Study to the adaptation of electrified aircraft by regional airlines

Abstract

To reduce the environmental impact of the aviation sector in Europe, climate goals have been set as stated in the Paris Agreement and the European Green Deal. This reduction can be achieved by fleet replacement with electrified aircraft. Challenging is that electrified aircraft are yet in a conceptual phase and most likely suitable for smaller airline networks. This research presents a study on how regional airlines can strategically adapt to fleet replacement by not-yet-designed electrified aircraft. Earlier research shows interest in integrating strategic airline planning and aircraft design, but the design and operation of electrified aircraft are not yet considered.
A methodology is presented to couple strategic airline planning and electrified aircraft design. In the strategic network and fleet planning model, the operation of electrified aircraft is considered. The electrified aircraft design is provided by the Initiator and aircraft configuration options by the Breguet Range equation. Based on current network information, this approach considers the adaptation of an airline on not-yet-designed electrified aircraft. Impacts on network performance, such as profit, CO2 emission and operating routes, as well as chosen aircraft are studied.
In this thesis, the methodology is tested with a case study of the airline SATA Air Açores. The impact of replacing their current fleet with electrified aircraft on the network performance, development, and aircraft design choices is considered. Furthermore, the impact of airlines’ choices and external factors are evaluated. Under the assumptions, the adaption of electrified aircraft seems profitable for the airline and the CO2 emission is highly reduced. A choice for smaller fully-electric and medium-sized hybrid-electric aircraft is presented.