How Much Extra Fuel Does a Reroute Use?
Numerical answers on the fuel and cost impact of airspace rerouting in 2026.
How much extra fuel does a one-hour reroute use?
Widebody: approximately 2,000–2,500 kg per additional hour of cruise. Narrowbody: approximately 1,200–1,600 kg per hour. At jet fuel prices of roughly $900/tonne, that is $1,800–2,250 per hour for widebodies and $1,080–1,440 for narrowbodies in fuel alone.
And the total cost?
Fuel is about 60% of total incremental cost. Full operating cost per extra hour: $15,000-25,000 for widebodies, $8,000-12,000 for narrowbodies. See detailed breakdown on our cost per flight hour page.
What does that mean for ticket prices?
Airlines absorb some of the cost through yield adjustment and some through pass-through surcharges. On long-haul where rerouting adds 1-2 hours, ticket prices have risen 5-15% versus pre-closure baseline on affected routes.
Who pays the most under the 2022-2026 disruption?
Air India (Pakistan closure): projected $600M/year. Collectively European carriers re-routing away from Russia: cumulative billions across 2022-2026. Gulf events of Feb 2026: approximately $2.1B industry-wide during the 5-day peak.
Informational. Benchmarks, not specific operator data. See Terms of Service.