Aviation Sustainability Briefing
News and views on how we can make
aviation sustainable together
Editorial
This 9th edition of the EUROCONTROL Aviation Sustainability Briefing comes to you while our team is still processing the amazing insights from our successful EUROCONTROL-CANSO Sustainable Skies Conference: Contrails in Focus.
Moving from the concept of a green trajectory to a climate trajectory is one of the biggest challenges our aviation industry will have to face in the coming years. What do I mean by that? By bringing researchers, scientists, the aviation sector and policy-makers to one table, our EUROCONTROL-CANSO conference has demonstrated how strong the momentum is to move beyond the reduction of CO2 emissions and fuel towards seriously tackling non-CO2 emissions from aviation. What is clear is that more research and more reliable data are needed. I firmly believe that we make our best decisions when they are firmly grounded in data and research – something we are wholeheartedly dedicated to as our continuous contribution to SESAR 3 shows. With ContrailNet- the new network to create a common repository of contrail observation data we want to support the aviation sector’s efforts to reduce the climate impact of non-CO2 aviation emissions – working closely with our partners Airbus, Thales and everyone else who would like to contribute.
Decarbonizing the aviation sector will require a mix of technologies, each of which has a different potential for reducing CO2 emissions. Groningen Airport Eelde’s full-scale hydrogen ecosystem that is currently under development is a bold and exciting solution fostering sustainability and I am grateful to CEO Meiltje de Groot and her team for sharing their insights into this fascinating project in this edition. Also in this edition, our article on EUROCONTROL MUAC’s eco service to airlines - a tangible approach to promoting environmentally more responsible routes
From 1 January 2025 onwards aircraft operators will need to monitor and report the non-CO2 effects from each aircraft. I am glad we were able to include an interview with Beatriz Yordi from DG CLIMA of the European Commission in this edition and I thoroughly recommend it to you. The good news is that we are in this journey together and as we are learning together, we will and must adapt our initiatives and programmes. Like Michelle Bishop said at the EUROCONTROL-CANSO Sustainable Skies conference: “we will need the collective effort from the entire sector” and that holds particularly true as policy and rules change and new technologies are being established that will have a wide reaching impact on the aviation ecosystem. Let’s make sure we “walk the talk” to fill this notion of collaboration with meaning.
Enjoy reading this edition!
Marylin Bastin
Head of Aviation Sustainability
EUROCONTROL
Our sustainability briefing articles
Contrails in Focus
At Groningen Airport Eelde Europe's first 'Hydrogen Valley Airport' will be developed
Reducing aviation’s climate impacts should be seen more as an opportunity rather than as a constraint
EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) offers a new service to airlines for environmentally more responsible routes
Latest news on EUROCONTROL’s work on sustainability
Aviation sustainability developments from around the world
EUROCONTROL Director General Raúl Medina on sustainability and #FlyingGreen
Günther Ofner and Julian Jäger, joint CEOs of Vienna Airport, tell us how the airport manages to operate CO₂-neutrally.
Plans for flight reductions at Amsterdam-Schiphol: the debate is still open
Aviation sustainability developments from around the world
Latest news on EUROCONTROL’s work on sustainability
Previous sustainability briefing issues
