Fleet-Level Impacts of Commercial Supersonic Aircraft Models Considering a Worldwide Route Network

Few studies exist that holistically assess the fleet-level impact of introducing commercial supersonic passenger aircraft in future airline fleets. The Fleet-Level Environmental Evaluation Tool (FLEET) was previously developed to predict future supersonic-eligible routes, supersonic aircraft operations, and their impact on subsonic operations, considering only a US-touching route network. To expand the knowledge of potential supersonic routes worldwide and to model worldwide airline operations, this paper presents research results with updated global passenger demand data from the Official Airway Guide, increasing the size of the route network by nearly 270% relative to the US-touching network. This paper also presents predicted emissions results for supersonic aircraft models with 55, 75, and 100 passenger capacities with over-water cruise speeds between Mach 1.6 and 2.2. The study estimates future operations (routes and number of operations) of supersonic aircraft and fleet-level emissions in 2050 by considering a mix of supersonic and subsonic aircraft. Results highlight the need to address not only the feasibility of commercial supersonic aircraft, but also the associated environmental emissions their impact on global emission reduction goals.