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Tue, 18 Aug 2026

Tue, 18 Aug 2026 AI to help planes avoid climate-warming 'sky graffiti'

A new UK trial hopes to reduce the condensation trails from planes, which can trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere.

* A £5m UK trial will test whether AI can help predict where warming contrails are likely to form and get planes to avoid those areas.
* The 30-month Operation Blue Skies project involves Google, the UK government, the Met Office, and air traffic control provider NATS.
* Contrails are formed when exhaust fumes from planes turn into ice crystals in cold air at high altitude.
* Warming contrails contribute to climate change and scientists estimate they are responsible for around a third of all aviation climate warming.
* The trial will use satellite images and flight data to identify areas where planes have previously produced contrails and forecast where new contrails are likely to occur.
* The information will be passed to NATS, who will direct pilots to avoid those areas by changing altitude by around 2,000ft.
* Testing will take place during selected evenings and nights in the winters of 2026-27 and 2027-28, when air traffic is lower.
* Around 10,000 flights are expected to pass through the airspace during the trial periods, although only a fraction will need to change altitude specifically to avoid contrails.
* The project also comes as the government backs expansion of UK airports, raising questions about whether tech solutions can sufficiently reduce aviation's environmental impact.