Formation flying as an innovative air transportation system for long-haul commercial flight: A focus on operational feasibility and potential gain

Abstract

Formation flying is introduced as a new and innovative air transportation system for long-haul commercial flight. With this paper the operational feasibility of formation flying is addressed, both from a market demand and economic, as well as an air traffic control perspective. Preliminary results of a case study indicate that operating a newly designed aircraft that is optimized for formation flying could cut the fuel consumption over long-haul flights in half compared to current state-of-the-art aircraft. Therefore, this air transportation system proves to be a possible solution to the impending regulations and fines regarding the reduction of CO 2 emissions in aviation.

Integrated Design of a Long-Haul Commercial Aircraft Optimized for Formation Flying

“…With this formation the average individual fuel consumption in the formation can be compared to the average fuel consumption of the 787's flying to the same destinations. With this formation, the average fuel reduction is 54% 13 . Therefore the goals of the Lisbon 2020 Vision are already achieved in 2030, at implementation of the aircraft concept, instead of the year 2050.…”

“…With these limits the minimal range where formation flying becomes beneficial is 5,000 nautical miles. With some further market research, the capacity of the aircraft is estimated on 280 passengers, and with an optimal range of 8,000 nautical miles 13 . In addition, the design is made such that the implementation date is set at 2030.…”

“…A realistic case is set up, with seven flights, from 4 airports in Europe, towards the east coast of America. Furthermore it is assumed that in a realistic scenario of a long-haul flight, only 67% percent can be flown in formation 13 . With this formation the average individual fuel consumption in the formation can be compared to the average fuel consumption of the 787's flying to the same destinations.…”

“…Therefore first the range, where after formation flying becomes beneficial, must be determined. Due to formation flying certain distance penalties have to be taken to allow aircraft to partially fly the same route 13 . In order to keep the time penalty associated with this distance penalty small, the maximal allowed penalty is about 5%.…”

A decentralized approach to formation flight routing of long-haul commercial flights

“…So, while a centralized approach does have the advantage that, at least in principle, it can provide a global optimum and thus establish the best possible fuel savings that can be obtained across the network in the absence of schedule disturbances, in practical terms it is able to achieve a global optimum only if the largest permissible size of formation the formation string is restricted. Since it is expected that larger formation strings are relatively more beneficial, 10 this represents a major shortcoming. Also, when a single aircraft can join a formation string more than once during its flight, the use of formation flight is likely to become more beneficial.…”