Reserve Fuel
Reserve Fuel
Reserve Fuel
Contingency Fuel
An operator must ensure that every flight carries sufficient fuel for the planned operation, and reserves to
cover any replanning necessary for in-flight contingencies. A contingency is a chance occurrence or
unforeseen event. Contingency Fuel is carried to compensate for deviations:
Alternate Fuel
Alternate Fuel is simply the fuel required to fly from missed approach at the destination to the
planned alternate. It should take into account probable routing and expected wind component, but
it does not have its own allowance of contingency fuel. Contingency allowance is applied only to
the trip fuel.
If you fly from departure to destination, use the contingency fuel en route, and then have a missed
approach at the destination and fly to the alternate, you will have no fuel left on arrival. We
therefore have a minimum landing fuel, and you should normally never land with less than the
Final Reserve Fuel. It consists of 30 min (jet/turboprop) at 1500’ above AAL in ISA conditions,
or 45 min (piston engine aircraft) fuel consumption at endurance speed.
Additional Fuel
Contingency, Alternate and Final Reserve fuel cover most cases, and provided that suitable
diversions are available en route and near the destination, this is all that is required for Reserve
Fuel. There are two cases, however, where Additional Fuel may be needed:
No Alternate
This is also known as the “Island Holding” situation. If there is no alternate available at some
isolated aerodrome, then you need to be able to cope with the aircraft landing two minutes ahead
of you bursting a tyre on the runway, or possibly a short duration tropical squall going through.
If you are a long way from an alternate and you suffer some malfunction which requires you to
reduce to a lower altitude (engine failure or pressurization failure or both), you may have to fly a
long portion of the flight at a higher fuel consumption than planned. In this case you may need
Additional Fuel.
except that this additional fuel is not required if adequate basic trip, contingency, alternate and final
reserve is sufficient to complete the above profile and
2
Fuel Policy and Fuel Monitoring
b. Holding for 15 minutes at 1500 ft above the destination aerodrome in ISA conditions when a flight is
operated without a destination alternate aerodrome
On most flights Additional Fuel is not required but in either of the above cases, it may be necessary.
5% of the planned trip fuel, or, in the event of in-flight replanning, 5% of the trip fuel for the
remainder of the flight. No en route alternative is needed in this case.
If the operator has a fuel monitoring programme and agrees a particular method of statistical
analysis which includes standard deviations (the details need not concern us for the purposes of
the ATPL), this can be reduced yet further by agreement with the authority.
An amount to fly for 5 minutes at holding speed at 1500 ft (450 m) above the destination
aerodrome in standard conditions.
For the most part the contingency Fuel will be based on 5% of trip fuel but be aware of the
alternate B because questions do occur when holding for 5 minutes at 1500 ft will be a HIGHER
figure.