How Lufthansa Is Using 4D Flight Information To Cut CO2 Emissions

The airline is employing new technology in the pursuit of meeting sustainability goals.


Photo: InsectWorld / Shutterstock

Starting next year, all new Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft delivered to Lufthansa will be equipped with automated flight profile transmission technology. The technology will transmit real-time data from the plane to air traffic controllers, who can optimize the aircraft's routing and control airspace more efficiently, ultimately reducing aircraft emissions.

The new year will bring new technology

From 2024, all new Lufthansa Group Airbus A320neo and A321neo aircraft will be delivered to the airline with automated flight profile transmission technology fitted onboard.

Beginning with deliveries early next year, the Lufthansa Group is due to receive more than 65 Airbus A320neo/A321neo aircraft currently on order. These new airplanes will have the new ADS-C EPP (Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Contract Extended Projected Profile) flight profile information technology.

The new technology will allow the aircraft systems to transmit flight path information in real time to the carrier's ground-based operations department and air traffic control. The technology automatically transmits 4D flight path information generated by the aircraft's flight management system to air traffic controllers at any time during the flight.

How does the new technology work?

The so-called 4D flight trajectory projects the course of a flight in the three spatial dimensions (length, width, height) and time as the fourth dimension. Based on accurate information about the further flight path of an aircraft, air traffic controllers can control the airspace more efficiently and optimize the routing of the aircraft.

According to the airline, the objectives and benefits of integrating this new technology are clear: an optimized flight path saves fuel and reduces CO2 emissions.

With the standard installation of this new and innovative technology for transmitting flight profile information in its new A320neo and A321neo aircraft, the Lufthansa Group aims to further improve airspace management in Europe, avoid unnecessary detours, reduce fuel consumption, and ultimately fly more sustainably.

Keen to become a pioneer in commercial aviation sustainability, the Lufthansa Group is investing in the new technology at an early stage and is accelerating its fastest possible introduction throughout Europe.

Other European airlines will have to follow in due course. From 2028, the new technology must be installed as standard in all newly delivered aircraft and Air Traffic Control ground systems in the European Union.

Announcing the adoption and introduction of the new ADS-C EPP technology, Dr. Detlef Kayser, member of the Lufthansa Group's Executive Board responsible for Fleet and Technology, said,

"When it comes to using new technologies for more sustainable flying, the Lufthansa Group plays a pioneering role. That is why we have made a conscious decision to use the new technology for transmitting flight path information in real time as standard on our new Airbus A320neo/A321neo aircraft as early as 2024. This will enable our pilots to fly even more efficiently on first flights within Europe as early as next year, thus reducing CO2 emissions."

A crucial part of the EU airspace modernization strategy

Adopting this new 4D flight profiling technology is a vital part of the European Union's strategy for modernizing its airspace management. The new technology is currently certified for aircraft of the Airbus A320 family and the Airbus A330neo.

Any new aircraft fitted with the technology, including Lufthansa's A320/A321neos, will initially be able to use the latest technology in the airspace control zone around Maastricht (Netherlands), which is the first airspace in Europe to meet all the requirements.

However, the Lufthansa Group is working with other air navigation service providers to ensure that it will be possible to fly even more fuel-efficiently in an increasing number of European airspaces as quickly as possible.

Lufthansa boldly pursues sustainability goals

The Lufthansa Group has set itself ambitious climate protection goals. The airline group (which includes Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa CityLine, and Eurowings, among others) aims to achieve a neutral carbon dioxide balance by 2050.

By 2030, the Lufthansa Group wants to halve its net CO2 emissions compared to 2019 through a range of reduction and compensation measures.

In the pursuit of its published climate protection objectives, the Lufthansa Group is focusing in particular on an accelerated fleet modernization plan, the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), the continuous optimization of flight operations, and offers its private travelers and corporate customers to make a flight or the transport of cargo more sustainable.

The Lufthansa Group has actively supported global climate and weather research for many years. It became the first airline group in Europe with a science-based CO2 reduction target in line with the goals of the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.