UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over Atlantic
Operation Blue Skies tests whether minor flight adjustments can reduce warming from condensation trails
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
An airplane flies high in the sky with the moon in the background in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Jan. 1, 2023. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Photograph: Associated Press News (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Operation Blue Skies is a 30-month trial testing whether minor altitude adjustments can reduce aviation contrails, which contribute 1% to 2% of global warming.
- The UK government is funding over half of the £5 million ($6.76 million) study, covering the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area in the northeastern Atlantic during two winters.
- Hundreds of flights will deviate up to 2,000 feet on 20 to 40 test days per winter to avoid contrail formation, coordinated through air traffic control.
- The consortium includes Google, the UK Department for Transport, the Met Office, NATS, Contrails.org, Imperial College London, and the University of Cambridge.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 17 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 9 of the 26 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
78/100
Craft
85/100
Hype
15/100
26 sources · methodology
Thin on the right so far
Only 1 of the 17 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated right.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
The UK government and Google have launched a 30-month trial called Operation Blue Skies to test whether minor altitude adjustments can reduce aviation contrails. The trial covers the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean, a busy corridor for flights between Europe and North America. Contrails, the white lines formed by ice crystals around engine soot particles, trap heat and contribute to global warming.
The study will run during two winters, with 20 to 40 test days each year. Air traffic controllers will instruct hundreds of flights to deviate up to 2,000 feet to avoid areas where contrails are likely to form. The UK government is funding more than half of the £5 million ($6.76 million) project. The consortium includes Google, the UK Department for Transport, the Met Office, NATS, Contrails.org, Imperial College London, and the University of Cambridge.
Contrails account for 1% to 2% of global warming, according to Contrails.org. The Shanwick airspace is responsible for about 5% of the total contrail impact, with a significant portion occurring during winter. The trial aims to demonstrate whether contrail avoidance can be scaled across an entire flight corridor.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated digests mentioned the £5 million cost of the trial or the UK government’s funding contribution. The centre-rated digests did not report the number of test days per winter or the specific altitude adjustments of up to 2,000 feet. The left-rated digests, except for the Associated Press report, did not include details on the consortium members or the statistical significance of the trial’s expected outcomes.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 18 Aug 2026, 16:45, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
7 rated outlets
- The five left-rated digests led on the scale of the trial and its potential to reduce aviation’s climate impact. They highlighted that hundreds of commercial flights would adjust their paths over the northeastern Atlantic during the next two winters. The Associated Press, the only left-rated outlet with a full report, described the trial as a "landmark airspace-scale" effort and quoted Google’s technical lead, Paul Hodgson, on the statistical significance of the adjustments.
- The Associated Press report also included a statement from Keir Mather, the UK minister responsible for aviation, who said the government was partnering with Google to find "practical ways to make flying cleaner". The report noted that the trial expands on earlier tests by individual airlines, such as American Airlines, which used Google’s AI-based forecasting tool to reduce contrails.
Centre
9 rated outlets
- The eight centre-rated digests focused on the role of artificial intelligence in the trial. BBC News and The National led with the use of AI to help planes avoid climate-warming contrails. Skift described the trial as a "step-change in contrail avoidance research", noting that previous efforts had been limited to individual airlines. The Register and Sud Ouest emphasised the UK government’s backing and the trial’s potential to reduce the climate impact of aviation.
- France24’s digest noted that aviation accounts for more than 2.5% of global CO2 emissions but that its warming impact is greater due to contrails. None of the centre-rated digests mentioned the £5 million cost of the trial or the specific number of test days per winter.
Right
1 rated outlet
- The single right-rated digest, from Handelsblatt, framed the trial as an effort to make flying "climate-friendly" using AI to prevent "climate-damaging condensation strips". The report did not mention the UK government’s funding contribution, the number of test days, or the specific altitude adjustments involved.
