Feasibility Study of Electrification in Brazilian Regional Air Routes Operated by Azul Conecta

This study investigates the feasibility of hybrid-electric propulsion for regional aircraft operating in Brazil, using real-world data from Azul Conecta, a subsidiary of Azul Brazilian Airlines. The analysis supports the company’s decision to acquire retrofit hybridization kits from Ampaire by providing technical, operational, and sustainability assessments tailored to its route network. A validated performance model of the Cessna Grand Caravan EX was integrated into the FAST-OAD-CS23HE framework to simulate different mission lengths and hybridization levels. To properly capture the economic impact of environmental gains, this work introduces the Sustainable Direct Operating Cost (DOCSA), a novel metric that accounts for monetized carbon credits in the total cost evaluation. Under this framework, propulsion alternatives are assessed not only by their raw DOC, but also by their effective cost after environmental externalities are internalized. For example, at a 500-nm mission with a 450-kWhybrid configuration, the conventional DOC is reduced by approximately 1.2%, while the SA-DOC shows a reduction of 11.9% when carbon credit revenues are considered. The use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) demonstrated the highest decarbonization potential, achieving up to 71% CO2 reduction without any payload penalty. The findings contribute to both strategic fleet planning and the development of public policies to incentivize low-emission aviation through carbon market integration.