033 Flight Planning and Monitoring topic guide
EASA Fuel Planning
Fuel planning questions reward one skill above all: knowing exactly what each named quantity covers and what it does not. The planned fuel load is assembled from taxi fuel, trip fuel, contingency fuel, alternate fuel, final reserve fuel, plus any additional and extra fuel the operation requires.
The exam tests the structure in both directions: assembling a minimum block fuel from given components, and picking which quantity protects a described scenario. Both collapse if two definitions are blurred, and the distractors are always built from the most commonly blurred pair.
What each quantity covers
Taxi fuel covers ground operations before take-off. Trip fuel takes the aircraft from brake release to landing at the destination, including the climb, cruise, descent, and expected arrival routing. Contingency fuel protects the trip-fuel calculation itself against unforeseen deviations such as routing changes or wind differences, and under the basic scheme it is typically 5 per cent of the planned trip fuel, with defined alternatives such as a time-based minimum.
Alternate fuel takes the aircraft from a missed approach at the destination to landing at the destination alternate. Final reserve fuel is the untouchable core, commonly expressed as 30 minutes of holding at 1500 ft above the aerodrome in standard conditions for turbine aircraft. Additional fuel is only required when the sum of the earlier quantities does not cover specific scenarios the rules name, for example an engine failure or depressurisation at the most critical point. Extra fuel is simply what the commander adds on top, at their discretion.
- Taxi: before take-off
- Trip: brake release to touchdown at destination
- Contingency: protects the trip-fuel estimate
- Alternate: missed approach to the alternate
- Final reserve: protected holding fuel, planned to still be aboard
- Additional: named abnormal scenarios only when not already covered
- Extra: commander's discretion
How the exam frames it
Numeric stems give you the components and ask for the minimum required fuel, and the wrong options are the same sum with exactly one component missing. Definition stems describe a scenario, a diversion after a go-around, say, and ask which quantity covers it. In-flight stems then test the consequence: if the expected landing fuel drops below final reserve plus any required alternate fuel, the situation escalates through minimum-fuel and MAYDAY fuel declarations.
Answer strategy: write the five core names, assign each given number to one name, and add. Any number in the stem you have not used is either extra fuel or a deliberate red herring, and noticing that is usually the difference between the correct answer and the trap.
Worked example
Worked example: minimum block fuel
Not quite. The correct answer is C.
Correct answer: C
- A. This omits the 900 kg final reserve, the one quantity that must always survive to landing.
- B. This forgets taxi fuel. Block fuel is measured before start-up, so the 150 kg burned on the ground must be aboard.
- C. Correct: 150 taxi + 3000 trip + 150 contingency (5 per cent of 3000) + 800 alternate + 900 final reserve = 5000 kg.
- D. This omits the alternate fuel. An alternate is planned here, so the fuel to reach it after a missed approach is part of the minimum.
Step by step
- Contingency first: 5 per cent of the 3000 kg trip fuel is 150 kg.
- List and add every required quantity: 150 (taxi) + 3000 (trip) + 150 (contingency) + 800 (alternate) + 900 (final reserve).
- The sum is 5000 kg. Each wrong option is this sum with exactly one component removed, which is how these distractors are always built.
Common mistakes
Confusing contingency with additional fuel
Contingency protects the trip-fuel estimate on every flight; additional fuel exists only for named abnormal scenarios not already covered. They are not interchangeable labels for spare fuel.
Leaving taxi fuel out of block fuel
Block fuel is the total at start-up. Ramp and taxi burn happens before brake release, so it sits on top of everything that follows.
Treating final reserve as spendable on a diversion
Alternate fuel gets you to the alternate; final reserve must still be in the tanks when you arrive there. Planning to land inside final reserve is what triggers the fuel emergency escalation.
Related topic guides
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Important information
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Last reviewed July 2026