- Air France and Thales have shared findings from flight trials targeting contrails
- Air France achieved a 57pc reduction in contrail climate impact
- The airline rerouted 130 flights out of 4,300 analysed
- Thales and Amelia avoided 2,000 to 2,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent
- Both initiatives adjust flight altitudes to avoid ice-supersaturated regions
Air France and Thales have each conducted major operational flight trials to reduce the climate impact of aircraft condensation trails operating through separate French and European research partnerships. Between February and April 2026 Air France tested contrail avoidance across nearly 4,300 commercial transatlantic flights alongside French climate-tech startups Estuaire and Klima as part of the EU-funded CICONIA project. Dispatchers flagged 245 flights with high persistent-contrail risk and actively modified the flight altitudes of 130 aircraft.
The rerouted flights achieved a 57pc drop in contrail climate impact and a 36pc reduction in overall climate impact. Across the full trial scope the adjustments avoided roughly 22,000 to 22,500 tonnes of CO2 equivalent warming. Data showed that just 3pc of the analysed flights caused 25pc of the total contrail warming effect.
Aerospace technology group Thales partnered with French regional airline Amelia under the France 2030 DECOR project announcing large-scale deployment results in March 2026. Thales used its predictive flight-planning tool to identify contrail hotspots and recommend small cruise-altitude adjustments before departure. Across more than 6,400 flights evaluated in 2025 modifying 59 high-impact trajectories avoided between 2,000 and 2,500 net tonnes of CO2 equivalent warming. The altitude shifts reduced average per-flight climate impact by roughly 70pc while adding less than 0.1pc in extra fuel burn.
