Thales helps cut climate impact with contrail avoidance system
Thales has launched an innovative contrail avoidance system in partnership with Amelia and Breakthrough Energy Contrails. The system, which has been in operation since June 2024, is being deployed on all Amelia-operated Paris-Valladolid flights using Embraer ERJ145 aircraft as part of France’s DECOR project.
Contrails – the artificial clouds left behind by aircraft – trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere and contribute significantly to global warming, with an impact that can rival carbon dioxide emissions.
To tackle this, Thales has integrated its ‘Flights Footprint’ solution into Amelia’s Operational Control Center (OCC), providing alternative flight trajectories that reduce contrail formation while maintaining operational efficiency.
The technology allows flights to adjust altitude rather than reroute entirely, limiting additional fuel use to below 3% while cutting contrail-related climate impact by up to 40%.
The system relies on weather forecasts and advanced climate modelling from Breakthrough Energy Contrails to assess and optimise flight paths. Its effectiveness is further validated through direct observation via a ground camera supplied by Reuniwatt, with analysis support from digital services company SII.
Since implementation, the system has prevented an average of more than four tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions per contrail-affected flight. Encouraged by these results, Amelia plans to expand the programme to all eligible flights in 2025, making it the first airline to systematically adopt contrail avoidance as a climate mitigation strategy.
Yannick Assouad, Executive Vice-President, Avionics, Thales said: “Thales’ contrail avoidance solution is a first for France. It is fully aligned with Thales’ strategy aiming to transform the aerospace industry towards a more environmentally-friendly future through technology, for more sustainable and responsible aviation”.
Adrien Chabot, director of Sustainable Development at Amelia, added: “Taking condensation trails into account allows for the analysis of the total climate impact of our operations and thus a better optimisation of them. The challenge is to significantly and quickly reduce our impact on climate change by continuing the deployment of the Thales solution initiated in 2022. Today, it is probably one of the most promising approaches in terms of cost/benefit regarding climate impact.”
