Google and Cathay Pacific are using AI to tackle aviation’s overlooked climate problem

Those wispy white lines trailing behind airplanes (called contrails) sure look harmless from the ground, but they’re doing more damage to the climate than we realize.

As part of Operating Blue Skies, Google has partnered with Cathay Pacific, one of the major international airlines operating both passenger and cargo flights, to test and deploy AI-driven contrail mitigation technology across a region where air travel is growing faster than anywhere else: Asia Pacific. 

So what exactly is this partnership testing?

For those catching up, contrails form when airplanes fly through air zones with cold, humid air. While most vanish within minutes, some spread out and linger. Such contrails prevent heat from escaping the atmosphere, much like a thin layer of cloud cover does. 

It might not sound significant at first, but the contrail heat effect adds up to around a third of aviation’s entire climate impact. This is exactly what Google is trying to fix, or at least reduce. The company has already run trials over the United States and the North Atlantic region. 

Cathay Pacific, as mentioned earlier, is now its first commercial airline partner in Asia, testing its approach on ultra-long-haul routes. Google’s approach is relatively simple. Using satellite imagery, weather data, and advanced AI prediction algorithms, its systems flag those cold air zones in advance. 

Cathay then relays that information to its airplanes, which change their altitude slightly to avoid the contrail-prone zones. If this sounds familiar, it’s the same kind of routine adjustment pilots already make around turbulence. 

What have the results looked like, and where does this go next?

The early results are encouraging. Across more than 80 flights following contrail-avoidance routes, Google’s satellite analysis estimated a 40% reduction in contrail-induced warming. Among all the regions, it’s the Hong Kong-Singapore corridor that stood out the most.

Because the conditions there are ideal for persistent contrails, adjustments on the route accounted for over half of the trial’s total emission reductions. Google and Cathay Pacific are now moving into a larger second phase, bringing in Contrails.org, a nonprofit focused specifically on contrail science. 

The appeal here, I’d say, is the simplicity of the approach. None of this actually requires new planes, reformed engines, or a new type of fuel. It’s just about smarter routing of the aircraft that are already in the skies.