Electric and fuel aircraft schedule optimizing problem with battery charging and swapping — The case of flight in china

Yuxiang Tang, Li Wang, Wenxuan Kang, Wenchao Liu and Yufeng Zhuang

Journal of Air Transport Management, 2026, vol. 130, issue C

Abstract: Under the trend of electrification, civil aviation is promoting electric aircraft to reduce emissions. In recent years, technological advancements have opened up the possibility of employing electric aircraft in flight routes. This paper will explore the scheduling problem of electric and fuel aircraft. The mixed operation mode of electric and fuel aircraft is necessary in the current state of green development since electric aircraft currently face significant challenges for operators of long haul routes. Meanwhile, the battery swapping technology can significantly reduce aircraft charging time at airports. Therefore, this paper investigates the optimization problem of the electric and fuel aircraft schedule with battery charging and swapping (ef-ASOP). We introduce a mixed integer programming formulation for the ef-ASOP to minimize total emission, charging, swapping and delay costs. The constraints of the model consider flow, charging and time constraints. We propose M-parameters bounds and two valid inequalities for model enhancement. The Air China case study demonstrates practical insights. The results show that an increase in the number of electric aircraft and battery capacity leads to a reduction in emission costs and an increase in delay costs. Electric aircraft and fuel aircraft are complementary. Some long haul routes cannot be operated by electric aircraft, but can be met by fuel aircraft. At the same time, fuel aircraft also help reduce delay costs. Meanwhile, more widespread deployment of battery swapping stations can reduce delays and improve passenger satisfaction.

Keywords: Aircraft scheduling; Electric aircraft; Mix operation mode; Battery swapping (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jaitra:v:130:y:2026:i:c:s096969972500153x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jairtraman.2025.102890

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