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Paul Hodgson leads a UK-backed AI trial to reduce aviation climate impact by avoiding contrails over the North Atlantic

The British government has launched Operation Blue Skies, a 30-month trial to determine if artificial intelligence can reduce aviation's climate impact by helping planes avoid contrail-sensitive regions. Paul Hodgson, Google's technical lead for the project, noted that contrails account for approximately one-third of aviation's total climate warming. The trial will focus on the Shanwick Oceanic airspace in the North Atlantic, which represents about 5% of global contrail warming. By using Google's AI-powered forecasts, air traffic controllers will direct pilots to adjust altitudes by approximately 2,000 feet to avoid areas where ice crystals are likely to form. This minor adjustment is expected to be operationally practical and largely unnoticeable to passengers. The project is a world-first, state-backed trial at an airspace-scale, moving beyond individual airline tests to a coordinated effort across a flight corridor. The Department for Transport is providing £2.65m of the £5m total cost, while Google contributes £1.4m in-in-kind research and infrastructure. The results will be published in academic literature to provide a blueprint for cleaner flying.

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