Air transport energy use (experimental)

This database provides annual, quarterly and monthly estimates for energy use from commercial passenger, freight and general aviation flights. Energy use is determined by calculating the aviation fuel consumption for individual flights and then converting to terajoules. This is estimated for 186 countries by the OECD, based on a consistent methodology across countries. The estimates are compiled using Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) flight data from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

This database corresponds with the air transport emissions database
The database provides energy use measures on a territory basis, which aligns with energy balances statistics (gross inland energy consumption); and on a residence basis, which is used to estimate the use of kerosene and jet fuels by air transport (H51 in the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities, or ISIC) in the Physical Energy Flow Accounts (PEFA).


Seven components of these energy use measures can be selected from the ‘Energy use’ filter. In the tables, these are also shown with the letters A, B, C, D, E, F and G. The following aggregate measures of energy use are calculated as:

• Domestic aviation = A + C


• International aviation = D + G


• Physical energy flow accounts use table: air transport (ISIC H51) - aviation fuel = A + B + D + E + F

Three categories of flight are shown on the database: total flights, passenger flights, and freight flights. General aviation (non-freight flights with fewer than 19 passengers such as agricultural planes and private jets) is included with passenger flights.