Cathay and Google expand AI trials to curb contrails on ultra-long-haul flights

Cathay Pacific and Google are expanding trials of an artificial-intelligence system that forecasts where persistent, heat-trapping contrails are likely to form, allowing pilots and dispatchers to make small altitude adjustments. Cathay is Google’s first commercial airline partner in the Asia-Pacific region for the technology and the first airline to test contrail avoidance on ultra-long-haul flights. Persistent contrails may account for roughly one-third of aviation’s total climate impact, although avoiding them would address only part of an aircraft’s overall warming effect. The trials, including planned randomized testing with Contrails.org on Asia-Pacific and transpacific routes, will assess operational feasibility and generate data from a region that has been underrepresented in previous research.