A Network Manager is tasked with evaluating the impact of various flight planning strategies on both airspace complexity and climate impact across a commercial fleet. She opens the ‘Climate Impact Analysis from network-scale Climate-optimized trajectories’ tool in the RefMap platform.

She begins by selecting the data type to be visualized, this time choosing climate-impact data, focusing on net ATR (Average Temperature Response) to assess long-term warming effects. Next, she chooses the macro scenario, which reflects network-scale optimized trajectories intended to reduce the overall climate footprint. To explore the trade-off between cost and environmental benefit, she sets the cost parameter at 3%, representing a moderate increase in operational costs over Business As Usual (BAU) routes. She then defines the spatio-temporal parameters, selecting a specific flight level and time window relevant to a busy trans-European corridor.

Once the inputs are set, the platform loads the simulation results. A color-coded map shows regions with warming impacts in red and cooling areas in blue, allowing her to quickly identify environmental hotspots. She compares this with the BAU scenario and the micro (individual trajectory) case to analyse how different strategies shift climate impacts and congestion zones. Using this insight, the planner identifies key sectors where climate-optimized planning offers substantial environmental benefits with manageable operational trade-offs. These findings provide strategic recommendations to ATC authorities and policymakers aimed at balancing network efficiency with climate mitigation.