Contrail avoidance implemented by Thales and Amelia

Since June 2024, Thales' contrail avoidance solution has been deployed on all Paris-Valladolid flights operated by Amelia, using Embraer ERJ145 aircraft. These aircraft have a maximum cruising altitude of 37,000 feet, which is representative of jet airliners.

Contrails form when the warm moist exhaust fumes from an aircraft mix with cold ambient air, which produces ice crystal clouds that trap heat from the sun. An EU study from 2020 found that contrails are among the non-CO2 emissions (CO2eq) that contribute twice as much to global warming as aircraft CO2.

To mitigate against this, Thales’ Flights Footprint solution was integrated with Amelia’s Operational Control Centre (OCC) tools to provide alternative routes to their flight plans.

When a significant impact of contrails is detected, Flights Footprint suggests flight alternatives that allow for a reduction in climate impact, with a minimum average decrease of up to 40 per cent in the total climate impact of the flight. This flight optimisation relies on adjusting the aircraft's altitude, without changing their route, which helps to keep additional fuel consumption to below three per cent.