Read it at the source
26 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
7- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation’s climate impact (opens The Hamilton Spectator in a new tab)
The Hamilton Spectator — is The Hamilton Spectator biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation’s climate impact (opens The Toronto Star in a new tab)
The Toronto Star — is The Toronto Star biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation’s climate impact (opens The Seattle Times in a new tab)
The Seattle Times — is The Seattle Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens The Independent in a new tab)
The Independent — is The Independent biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens Gloucester Daily Times in a new tab)
Gloucester Daily Times — is Gloucester Daily Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens Associated Press News in a new tab)
Associated Press News — is Associated Press News biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google test changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens ABC News in a new tab)
Centre
9- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation’s climate impact (opens My Mother Lode in a new tab)
My Mother Lode — is My Mother Lode biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens Winnipeg Free Press in a new tab)
Winnipeg Free Press — is Winnipeg Free Press biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The UK and Google are testing changes to flight paths to tackle aviation's climate impact (opens Ottumwa Courier in a new tab)
Ottumwa Courier — is Ottumwa Courier biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Can Rerouting Planes Cut Aviation's Climate Impact? An Airspace-Wide Contrail Trial Will Test It (opens Skift in a new tab)
- Flight path changes aim to cut planes' climate-warming contrails (opens The National in a new tab)
The National — is The National biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Climate: London and Google Will Test the Avoidance of Aircraft Condensation Drags (opens France24 in a new tab)
- UK puts Google AI on the flight path to fewer contrails (opens The Register in a new tab)
The Register — is The Register biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Climate Warming: How to Limit Aircraft Condensation Drags? The UK Is Partnering with Google to Conduct Tests (opens Sud Ouest in a new tab)
Right
1Not rated
9- British Government Tests Methods to Avoid Condensation Strips – with AI (opens Heise in a new tab)
- Test a System to Avoid the Wakes of Airplanes, Which Impact on the Climate (opens informacion.es in a new tab)
informacion.es — is informacion.es biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Greener Flights: UK AI Reduces Contrails (opens The World Reviews in a new tab)
The World Reviews — is The World Reviews biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Test a System to Avoid Condensation Wakes and Reduce the Climate Impact of Aviation (opens efeverde.com in a new tab)
efeverde.com — is efeverde.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- No More Condensation Strips Thanks to AI? So Google Wants to Make Flying More Climate-Friendly (opens t3nMagazin in a new tab)
t3nMagazin — is t3nMagazin biased? Our profile of this outlet
- How to Prevent Airplanes From Warming the Planet with the Contrails They Leave in the Sky. (opens Publico in a new tab)
- UK puts Google AI on the flight path to fewer contrails (opens technewstube.com in a new tab)
technewstube.com — is technewstube.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The invisible climate threat airlines can now avoid - and it's one-third of aviation's impact | The latest National and International News (opens upday in a new tab)
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over…?
- Of the 17 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 36% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 7% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 26. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over… left or right?
- Neither side dominates it. Of the 17 rated outlets on this story, 36% are rated left, 57% are rated centre, 7% are rated right, and no side holds the 70% this site would want before calling a field one-sided. A story is not left or right in any case; the outlets that carried it are what carry ratings.
- Is the coverage of UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over… biased?
- UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over Atlantic is one event reported by 26 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over…?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated right had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered UK and Google trial altitude changes to cut aviation contrails over…?
- 26 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What is Operation Blue Skies?
- Operation Blue Skies is a 30-month trial testing whether minor altitude adjustments can reduce aviation contrails, which contribute 1% to 2% of global warming. The UK government and Google are running the study in the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area during two winters, involving hundreds of flights deviating up to 2,000 feet.
- How much is the UK government spending on the trial?
- The UK government is funding more than half of the £5 million ($6.76 million) cost of Operation Blue Skies. The trial aims to test whether altitude adjustments can reduce contrails, which trap heat and contribute to global warming.
- Which organisations are involved in the trial?
- The consortium includes Google, the UK Department for Transport, the Met Office, NATS, Contrails.org, Imperial College London, and the University of Cambridge. The trial is testing altitude adjustments to reduce contrails in the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area.
- How many flights will be involved in the trial?
- Hundreds of flights will deviate up to 2,000 feet on 20 to 40 test days per winter to avoid contrail formation. The trial covers the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area, a busy corridor for flights between Europe and North America.
How did this read?
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