MIL-OSI Europe: Answer to a written question – Tackling aviation contrails – E-001706/2025(ASW)

The Commission has been actively supporting research efforts to better understand and address the impact of contrails on the climate for over 35 years.

It is indeed due to these EU and national efforts that we have the present level of understanding and global leadership in this domain. As we work towards implementing effective contrail avoidance practices, our current focus remains on tackling all aviation emissions in the most effective manner.

The Commission is currently working on fuel composition and exploring possible ways to improving jet fuel quality to reduce aromatics and sulphur levels lowering the amounts of non-CO₂-emissions stemming from fuel consumption.

Similarly, the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation[1] and the increased adoption of specific types of sustainable aviation fuels are expected to contribute to the decrease of contrail formation that affect non-CO₂ climate impacts.

In addition, the climate impacts of non-CO₂ are already being monitored and reported following the entry into applicability of the Measurement Reporting and Verification framework as of 1 January 2025, as part of the EU Emissions Trading System Directive.

Financial opportunities for contrail avoidance and sustainable aviation are available through EU funding programmes[2]. For example, the ‘dynamic collaboration to generalize eco-friendly trajectories’ (CONCERTO)[3] aims to demonstrate that more environmental trajectories and climate mitigation measures can be implemented in the daily operations to reduce CO₂ and non-CO₂ emissions.

All the above EU research projects and many other national ones (e.g Climaviation[4] and LUFO[5]) are expected to ensure a rapid and holistic reduction of all non-CO₂ emissions (including contrails).

• [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2405.
• [2] For example Horizon Europe, PACIFIC, UNIC, E_CONTRAIL, BECOM, CICONIA, as well as the Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking and the EU ETS Innovation Fund.
• [3] https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101114785.
• [4] https://climaviation.fr/en/research-focus/contrails/.
• [5] https://www.bauhaus-luftfahrt.net/en/projects/project-airtime-reducing-co2-emissions-and-contrails-with-advanced-wing-technologies.