--- title: Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails... description: Google and the UK government are launching Operation Blue Skies, a trial using AI forecasts to reroute North Atlantic flights around contrail-forming air,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails over the Atlantic | daily.dev og:description: Google and the UK government are launching Operation Blue Skies, a trial using AI forecasts to reroute North Atlantic flights around contrail-forming air,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/kednxakpk.png og:image:alt: Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails over the Atlantic og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails over the Atlantic **[The Next Web](https://daily.dev/sources/tnw)** · 5 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Google and the UK government are launching Operation Blue Skies, a trial using AI forecasts to reroute North Atlantic flights around contrail-forming air, aiming to cut aviation's warming impact. Running across two winters starting 2026 in Shanwick airspace, the £5mn project pairs Google's models (built from satellite, flight and Met Office data) with NATS air traffic controllers who can shift aircraft altitude by up to 2,000 feet. Google contributes £1.4mn pro bono; the rest comes from UK government and industry funding, with Imperial College London and Cambridge providing independent verification. Partners claim the fuel penalty from rerouting is under 1% of the contrail warming avoided, building on earlier airline trials that cut contrail formation by 60-70%. Critics note the irony that Google's own AI data centre buildout is driving rising energy use elsewhere. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does Google's Operation Blue Skies trial reduce airplane contrails over the Atlantic? Google builds AI forecasts from satellite imagery, flight data, and Met Office weather models to predict where persistent, warming contrails will form over the North Atlantic's Shanwick airspace. Those forecasts go to NATS, the UK air traffic control provider, whose controllers can then instruct pilots to change altitude by up to 2,000 feet to avoid the contrail-forming layer. _Track how AI-driven forecasting projects like this move from trial to real-world deployment on daily.dev._ ### Does rerouting planes to avoid contrails burn more fuel than it saves in climate impact? A full deviation through Shanwick airspace burns about 100kg of extra fuel per aircraft, adding carbon dioxide emissions, but the resulting carbon penalty is estimated at under 1 percent of the contrail warming avoided, according to Google's technical lead on the project. The avoided warming is measured in the tonnes or tens of tonnes per deviation. _Developers weighing climate tradeoffs in AI applications can follow this debate on daily.dev._ ### What is the scale and funding of the UK's contrail-avoidance aviation trial with Google? Operation Blue Skies is a £5mn, 30-month effort in Shanwick airspace, covering about 5 percent of global contrail warming. The UK Department for Transport contributes £2.65mn, industry partners cover the rest, and Google participates pro bono with £1.4mn in kind. Two four-month operational trials run across the winters of 2026-27 and 2027-28, testing roughly 20 to 40 days per winter out of about 10,000 annual flights. _Anyone tracking how AI research funding translates into real infrastructure trials can follow updates on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Cathay Pacific and Google partner on AI contrail avoidance for ultra-long-haul flights](https://daily.dev/posts/cathay-pacific-and-google-partner-on-ai-contrail-avoidance-for-ultra-long-haul-flights-k6fnfly0w) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Study: More eyes on the skies will help planes reduce climate-warming contrails](https://daily.dev/posts/study-more-eyes-on-the-skies-will-help-planes-reduce-climate-warming-contrails-l5vfs7nd4) · MIT News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The Download: war in Europe, and the company that wants to cool the planet](https://daily.dev/posts/the-download-war-in-europe-and-the-company-that-wants-to-cool-the-planet-fvsrmyrdg) · MIT Technology Review · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [University of Manchester Uses NVIDIA Earth-2 to Forecast Air Pollution Across the UK](https://daily.dev/posts/university-of-manchester-uses-nvidia-earth-2-to-forecast-air-pollution-across-the-uk-8ll91dgtt) · NVIDIA · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [The FAA’s plan to fix air traffic? $875 million worth of AI](https://daily.dev/posts/the-faa-s-plan-to-fix-air-traffic-875-million-worth-of-ai-yjebmwcxy) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#google](https://daily.dev/tags/google), [#sustainability](https://daily.dev/tags/sustainability), [#climate-tech](https://daily.dev/tags/climate-tech) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails over the Atlantic","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk"},"datePublished":"2026-08-18T18:24:24.490Z","dateModified":"2026-08-18T18:41:16.319Z","description":"Google and the UK government are launching Operation Blue Skies, a trial using AI forecasts to reroute North Atlantic flights around contrail-forming air,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/94d34e3760084bd10950bfb09568882d?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/94d34e3760084bd10950bfb09568882d?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"The Next Web","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Next Web","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tnw","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"ai,google,sustainability,climate-tech","timeRequired":"PT5M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Next Web","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tnw"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Google and the UK will steer planes around contrails over the Atlantic"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/google-and-the-uk-will-steer-planes-around-contrails-over-the-atlantic-kednxakpk#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does Google's Operation Blue Skies trial reduce airplane contrails over the Atlantic?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Google builds AI forecasts from satellite imagery, flight data, and Met Office weather models to predict where persistent, warming contrails will form over the North Atlantic's Shanwick airspace. Those forecasts go to NATS, the UK air traffic control provider, whose controllers can then instruct pilots to change altitude by up to 2,000 feet to avoid the contrail-forming layer. Track how AI-driven forecasting projects like this move from trial to real-world deployment on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Does rerouting planes to avoid contrails burn more fuel than it saves in climate impact?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"A full deviation through Shanwick airspace burns about 100kg of extra fuel per aircraft, adding carbon dioxide emissions, but the resulting carbon penalty is estimated at under 1 percent of the contrail warming avoided, according to Google's technical lead on the project. The avoided warming is measured in the tonnes or tens of tonnes per deviation. Developers weighing climate tradeoffs in AI applications can follow this debate on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the scale and funding of the UK's contrail-avoidance aviation trial with Google?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Operation Blue Skies is a £5mn, 30-month effort in Shanwick airspace, covering about 5 percent of global contrail warming. The UK Department for Transport contributes £2.65mn, industry partners cover the rest, and Google participates pro bono with £1.4mn in kind. Two four-month operational trials run across the winters of 2026-27 and 2027-28, testing roughly 20 to 40 days per winter out of about 10,000 annual flights. Anyone tracking how AI research funding translates into real infrastructure trials can follow updates on daily.dev."}}]} ```