Climate change and air transport: a bibliometric analysis to guide adaptation policy

• Aviation has limited climate adaptation policy. Bibliometrics can guide policy. • Analysis reveals key sources, thought leaders and geographical disparities. • Aviation must adapt to high temperatures, extreme weather, sea rise & winds. • Implementation science and transdisciplinary approaches are vital for adaptation. • Policy should accelerate research, align global rules, assess risks, train industry. Climate change poses unprecedented challenges to the air transport industry. There is currently limited industry guidance on how to adapt to the impacts of climate change. A coordinated, evidence-based approach to climate adaptation is urgently needed to maintain operational safety and industry resilience. This study applies bibliometric analysis to climate change and aviation literature to bridge the gap between rapidly evolving climate science and aviation adaptation policy development. Our analysis reveals significant temporal and geographical patterns in research output, highlighting both the acceleration of climate-aviation scholarship and the industry’s vulnerability to multiple climate hazards. Through examination of 66 publications from 2005 to 2024, we identified critical operational risks requiring immediate adaptation policy attention: extreme temperatures, sea level rise, changing weather patterns and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events/disasters, jet stream alterations, permafrost thawing, mosquito population shifts at airports, air traffic control challenges, and altered wind patterns. Successful air transport climate adaptation policies must incorporate four key elements: implementation science for rapid translation of research to policy, global collaboration to limit geographical policy disparity, bibliometric analysis as a tool to develop and review policy and climate change informed workforce policy to develop competency in operational climate impacts. We propose establishing an international aviation climate adaptation consortium that would facilitate coordinated research efforts, standardise climate risk assessments, and promote equitable policy development across different regions.