Thales Leads Scalable Contrail Avoidance Deployment with Amelia Delivering Significant Aviation Emissions Reduction

Thales Leads Scalable Contrail Avoidance Deployment with Amelia Delivering Significant Aviation Emissions Reduction

(IN BRIEF) Thales and Amelia have successfully implemented a contrail-avoidance solution at scale, significantly reducing aviation’s climate impact by adjusting flight altitudes to prevent condensation trails. The initiative, expanded across all eligible flights in 2025, avoided more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions and reduced per-flight climate impact by around 70%, while keeping additional fuel use minimal. By targeting a small number of high-impact flights, the solution delivers strong environmental benefits with limited operational changes. Verified through advanced modelling and real-world observations, the project highlights the importance of addressing non-CO2 emissions and supports the aviation industry’s transition toward more sustainable operations.

(PRESS RELEASE) LA DÉFENSE, 19-Mar-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Thales and airline Amelia have announced the successful large-scale deployment of a contrail-avoidance solution designed to significantly reduce aviation’s climate impact. First introduced in 2024 on routes between Paris and Valladolid, the initiative focuses on optimizing flight plans by adjusting aircraft altitude instead of changing lateral routes, preventing the formation of condensation trails while keeping additional fuel consumption to a minimum.

Following its initial rollout, the solution was expanded across all eligible Amelia flights in 2025, including Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft as well as Embraer ERJ-145 jets. Based on advanced climate-impact modelling, the initiative resulted in the avoidance of more than 2,000 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions over the year, with an average reduction of approximately 70% in climate impact per flight. The program is part of the DECOR project, supported by France’s 2030 investment plan.

Contrails, although generated by a small proportion of flights, account for a significant share of aviation’s warming effect. Around 5% of flights can produce up to 80% of this impact. Amelia’s approach targets these high-impact cases, focusing on flights where atmospheric conditions are most likely to create persistent contrails with strong warming potential.

The results achieved in 2025 highlight the efficiency of this targeted strategy. Between 2,000 and 2,500 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions were avoided after applying updated modelling techniques. Only 59 flights out of more than 6,400 required altitude adjustments to deliver these results. The operational impact remained minimal, with additional fuel consumption kept below 0.1% across all affected flights.

The solution was designed for ease of implementation, requiring only altitude adjustments during flight planning, which enabled smooth integration into Amelia’s operational processes. Adrien Chabot, Director of Sustainability at Amelia, emphasized that focusing on high-impact flights allows for immediate and practical climate action while managing uncertainties linked to scientific modelling.

The results were independently evaluated by climate-focused startup Klima, with additional validation conducted through ground-based observations supported by SII and Reuniwatt. These checks confirmed a strong correlation between predicted contrail avoidance and actual atmospheric conditions observed during flights.

Yannick Assouad, Executive Vice President of Avionics at Thales, stated that the initiative reflects the company’s commitment to advancing sustainable aviation through technology. Integrating contrail-avoidance capabilities into flight planning demonstrates that measurable environmental benefits can be achieved at scale.

Looking ahead, Amelia plans to continue deploying and refining the solution in 2026, aiming to support broader adoption across the aviation sector. The initiative is expected to contribute to the integration of non-CO2 effects into aviation decarbonization strategies and align with upcoming European regulatory developments.

About Thales

Thales (Euronext Paris: HO) is a global leader in advanced technologies for the Defence, Aerospace, and Cyber & Digital sectors. Its portfolio of innovative products and services helps address several major challenges: sovereignty, security, sustainability and inclusion.

The Group allocates €4.5 billion per year in Research & Development in key areas, particularly for critical environments, such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Quantum and Cloud technologies.

Thales has more than 85,000 employees in 65 countries. In 2025, the Group generated sales of €22.1 billion.

About Amelia

A major player in the aviation industry in Europe and Africa since 1976, Amelia is a French aeronautics group that ensures flight operations and the monitoring and maintenance of its aircraft. Amelia’s fleet, consisting of 18 aircraft, meets the needs of its various activities, chartering on behalf of major international airlines, medical evacuations, and charter flights. Amelia is a member of IATA since November 2022, endorsing the wider Fly Net Zero commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

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SOURCE: Thales