By 2030, the aviation industry is targeting an overall reduction of at least 15% in net CO2 emissions relative to 2019, and a 40% net reduction by 2040. Managing our airspace more effectively, and flying more efficiently, will play a crucial role in the future of aviation.

As the Prime Minister arrived in Cornwall for last week’s G7 meeting, he declared “the UK is actually in the lead in developing sustainable aviation fuel, and one of the points in the 10 point plan of our green industrial revolution, is to get to ‘jet zero’ as well.”

So what is the UK doing to deliver ‘jet zero’ and reduce emissions from aviation? And how is NATS playing a part?

NATS can trace its sustainability programme back to 2008.  We’re proud that we were among the first in our industry to recognise the climate challenge and start to put in place measures to address the impact we have.

Here’s a real world example of how we’re using 3Di – now available for free to the rest of the aviation industry – to make real world improvements to our customers’ operations, while making a contribution to making aviation more environmentally sustainable.

This week we announced we’re giving away our environmental performance metric 3Di – or ‘Three Dimensional Insight’ – to stakeholders across the aviation community that would like to use it. But how does it work?

White cloud streaks high up in the sky are one of the ways you can tell a plane has been overhead. And although they can form striking patterns in the sky, these contrails and the cirrus clouds they induce, impact climate change, possibly greater than the effect from CO2 emissions.

For many years the default position for big public consultations has been to have a consultation document buttressed by a range of engagement processes, most notably public roadshows. The pandemic has made us rethink how we approach a consultation, and it has resulted in a more effective approach that now might well become the new default position. 

The Covid19 crisis represents a once in a generation opportunity to ‘build back better’, so how successful was DHL’s ‘perfect flight’ what lessons can we learn?

As we end week 12 of lockdown in the UK and head into the normal summer holiday season, there is still uncertainty around what a recovery might look like for the aviation industry. One thing is clear; the severe fall in air traffic present a unique opportunity to accelerate aviation decarbonisation.  

It’s now 15 years since Sustainable Aviation was set up, a unique coalition across the aviation industry established to work collectively and collaboratively to reduce the impact of our operations on the environment.