Key Takeaways
• Eurocontrol deprioritizes contrail avoidance for summer 2025 due to high air traffic and delay concerns.
• Trials show contrail avoidance increases workload and operational challenges, especially during peak travel months.
• Long-term strategies include monitoring non-CO2 effects and advancing EU net-zero emissions goals by 2050.
Eurocontrol has clearly stated that contrail avoidance will not be one of the main focuses for European aviation during the busy summer period. This decision, shared by Marylin Bastin, Eurocontrol’s head of aviation sustainability, was announced at an event in Lisbon on May 14, 2025. She explained that, while trying to stop contrails from forming is important for helping aviation become more environmentally friendly, air traffic managers say they are already dealing with bigger problems during the high-traffic summer months. The immediate goal, according to Bastin, is to keep the flow of flights smooth since there are already many flights and delays to manage at this time of year.
Let’s take a closer look at why Eurocontrol is making this decision, what it means for efforts to reduce aviation’s impact on the environment, and how research and planning in Europe are shaping the future of aviation sustainability.
What Are Contrails and Why Do They Matter?
Before getting into the actions Eurocontrol is taking, it helps to know what contrails are and why they have become an important topic in aviation and climate discussions. Contrails, or condensation trails, are the white streaks you often see behind airplanes flying high in the sky. They form when hot, humid air from aircraft engines mixes with the colder air at high altitudes. This causes water vapor to turn into tiny ice crystals, creating visible trails.
Contrails are more than just lines in the sky. Some types, especially those that last a long time, can trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, similar to greenhouse gases. Scientists say that, after carbon dioxide, contrails are one of the biggest ways aviation warms the planet. Reducing or avoiding contrails could help bring down aviation’s overall effect on climate change.
Why Is Contrail Avoidance Not a Top Priority for Summer 2025?
According to Marylin Bastin and other Eurocontrol leaders, preventing contrails is less urgent compared to other problems during the summer. The summer period brings a sharp increase in flights over Europe. With crowded skies, controllers already have a hard job keeping delays low and making sure planes are safe. Trying to change flight paths or altitudes to avoid making contrails would make this job even tougher. It could cause more air traffic congestion and lead to even more delays for airlines and passengers.
As reported by VisaVerge.com, this decision does not mean Eurocontrol is ignoring the environment. Instead, it highlights the real-world difficulties air traffic controllers face, especially during busy months. The organization stresses that safety, managing delays, and meeting travel demand must take first place when traffic is heaviest, even if that means setting aside some environmental goals for a short time.
Ongoing Contrail Avoidance Efforts within Eurocontrol
While Eurocontrol has said contrail mitigation will not be a main goal for the 2025 summer, this does not mean the topic is on the back burner for good. Since 2020, Eurocontrol’s Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) has taken part in several contrail prevention research projects and trials. These activities aim to find workable ways to reduce the number of contrails over Europe’s busy airspace.
Groundbreaking Trials and Research
One key effort was a partnership between MUAC and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In 2021, they ran the first large-scale test in real-life flight conditions across most of their airspace. During this test, they showed that it is possible to avoid creating contrails by making simple changes to flight plans, like skipping certain altitudes at certain times.
In 2023, MUAC took this work a step further with a live simulation. They tested two ideas:
- Airline-Led Planning: Airlines tried to avoid contrail-producing regions by planning new routes in advance.
- Tactical Vertical Changes: Air traffic controllers changed a plane’s altitude during the flight, if needed, to steer clear of parts of the sky where contrails were likely to form.
The results were interesting. For the controllers, it was easier to work with routes that had already been planned to avoid contrails. Last-minute (tactical) changes were harder, especially when skies were crowded. The research also found that reserving or closing off altitude bands for contrail prevention made it harder to fit in all the flights, again showing the tradeoff between environmental care and operational capacity.
In 2024, another trial took place, this time with real flights by several German airlines. The goal was to complete at least 100 flights that purposely avoided making contrails. These flights helped researchers understand not just the benefits, but also the costs and practical challenges like longer flight paths, extra fuel use, and more complex planning for everyone involved.
For more details on these projects, you can visit Eurocontrol’s dedicated contrail avoidance measures page.
The Big Picture: Balancing Today’s Demands with Tomorrow’s Environmental Goals
Eurocontrol’s leaders are aware that everyone—from politicians to airlines and the general public—wants aviation to have a smaller impact on the environment. However, the pressure to keep flights safe, timely, and efficient during the peak travel season is even higher. That’s why the organization has to balance between immediate needs and long-term goals.
The European Commitment to Green Aviation
In March 2025, Eurocontrol and the European Commission reinforced their pledge to work together on climate policies. This agreement is aimed at keeping track of, reporting, and checking both carbon emissions and so-called non-CO2 effects, which include contrails. These steps form part of the European Union’s large plan to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
To help with this, Eurocontrol is putting in place a new system for keeping an eye on contrails as part of the EU’s Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) program. This program, being built through 2024, is meant to make regular and accurate measurements of aviation’s non-CO2 effects.
Analysis from VisaVerge.com suggests that these steps will help keep the issue front and center and ensure it stays part of future environmental rules and goals.
