OPTIMIZING AIR CARGO LOADING AND ITS POTENTIAL IMPACT OVER FUEL COSTS00

The goal of this thesis is to investigate the link between fuel savings and the shipment’s
distribution in airfreight by discussing data and entering some modifications to the
distribution optimization software OPAL. Fuel reduction becomes more and more important
for airlines as fuel prices are raising and carbon taxes are implemented. Results show that a
reduction of 1% of fuel would benefit for over $500 million to the U.S. carrier sector. An
automatic optimization of cargo’s distribution would ensure to reach the most aft possible
position of the center of gravity and lead to fuel savings. OPAL is designed to reach this
optimal center of gravity quickly with the purpose to replace a labor time consuming task. But
researches haven’t given a clear value for the fuel saved due to an optimization of the
shipment’s distribution. So this thesis ends by giving a few paths that could be investigated
for reaching a good estimation