Opportunistic commercial formation flights in continental airspace for greener aviation

At a time of growing demand in commercial aviation, it is important to establish a trade-off between environmental impact, efficiency, and capacity. This is assessed through the study of Air Streams under a multi-criteria approach that pave the way for the deployment of commercial Formation Flights in continental airspace. This study describes a methodology to design Air Streams that could foster an efficient opportunistic Formation Flights pairing among aircraft. An evaluation of the main traffic flows that make up European airspace is conducted, followed by the design of two Air Streams. An study of potential use and savings is carried out, to evaluate Air Streams and Formation Flights synergy. The results of the heuristics applied show that Air Stream could manage around 10% of the aircraft flying in the airstream nearby area implementing Formation Flights. Significant savings could be achieved by the combination of Air Streams and Formation Flights concepts. The study estimates over 1600 tonnes of Fuel and over 5000 tonnes of CO 2 savings annually, only with the use case scenario evaluated. • Air Streams enable efficient commercial Formation Flights in European airspace. • A multi-criteria approach optimizes Air Stream design for aviation sustainability. • Opportunistic aircraft pairing reduces fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. • Formation Flights via Air Streams could represent significant savings of fuel annually. • Two Air Streams in Europe could manage 10% of nearby aircraft for Formation Flights.