A fuel tankering model applied to a domestic airline network

This paper presents a linear programming model designed to determine the optimum fuel loading quantities along a route network for a Brazilian domestic airline. Assuming that there are no volume purchase or storage capacity restrictions on each station, the analysis is carried out for one aircraft on one day of its schedule. Results are extrapolated for a monthly and yearly basis. Through the proposed model, it is seen that such a fuel tankering technique leads to a 5% economical saving, but produces a 1% additional fuel burn. A discussion on the environmental impact for this procedure is also proposed. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.