The impacts of aviation on the climate

In addition to CO₂, aviation has other “non-CO₂ effects” on climate change. These effects result from complex interactions between aircraft emissions and the atmosphere. They are mainly related to the formation of contrails (short for condensation trails).

There are still many uncertainties in assessing the climate impact of these non-CO₂ effects, but the latest scientific studies agree that they have a significant warming impact, especially in the short term, of the same order of magnitude as that of CO₂. Air France is actively engaged in identifying and implementing solutions to reduce non-CO₂ effects, and thus reducing the overall climate impact of its flights.