Google, the UK Department for Transport, NATS, the Met Office, Contrails.org, Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge have launched Operation Blue Skies, a £5 million trial designed to test AI-driven contrail avoidance across Shanwick oceanic airspace in the eastern North Atlantic. The 30-month programme will study whether small, controller-led altitude changes for commercial flights can reduce contrail warming without disrupting normal air traffic operations.
The project is backed by £2.65 million from the UK Department for Transport and will run two winter trial periods in 2026-2027 and 2027-2028. Testing is expected to take place on roughly 20 to 40 days each winter, when traffic levels are lower and contrail warming effects are strongest.
AI-based forecasts will identify atmospheric conditions likely to produce persistent contrails, allowing air traffic controllers to advise minor altitude adjustments rather than broader reroutes. Around 10,000 flights are expected to pass through the airspace during trial hours each year, although only a small share is likely to be adjusted. The initiative builds on earlier airline-led work but extends it to an entire oceanic corridor, which the partners estimate accounts for about 5% of global contrail warming.