Google, UK test AI to cut aviation’s contrail warming

21 / 08 / 2026

By Marwa Nassar - -

Google is partnering with the UK Government and aviation leaders to launch Operation Blue Skies, a 30-month trial designed to help aircraft avoid areas where strongly warming contrails are likely to form.

The program will operate in Shanwick airspace, covering the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor and accounting for about 5% of global contrail warming. Two operational trials, each lasting around four months, will test the approach.

Around 10,000 flights from hundreds of cities are expected to pass through the airspace during trial hours each year. Only a small percentage of flights are expected to make slight route adjustments to avoid contrail-sensitive areas.

AI maps warming risk:

Contrails form when water vapor from aircraft exhaust condenses around soot particles, creating clouds of ice crystals. Some can persist and trap heat, accounting for roughly one-third of aviation’s total climate impact.

Google has already worked with airlines, air navigation providers and flight-planning companies to develop and test AI-powered forecasts that identify areas where warming contrails are likely. The forecasts allow pilots and air traffic controllers to make targeted adjustments while keeping flights within normal operating procedures.

Operation Blue Skies will take that work from individual airline trials to coordinated action across an entire flight corridor.

Cross-industry climate test:

The initiative brings together Google UK, NATS, Contrails.org, Imperial College London, the University of Cambridge and the UK Met Office.

Google will develop the AI models and use machine learning and satellite imagery to track and verify results. NATS will oversee airspace operations, safety assessments and air traffic controller training, while academic partners will independently evaluate the climate impact.

The program is co-funded by industry partners and the UK Department for Transport through the Aerospace Technology Institute Programme. Google UK is contributing £1.4 million in-kind through AI research, engineering expertise and high-performance computing infrastructure on a pro-bono basis.

Testing lower-impact flight model:

Research suggests that avoiding warming contrails could be among the more cost-effective ways to reduce aviation’s climate impact. Operation Blue Skies will test whether the approach can work reliably across busy international airspace and provide a blueprint for wider adoption.

If successful, the trial could demonstrate how AI, satellite data and air traffic management can work together to reduce aviation emissions and climate impact without requiring major changes to normal flight operations.