Flight: ICAO
Calculate passenger flight emissions with the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator methodology: route-level fuel burn, load factors and the passenger-to-freight split, applied the same way across all ICAO member states.
ICEC dataset not included
SQUAKE applies the ICAO methodology described below, but not the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator (ICEC) dataset itself.
Sample requests
Send a quote while the traveller is still choosing a flight, then repeat the call with audit set to true once the booking is final. The body is otherwise identical.
{
"expand": ["items"],
"items": [{
"audit": false,
"type": "flight",
"methodology": "ICAO",
"external_reference": "test_7",
"origin": "BER",
"destination": "JFK",
"aircraft_type": "737",
"number_of_travelers": 1,
"booking_class": "business",
"airline": "AA",
"fare_class": "Y"
}]
}audit_for is optional
Pass the ID of an auditable entity when you calculate on behalf of that entity. Otherwise, leave it out.
Defaults
When a field is missing, SQUAKE fills it in before calculating.
| Field | Default | Applies when |
|---|---|---|
booking_class | economy | No booking_class is sent and none can be resolved from fare_class and airline |
aircraft_type | 737 | The flight is shorter than 550 km |
aircraft_type | 321 | The flight is between 550 km and 5,500 km |
aircraft_type | 320 | The flight is longer than 5,500 km |
How it's calculated
3.16 × (total fuel × pax-to-freight factor) ÷ (Y-seats × pax load factor)Distance correction
Fuel is estimated from the great-circle distance (GCD) between the two airports, using coordinates from the ICAO Location Indicators database (ICAO Doc 7910). The GCD is then corrected for distance flown beyond it because of stacking, traffic and weather. According to EIG, the distance actually flown can be up to 11% longer than the GCD in Europe (ANCAT/EC2 1998).
| Great-circle distance | Added to GCD |
|---|---|
| Under 550 km | + 50 km |
| 550 km to 5,500 km | + 100 km |
| Over 5,500 km | + 125 km |
Request fields
typestringrequiredflight
methodologystringrequiredICAO
originstringIATA/ICAO airport code (MUC), UN/LOCODE for other locations (DEHAM), or latitude and longitude (+40.712,-74.006). For multi-leg trips, use routing instead.
destinationstringSame formats as origin.
routingstringHyphen-separated airports for multi-leg itineraries, instead of origin and destination. See Flight: Routing (multi-leg).
distance_in_kmnumberTakes priority over origin and destination. Without it, SQUAKE resolves the distance from them. With routing, per-leg distances apply.
booking_classenumIf you leave it out, send fare_class and airline so SQUAKE can resolve it. Defaults to economy.
fare_classstringA single letter such as Y or J. Together with airline, mutually exclusive with booking_class.
airlinestringIATA designator such as LH; airline names are resolved too. Together with fare_class, mutually exclusive with booking_class.
aircraft_typestringAircraft type in IATA or ICAO format.
number_of_travelersintegerMinimum 1. Defaults to 1.
external_referencestringYour identifier for the item, up to 128 characters, so you can match results to requests. SQUAKE doesn't guarantee the order of items.
sustainable_fuelsbooleanMarks the use of sustainable fuels. This lowers the emissions SQUAKE calculates, but isn't part of the current official frameworks.
carbon_reduction_percentage_of_totalnumberShare of emissions reduced by sustainable fuel, from 0 to 1. Defaults to 0.
auditbooleanSet to true to create immutable audit records for finalised calculations. Must be enabled for your account.
POST /v2/calculations in the API referenceSample response
{
"carbon_quantity": 454070,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"items": [{
"carbon_quantity": 454070,
"carbon_unit": "gram",
"external_reference": "test_7",
"type": "flight",
"methodology": "ICAO",
"distance": 6522.0,
"distance_unit": "kilometer"
}]
}Bibliography
ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator Methodology, version 13.1. ICAO, August 2024. Read the PDF.