These innovations seek to make aviation a greener sector

Dergam Mousa

3 years ago

Thales, a French multinational technology company, announced the development of Green Flag, a collaborative platform that allows air traffic control centers (ATC) to apply green procedures together with pilots with the support of 4D technology, seeking to generate a less environmental impact in the midst of the thousands of flights that cross the skies daily in the world.

Likewise, it announced the Flights Footprint Estimator (or Flight Footprint Estimator) that focuses on providing an objective estimate of the impact that flights have on the atmosphere, putting a magnifying glass on carbon dioxide emissions.

→ Boeing Takes New Role to Help Cut Aviation Emissions Faster.

The company established that traffic controllers are an essential part of this process because, through factors such as weather, atmospheric conditions, temperature and distance, it is possible to calculate the carbon footprint from the moment a plane takes off until which lands at its final destination.

This technology, which has fully advanced models, is academically based on several studies on the serious consequences of the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, and it is expected to be available during the second half of the year.

What is the big bet? That the climate impact is a priority in aeronautical decisions and operations, a business where workers and passengers have a presence in the green transformation.

With information made available to airlines, pilots and air traffic control, they will have a better understanding of operations to support the transition to more environmentally friendly flights.

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According to Benjamin Binet, Vice President of Strategy and Public Affairs at Thales, the environmental transition of operations focuses on a series of processes that, together, manage to develop the best actions and strategies for environmental care.

“The company has taken advantage of the work carried out during previous years in terms of trajectory optimization to offer a tool that allows ATCs to develop more ecological trajectories without compromising safety,” says Binet.

Takeoff of the aeronautical sector

Despite the economic and operational blows suffered by the aviation business due to the pandemic, these two innovations arise in a context where the sector has become stronger again.

For example, in Colombia, the economic reactivation has given way not only to the normalization of air operations, but also to the arrival of new international airlines. Moreover, during the first half of 2022, more than 22 million passengers were mobilized through the country’s air terminals, according to the Civil Aeronautics.

This changing scenario in the country and in the world was key for the company to decide to take action on the matter and announce the implementation of these green technologies, in order to achieve an operational transition in aviation.

The current priorities of various economic sectors have begun to focus on the environment. In fact, the aeronautical business has already put sustainability at the center of the discussion as one of its new flags.