Capital flight? Do airlines move fuel-efficient planes to high-fuel-tax routes?

This paper shows that airlines operate fuel-efficient planes on routes with high fuel taxes. It builds on a large data-collection effort compiling information on fuel taxes at the airport level, which is used to generate route-level taxes for thousands of nonstop airline routes in the US. The paper extends previous work exploring the connection between fuel prices and airline operations, with a new focus on the taxation of inputs. The results are used to derive the local pollution benefits from a route-specific fuel-tax increase.

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Publication Details

Journal
Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice
Published
2026-11-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2026.105338
Primary Topic
Aviation Industry Analysis and Trends
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Capital flight? Do airlines move fuel-efficient planes to high-fuel-tax routes?

Jan K. Brueckner, David Robert Agrawal, A. Quinton White
Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice
Aviation Industry Analysis and Trends
article

Capital flight? Do airlines move fuel-efficient planes to high-fuel-tax routes?

Jan K. Brueckner, David Robert Agrawal, A. Quinton White
article en

Abstract

This paper shows that airlines operate fuel-efficient planes on routes with high fuel taxes. It builds on a large data-collection effort compiling information on fuel taxes at the airport level, which is used to generate route-level taxes for thousands of nonstop airline routes in the US. The paper extends previous work exploring the connection between fuel prices and airline operations, with a new focus on the taxation of inputs. The results are used to derive the local pollution benefits from a route-specific fuel-tax increase.

Transportation Research Part A Policy and PracticeVol. 216
United States Department of the Treasury (US), University of California, Irvine (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Aviation Industry Analysis and Trends
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