Aviation emissions reduction by flight plan modelling with re-routing and altitude changes strategies

The rapid growth of the air travel brought along increased air traffic in the airspace, greater fuel consumption, and more engine emissions. The research aims to develop an air traffic flow model by reducing contrail formations as the main objective.

Currently, the flight path of commercial flights is set to optimise fuel usage and flight time. Airlines optimised the flight path to reduce the cost of fuel instead of considering the environmental impact. To mitigate the environmental problem aviation brings, the proposed model considered a 3D flight trajectory planning using alternative paths modelling approach. In order to match with the computational requirements, the flight trajectory planning is optimised via OpenAP.

Condensation trail, or contrail in short can be formed under specific atmospheric situation that flight crew should execute manoeuvre to avoid formation of such trails, such as lift or descend the aircraft. However, the lifting manoeuvre can induce an increase in fuel consumption as well as emission, which contradicts the intention of concerning the impact on the environment. The proposed model can generate a mitigation strategy for flight trajectory planning at the planning stage.

Flight time is a major factor in fuel burn and efficiency (to the airline, passengers, and aviation authority), while the mitigation strategies may result in a longer flight time. In this regard, the proposed model balanced the contrail length and fuel consumption by altering the flight level and re-routing methods to avoid certain areas that may have a high chance of forming contrail. The proposed method attempts to satisfy the airline and society interests.