Google and UK test AI to cut contrail climate impact

Google and the UK government are launching a groundbreaking trial: an AI predicts contrail formation zones to slightly reroute flights. Goal: reduce their climate impact by up to 60%, which accounts for a third of aviation emissions.

Operation Blue Skies: a trial across an entire air corridor

On August 18, 2026, Google officially announces the Operation Blue Skies project, in partnership with the UK. Over 30 months, this initiative tests contrail avoidance—contrails—in Shanwick airspace, east of the North Atlantic. This corridor alone accounts for 5% of global warming linked to contrails.

Around 10,000 flights cross this area annually during test hours. Of these, 1 to 5% will be slightly rerouted (up to 600 meters in altitude) to avoid contrail-prone conditions. Trials will take place on evenings and nights during the winters of 2026-2027 and 2027-2028, when contrails’ climate impact is highest.

An AI trained on thousands of satellite images

Google’s AI combines satellite images, weather data, and flight histories to predict high-risk zones. It was developed after analyzing tens of thousands of contrail images, manually labeled by engineers. In March 2026, a trial with American Airlines on 2,400 transatlantic flights already reduced contrail formation by 62% for adjusted flights.

The project is co-funded by the UK (£2.65 million) and private partners. Google contributes pro bono £1.4 million in expertise and infrastructure. Results will be published in scientific journals for validation.

An underestimated climate impact

Contrails form when water vapor from engines condenses around soot particles, creating clouds that trap heat. Their contribution to global warming is estimated at one-third of aviation’s total impact, according to studies cited by Google and the ICCT report (2025).

“The climate cost of contrails is on the order of magnitude of all aviation CO₂ emissions.” — Paul Hodgson, Technical Lead at Google UKTranslated from French

Rerouting causes extra fuel consumption (about 100 kg per flight), but the climate benefit far outweighs this cost. “The CO₂ penalty is less than 1%, while the avoided impact is measured in tons,” Hodgson notes.

RecommendedAI hits critical threshold: loss of control, fossil energy, and concentrated powerNews · August 1, 2026

A world first, but with limitations

This is the first time a contrail avoidance trial is conducted at the scale of an entire airspace, with no opt-out for airlines. Air traffic controllers will use Google’s forecasts to adjust altitudes, as they already do to avoid turbulence.

If results confirm the AI’s effectiveness, this method could become a standard to reduce aviation’s climate footprint. The question remains whether large-scale deployment will be compatible with air traffic growth.