Last Milestone for the E-CONTRAIL Project

Yesterday, Wednesday, 18 June, we had the pleasure of holding the final E-CONTRAIL Maturity Gate Meeting at the EUROCONTROL Headquarters in Brussels, in the presence of the SESAR Joint Undertaking.

The meeting was a great success, bringing together project partners and stakeholders to reflect on the work achieved and the way forward. It marked the official conclusion of the E-CONTRAIL project and provided an opportunity to present the project’s final outcome: the Climate Hotspot Prediction Service.

At the core of this service is an AI-driven model capable of predicting volumes of airspace where conditions are conducive to significant global warming impacts from contrails and aviation-induced cloudiness. Trained on historical datasets—including satellite observations, weather patterns, and air traffic data—the model delivers real-time predictions to support environmentally conscious decision-making in aviation.

In addition, a user-friendly visualization tool has been developed, in order to enable flight dispatchers, airlines, Air Navigation Service Providers, and the Network Manager to proactively manage flight paths and airspace usage, aiming to reduce the environmental footprint of aviation.

E-CONTRAIL represents a significant step towards integrating climate impact mitigation into the ATM Master Plan, supporting SESAR’s strategic goals for sustainable and efficient air traffic management.

Thanks to all collaborators for their valuable contributions throughout the project. We’ll be actively sharing the final project results and insights in the coming months. Stay tuned and follow us for updates!