Understanding air methodology tags in CSV downloads

Available Methodologies:

The Thrust Calculator can apply 3 different air methodologies depending on the data provided. The more detail you provide about a given air segment (flight number, date, origin & destination pair etc.) the more sophisticated a methodology Thrust Calculator can provide.

Additionally - API users can request a specific methodology.

We want it to be possible for our customers to effortlessly establish which methodology was applied to a given segment. That's why we specify it in the CSV reports. We explain here what those methodology tags mean.

1. ICAO plus

This is the Thrust Carbon methodology which utilises ICAO's published methodology and applies additional research and analysis to make it more accurate and to reflect current climate science. See our full methodology documentation for more details. This methodology is used when the API request includes carrier, flight number and travel class, or alternatively a carrier and IATA aircraft type. More details are available from our methodology documentation.

2. DEFRA* plus

This methodology is used if the API request contains a carrier but not a flight number or aircraft type. The DEFRA factor is applied to the segment in addition to the average load factor for the carrier. 

(Load factor = % of available seating capacity that is filled with passengers)

3. DEFRA* 

When the API request does not contain a recognised aircraft type or carrier the standard DEFRA methodology is applied

Viewing which methodology is used:

There are two ways that you can view which methodology is used for each segment.

1. By downloading a CSV report through the reporting tab. Within this report there is a column titled "methodology" which states which methodology is applied for each row of data.

2. Through the segments tab. Scroll down to view the different segments, you may want to filter by air. Highlighted in the screenshot below you can see the methodology used for this specific air segment is DEFRA.

Additional notes

Recent labelling change

On older segments, you may see the legacy terms "air-advanced" or "air-basic". "Air-advanced" refers to ICAO plus, while "air-basic" indicates that the calculator was missing one or more parameters (carrier + flight number etc.) and fell back to either DEFRA+ or DEFRA.

*"DEFRA" is used as the label due to the industry shorthand for the UK government's comprehensive emissions factors. We are aware that DEFRA is no longer the publishing department.