The influence of weight on fuel consumption and range for a turboprop medium courier aircraft

Performance in the en route phase can be measured using the range and endurance parameters of the airplane. The range is a more useful performance parameter than endurance and one that aircraft designers are constantly trying to improve. While endurance refers to airborne time, the range is more concerned with distance covered and is therefore sometimes referred to as fuel mileage. In most cases, the trade-off between range and payload is achieved at the initial purchase of the aircraft and, subsequently during in-flight planning.