Aircraft Exposure Insights

The Aircraft Utilisation Dataset by Spire Aviation offers a detailed historical perspective on how individual aircraft have been operated over time. By leveraging global ADS-B data collected by Spire’s satellite constellation and terrestrial receivers, and proprietary flight event detection algorithms, Spire builds a consolidated operational profile for each aircraft, helping customers evaluate utilisation patterns, fleet performance, and operational behaviour.

This dataset provides weekly snapshots of operational metrics, compiled per aircraft using unique airframe identifiers (MSNs), and includes comprehensive flight statistics as well as advanced metrics such as time spent operating in significant meteorological conditions (SIGMETs). The dataset currently covers up to five years of historical data and is updated weekly.

Field	Type	Description	Example
tail_number	string	Latest Aircraft Registration	G-EUUL
ac_type_icao	string	Latest Aircraft type (ICAO code)	A320
ac_type_name	string	Latest Aircraft type name	Airbus A320-232
ac_msn	string	Aircraft Manufacturer Serial Number,a unique ID assigned to each aircraft by the manufacturer	HAL1013
ac_type_iata	string	Aircraft type IATA code	AC
icao_address	string	Hexadecimal representation of ICAO 24 – bit address	14A5AC
airline_icao	string	Latest ICAO code representing the airline operating the aircraft	EZY
flight_cycles	integer	Number of complete flight operations	3
flight_hours	float	Total airborne time accumulated by the aircraft	1.08
block-hours	float	Total time from when the aircraft leaves the gate until it arrives at the destination gate	1.33
average_flight_duration_hours	float	Average duration of each flight in hours	1.1
usage_percentage	float	Percentage of time the aircraft is actively flying versus available time.	xx
taxi_hours	float	Time spent taxiing on the ground.	0.266
turnaround_hours	float	Time between aircraft arrival and its next departure	0.6
distance_flown_km	float	Total distance flown by the aircraft in kilometers	740
average_flight_distance_km	float	Average distance covered per flight.	742
duststorm_hours	float	Hours flown in dust storm conditions	1
volcanic_ash_hours	float	Hours flown in airspace affected by volcanic ash	0.2
icing_hours	float	Hours flown under atmospheric icing conditions	0.5
mountain_wave_hours	float	Hours flown in mountain wave turbulence	0
sandstorm_hours	float	Hours flown in sandstorm conditions	0.7
tropical_cyclone_hours	float	Hours flown near or through tropical cyclones	0.6
thunderstorms_hours	float	Hours flown in or near thunderstorm activity	5.94