Reduce Aviation’s Environmental Footprint through Smart Flight Path Optimisation
A collaboration between Thales and Amelia is testing a potentially groundbreaking solution to mitigate the environmental impact of aircraft contrails. Contrails are those persistent white condensation trails left in the sky by aircraft. So far, these tests have yielded impressive results, demonstrating the feasibility of contrail avoidance in real-world flight operations.
Amelia’s Real-World Trial: Paris-Valladolid Flights
Since June 2024, Amelia has deployed Thales’ contrail avoidance technology on all Paris-Valladolid flights using Embraer ERJ145 aircraft. These aircraft, representative of typical jet airliners, fly at cruising altitudes up to 37,000 feet, providing a robust test environment.
The Contrail Challenge: A Significant Climate Factor
Contrails, formed when hot aerospace jet engine exhaust mixes with cold air, create ice crystal clouds that trap heat. A 2020 EU study highlighted the significant warming effect of contrails, doubling the impact of aircraft CO2 emissions.
Thales’ Flights Footprint: The Solution
Thales’ Flights Footprint solution integrates with Amelia’s Operational Control Centre (OCC), dynamically generating alternative flight paths to avoid contrail formation. By adjusting aircraft altitude, rather than route, this system minimises additional fuel burn (under 3%), while achieving average climate impact reductions of up to 40%.
Data-Driven Optimisation: Weather & Climate Models
Flights Footprint uses advanced weather forecasts and climate models to optimise flight plans. Post-flight analysis validates the effectiveness of the contrail avoidance strategy, supported by ground camera observations. Flight plans are analysed pre-flight to predict contrail formation. If a significant impact is likely, alternative trajectories are proposed to minimise or eliminate contrails.
Test Flights Demonstrate Success
A test flight showcased the solution’s power. A minor altitude adjustment (from 36,000 to 34,000 feet) reduced contrail impact by 87% and overall climate impact by 30%, with only a 2.4% increase in fuel consumption.
Future Commitment: Expanding Contrail Avoidance
This project has already prevented over four tonnes of CO2eq per affected flight. Amelia will extend this system to more flights in 2025, becoming the first airline to systematically implement contrail avoidance. Amelia have confirmed further ongoing trials with A320 aircraft.
See more information at The Engineer website.
