Motivation & Challenges

Global challenges

Global warming & impact of aviation on climate change:

Demographic growth (people)

2019

7.6 billion

2050

9.8 billion

Air traffic (passengers)

2019

4.5 billion

2050

16 billion

To support air mobility while mitigating the causes of climate change (reduce CO2 and other gas emissions), the industry and airliners have the following leverage:

Aircraft efficiency

Alternative fuels/propulsion

Reducing CO2/NOx emissions

Use more efficient flight maneuvers along optimized trajectories

It is mentioned several times in ICAO publications that a change in operations should not be driven by specific technologies. It should be driven by specific needs, in the present case by the need to reduce the environmental impact.

Scientific challenges

great Scientific challenges

GreAT will address the following:

  • Investigation of new possibilities to reduce gas emissions produced by aircrafts on flight trajectories
  • Local: Arrival / departure routes, delay absorption, short-haul flights
  • Global: Traffic as a whole, long-haul flights
  • New concepts to manage air traffic in a ‚greener‘ way, e.g. by using Trajectory Based Operations (TBO) and adapted airspace design
  • Determination of the potential to save gas emissions with greener trajectories