Joint Approach and the European ATM Master Plan
For the summer of 2024, Eurocontrol introduced the Joint Approach programme. This plan involves close teamwork between all the top players in European aviation, like airlines, air traffic managers, and airports. The goal is to cut down on delays and lessen any harm to the environment, even when passenger numbers are at their highest.
Tânia Cardoso Simões, Director of European Green Sky at Eurocontrol, summarized the challenge. She said that, while air traffic keeps growing, there’s still strong pressure to make flying greener. Her view is that everyone must work together, stay flexible, and be ready to adjust as new challenges come up. This message is especially important for the summer season, when operational demands can sometimes push environmental plans down the priority list.
The newly updated European ATM Master Plan, released at the end of 2024, sets out a path to make Europe’s sky both the most efficient and environmentally friendly in the world. This plan builds on the idea that, even if immediate needs sometimes win out, the long-term goal remains clear: cut down on aviation emissions as much as possible.
Looking Ahead: What Will Happen After Summer?
Even though contrail avoidance is not the main focus now, the research, testing, and monitoring that Eurocontrol is doing today will shape how European aviation moves forward, especially as technology and understanding improve.
New rules and tools, like those from the MRV program, will let policymakers and airlines see which actions work best to reduce both CO2 and non-CO2 effects like contrails. By tracking data closely and learning from real-world trials, Eurocontrol can help create smarter strategies that reduce climate impacts without harming how well the air traffic system works.
Stakeholders across the aviation sector—including airlines, airports, and environmental groups—will keep a close eye as the summer season progresses. The experience gained will likely guide future changes in how flights are managed and planned, especially as European aviation faces growing traffic and greater calls to act on climate change.
The Role of European Aviation in Global Climate Commitments
Europe has set some of the most ambitious climate targets in the world. The aviation sector plays a big part in meeting these goals, since planes emit not only CO2 but also other pollutants and effects that warm the planet, like contrails. While the decision to hold off on contrail avoidance as a summer priority shows the tough choices that need to be made, it also highlights the effort that goes into making these choices responsibly.
Efforts by Eurocontrol show that, while trade-offs are sometimes needed, environmental sustainability remains at the core of planning for the future. Large-scale trials, better monitoring, and support from the European Commission mean that aviation climate impact is getting constant attention, even when short-term concerns take the front seat.
Contrail Avoidance: Benefits, Costs, and Challenges
Contrail avoidance does more than just help the planet. It also shows growing awareness and responsibility in the industry. Still, it’s clear from recent research that successfully planning for fewer contrails is not always easy or cheap. There are direct costs, like longer flights and extra fuel use, as well as indirect headaches, like busier airspace and tougher job demands for traffic controllers.
MUAC’s trials have made it clear that asking airlines and controllers to change their routes on the fly is far from simple. For many, advanced planning works best. But even then, when skies are packed with planes, there aren’t always enough options to fit everyone in while still avoiding contrails.
During times of lower traffic, these adjustments might be easier. But during summer peak, when every bit of available airspace is used, something has to give.
What Should Passengers and Airlines Expect?
If you’re flying over Europe in the 2025 summer season, don’t expect big changes in flight paths due to contrail avoidance. For now, Eurocontrol is focusing on getting everyone safely and quickly to their destinations. Airlines will keep working with controllers to find ways to reduce delays and, where possible, make smarter choices for the environment that don’t risk safety or on-time arrivals.
Meanwhile, the setup of new monitoring systems and more trials behind the scenes suggest that, in the coming years, European aviation may start to include contrail avoidance as a regular part of flight planning—especially as new tools and data become available.
Conclusion: The Road to Sustainable Skies
Eurocontrol’s announcement that contrail avoidance will not be a summer priority underscores the real-world challenges of making big environmental changes in a complex, busy aviation system. Still, ongoing trials, high-level partnerships, and a focus on both immediate and long-term goals all show that the push for greener skies continues.
For more official information on the steps Eurocontrol and the European Union are taking toward climate targets in aviation, readers can visit the European Commission’s climate action page.
As the skies over Europe get busier, only time will tell how the balance between smooth travel and a cleaner planet will develop. What’s certain is that both stay strong priorities for all those involved in European aviation, from decision-makers to the people guiding planes safely home.
Learn Today
Contrail → Short for condensation trail, a visible line of ice crystals formed when aircraft engine exhaust meets cold, moist air.
Maastricht Upper Area Control Centre (MUAC) → Eurocontrol’s air traffic control center managing upper airspace over Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and northwest Germany.
Non-CO2 effects → Atmospheric impacts from aviation aside from carbon dioxide emissions, such as contrails and nitrogen oxides, influencing climate change.
MRV program → Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification system for tracking and validating aviation’s environmental impacts including both CO2 and non-CO2 emissions.
European ATM Master Plan → The strategic roadmap guiding improvements in air traffic management across Europe for efficiency and environmental performance.
This Article in a Nutshell
Eurocontrol will not prioritize contrail avoidance in summer 2025, focusing instead on managing peak flight traffic and minimizing delays. Ongoing research and monitoring continue, with new EU policies targeting aviation’s climate impact. Contrail mitigation may return as a focus once efficient tools and systems are widely available across European airspace.
— By VisaVerge.com
