Reducing the climate impact of flight trajectories considering network effects

Kurzfassung

To mitigate the climate impact of aviation, operational approaches can contribute in the short-term before technological innovations are available on a large scale. Adjusting flight trajectories both temporally and spatially appears promising to reduce non-CO2 climate effects in particular. However, adaptations to these trajectories influence the air traffic network leading to implementation restrictions. This study addresses the trade-off between climate mitigation and network stability for a case study in the European airspace. Results show high climate mitigation potentials of contrail effects for vertical trajectory adaptations. Network effects in terms of traffic demand in individual airspaces due to trajectory shifts are visible but appear to be manageable when focusing on high-impact flights.