Our partner, the Aircraft Operations Lab at Carlos III University of Madrid collaborated on a recent study by researchers Fateme Baneshi, María Cerezo-Magaña, and Manuel Soler that was published in Transport Policy as part of the RefMap initiative. Their study focuses on non-CO2 emissions and investigates how altering flight patterns to be more environment-friendly can lessen the effect of aviation on climate change.
Seven thousand flights over the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area were examined in the study. The findings indicated that incorporating climate considerations into flight path design might greatly lessen the non-CO2 climatic impact of aviation.
Important conclusions:
Significantly lessened climate impact: Optimised aircraft trajectories have the potential to significantly lessen climate impact.
Higher operational costs: Although routes that are climate-friendly might lessen their impact on the environment, airlines must pay more for these routes.
Changes in traffic patterns: The adoption of climate-friendly routes modifies traffic patterns in regions where the influence of aviation emissions on the climate is significant. This may result in an uneven flow of air traffic, raising the likelihood of conflicts.
Air Traffic Management (ATM) complexity: The study revealed that individually tailored trajectories worsen traffic manageability by raising the level of complexity, congestion, and conflicts in air traffic management (ATM).
The results highlight how crucial it is to take operational and environmental factors into account when choosing aircraft routes that are best for the climate. This makes it possible to create policies that can provide an effective and safe ATM system while having little impact on the environment.
You read the full paper here: “Integrating non-CO2 climate impact considerations in air traffic management: Opportunities and challenges”, by Fateme Baneshi, María Cerezo-Magaña, and Manuel Soler. (Transport Policy, 2024, ISSN 0967-070X).
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