Vertical flight efficiency

@ airports

Improved vertical flight efficiency during climb (CCO) and descent (CDO) can save substantial amounts of fuel and CO2 and also reduce noise levels in the vicinity of airports. The lower the level segment, the higher the additional fuel consumption1.

Together with interested stakeholders and EUROCONTROL’s Aviation Sustainability Unit, the PRC has developed a methodology to compute level off segments during climb and descent at airports.

The results are shown in the dashboard below and also available for download in our data repository.


In order to get a better understanding of the level of vertical inefficiency in the en-route phase, the PRC has developed a methodology to compare the maximum altitudes in the flight plans of flights between a specific airport pair with the maximum altitudes of flights between similar airport pairs for a specific AIRAC cycle.


Vertical en-route flight efficiency

In order to get a better understanding of the level of vertical inefficiency in the en-route phase, the PRC has developed a methodology compare the maximum altitudes in the flight plans of flights between a specific airport pair with the maximum altitudes of flights between similar airport pairs for a specific AIRAC cycle.

The analysis does not aim at quantifying the total amount of vertical en-route inefficiencies (VFI) in the EUROCONTROL area nor does it identify all underlying reasons for the observed inefficiencies. Instead, it provides an initial understanding of the level of vertical flight inefficiencies on specific airport pairs in order to evaluate some cases in more detail. It should be noted that there might be good reasons for certain vertical restrictions (safety, capacity) and the results should therefore be interpreted in this context.



  1. The European CCO / CDO Task Force advocates a harmonised metric to measure CCO / CDO using ‘the average time in level flight’ to enable a comparative CCO / CDO performance measurement across Europe. The Task Force is fully aware of potential pitfalls in using this indicator (see the European CCO / CDO Action Plan Appendix B for more information) but considers the average time in level flight to be the most appropriate proxy for the measurement of CCO / CDO. This consideration is based upon current expertise and stakeholder practices, the data currently available for pan-European analysis, and the fact that a straightforward measurement of fuel burn is not yet possible.↩︎