19  IFR average flight distance and flight duration

19.1 EUROCONTROL recommended values

Table 19.1 presents an overview of the average flight distance in ECAC region, as well as the average flight time in the same region for the period 2017-2021.

The data in Table 19.1 was obtained by dividing the total distance actually flown and the total yearly IFR flight hours respectively by the yearly number of IFR flights in the ECAC airspace.[1] [2] [3]

Please note that the numbers for 2020 and 2021 are considerably lower due to the effect of pandemic.

Table 19.1:

Average IFR flight distance and duration in ECAC

Year	Distance in km	Distance in NM	Flight time in min
2017	1,197	646.00	98.40
2018	1,209	653.00	100.10
2019	1,220	659.00	101.30
2020	510	275.00	97.50
2021	661	357.00	1,000.00
Source: EUROCONTROL (2022) Performance Review Report (PRR) 2021; EUROCONTROL (2022) Performance Review Report (PRR) 2020; STATFOR Interactive Dashboard

With regard to flight distance, Figure 19.1 illustrates that nearly 90% of IFR flight distances for flights arriving or departing within the Network Manager area (excl. overflights) are less than 1,000NM long.

Figure 19.1: Distribution of traffic demand per distance band in 2022 within the EUROCONTROL Network Manager area

19.2 Related inputs

Chapter 20 IFR flight information per market segment

Chapter 21 DIstance flown by charging zone

Chapter 38 Taxiing time

19.3 References

[1]

EUROCONTROL, “Performance Review Report (PRR) 2020,” 2021 [Online]. Available: https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/performance-review-report-prr-2021. [Accessed: Sep. 03, 2023]

[2]

EUROCONTROL, “Performance Review Report (PRR) 2021,” 2022 [Online]. Available: https://www.eurocontrol.int/publication/performance-review-report-prr-2021. [Accessed: Sep. 03, 2023]

[3]

EUROCONTROL STATFOR, “STATFOR Interactive Dashboard.” [Online]. Available: https://www.eurocontrol.int/dashboard/statfor-interactive-dashboard