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What is the total Impact of a Stopover?
A direct flight is usually slightly more expensive
than a flight that requires a stopover.
Price sensitive people are hence tempted to take the cheaper one.
Rarely, however, we think of the CO2 impact of this decision.
Some Background
The flight distance has an effect on the fuel consumption per KM and hence
on the CO2 emission. Two effects worth noting are:
- takeoff and climb are particularly energy-intensive and are more important on short-haul flights
- On long-haul flights fuel has to be carried for a large part of the flight and is not consumed until the end of the flight.
As a result
medium-haul flights have the lowest fuel burn per KM and breaking
an ultra long-haul flight into two medium-haul flights might help the climate.
Examples worth trying
| Dep | Arr | Stop | Distance | CO2 Footprint of Stopover |
|---|
| FUE | ZRH | MAD | 2866 KM | Stopover increases CO2 by 37% |
| ZRH | SIN | DXB | 10310 KM | Stopover reduces CO2 by 13% while being 3% longer |