How to Design a Daily Traffic Template that Really Works

How to Design a Daily Traffic Template that Really Works

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

In many airlines, the quality of monthly reports and the correct consolidation of statistical forms depend entirely on one key element: the daily traffic template.

A poorly designed format generates inconsistencies, incomplete data, reprocessing, unnecessary reconciliations, and delays in submitting information to the civil aviation authority. By contrast, a solid template ensures that every flight is correctly captured, standardised, and ready for consolidation.

In this article, we share the essential elements and recommendations that every airline should include in order to build a daily template that truly works.

In addition, at the end you will find downloadable material that you can use as a guide or to complement your current format.

1. Basic flight information

Each record should include the elements that define the flight. The following are recommended:

• Flight date (DD/MM/YYYY)
• Flight number
• Leg number
• Flight prefix
• Category: Passenger / All-cargo
• Type of service (Scheduled / Non-scheduled)
• Flight stage (International / Domestic)
• Departure airport (IATA code)
• Arrival airport (IATA code)
• Operating carrier (in the case of code-share flights)
• Aircraft manufacturer
• Aircraft model and series
• Aircraft registration

Direct flights will be easily identified as 1A. If you have a multi-stop itinerary, please refer to the example accompanying this article for further details.

This section acts as the backbone of the dataset, and its standardisation is essential.

2. Operational data

The following fields are necessary for subsequent validations and calculations:

• Distance in kilometres between airport pairs
• Departures (1 for each operation performed)
• Block hours (it is recommended to record hours and minutes separately)
• Average speed (optional, but very useful for internal controls)
   

Using separate columns for hours and minutes prevents formatting errors and makes it easier to sum total times.

3. Traffic data

For complete and standardised capture, the template should include:

• Revenue passengers carried
• Seat capacity
• Baggage
• Excess baggage
• Revenue freight
• Revenue mail
• Total payload capacity
• Cargo payload capacity
• Fuel consumption
   

Except for the number of passengers, all metrics should be recorded in kilograms to ensure operational and statistical consistency.

4. Design recommendations

These practices help to ensure consistency and clarity:

• Use data validation (drop-down lists, numeric limits, valid dates)
• Keep column names standardised, without accents or spaces.
• Include a glossary, which can be an additional sheet with definitions of each field.
• Avoid complex formulae inside the template: reserve calculations for later stages.
   

For validation purposes, remember that passengers and seats must always be whole numbers.

There is no such thing as “2.5 passengers” or “0.7 seats”.

When completing the glossary, make sure you use the official definitions laid down by your civil aviation authority or by the relevant international organisation.

5. Strategic benefit

A robust daily template:

• Defines the structure of the metadata, which is pure gold for your analysis.
• Reduces errors in monthly consolidation.
• Ensures consistency across statistical forms (ATR forms).
• Facilitates internal and external audits.
• Improves analytical and forecasting capacity.
• Prevents additional information requests from the civil aviation authority.
   

A well-designed template is not just a data-entry tool:
it is the structural framework that keeps operational data consistent, interpretable, and reliable.

Conclusion

Building an effective daily template is not complex, but it does require method, clarity, and standardisation. When an airline adopts a solid, consistent format aligned with best practices, the quality of its information improves immediately and data management becomes a genuine operational and strategic asset.

Icarus embraces you and accompanies you in this task; we provide you with:

Downloadable file and examples (annexes)

1. Excel template with fictitious data

Includes a complete daily capture format with fictitious values for pedagogical purposes, to help you visualise how a traffic template should be completed.

2. Example for determining leg number and prefix in flights with stops

Explains step by step how to assign the leg number and prefix in flights with multiple stops, with illustrative tables and clear operational logic.
These annexes include tables, examples, and the methodology needed to help airlines correctly classify operations with different combinations of origin and destination cities.

Final note: if you need support with the definitions, do not hesitate to contact us — we will be very happy to assist you.

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