.8 64.6 69.1 67.3 67.1 67.6 70.6 71.8 73.3 74.1 72.5 74.2 75.9 72.8 76.6 76.5 79.1 (R) 79.4 79.9

KEY: Btu = British thermal unit; R = revised.

a U.S. owned carriers only. Operation of foreign-owned carriers in or out of the United States not included.

NOTES

Aircraft-kilometers includes all four air-carrier groups (majors, nationals, large regionals, and medium regionals), scheduled and charter, passenger, and all-cargo. Fuel consumed includes majors, nationals, and large regionals, scheduled and charter, passenger, and all-cargo.

Passenger-kilometers includes all four air-carrier groups, scheduled and charter, passenger service only.

International operations include operations outside the United States, including those between the United States and foreign countries and the United States and its territories or possessions.

Heat equivalent factor used for Btu conversion is 135,000 Btu/gallon.

SOURCES

Aircraft-miles, available seat-miles, passenger-miles, and load factor:

1960-80: Air Transport Association, Internet site http://www.air-transport.org/public/industry, as of July 31, 2002.

1985-2006: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Air Carrier Traffic Statistics (Washington DC: Annual December issues).

Fuel consumed:

1960-75: U.S. Department of Transportation, Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, Internet site http://www.bts.gov/oai/fuel/fuelyearly.html as of July 21, 2004.

1980-2006: Ibid., Internet site http://www.bts.gov/xml/fuel/report/src/index.xml as of Apr. 25, 2007.

Seats per aircraft, seat-miles per gallon, and energy intensiveness:

Derived by calculation.
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