Victor and 4AIR Voluntarily Publish Contrails Report Disclosing the Non-CO2 Impact of On-demand Private Jet Charters

(4Air) Victor and 4AIR have evidenced the existence and impact of private jet contrails, which make a leading contribution to the global warming caused by flying; Contrails cause 1-2% of global warming and therefore both organizations are now urging all commercial airlines to immediately publish their own transparent contrail analysis reports; VICTOR and 4AIR are also calling for improvements in flight path planning and Air Traffic Control protocols, which could reduce the overall impact of contrails

In partnership with 4AIR, Victor, a global leader in on-demand aircraft charter, today announces the results of its inaugural 2025 Annual Contrails Report, further verifying the impact of contrails on global warming, as both organisations continue to raise awareness of the CO2 and non-CO2 impact of business aviation on climate change and urge all commercial airlines to immediately publish their own transparent contrail analysis reports.

Contrails are long thin lines of cloud, usually seen behind an aircraft and are a product of aircraft engine emissions interacting with the right combination of temperature and humidity in the upper atmosphere. Depending on the location and time of day, long-lasting or “big-hit” contrails can have an outsized warming impact, trapping and absorbing heat that otherwise would radiate back into space. Research conducted by the European Commission indicates that contrails and non-CO₂ emissions are currently responsible for about twice as much warming as the CO2 emitted by aviation. Recent estimates from the University of Cambridge Aviation Impact Accelerator, show that contrails cause about the same amount of warming each year as all the CO₂ emitted by all flights from 1945 to 2018.

Toby Edwards, co-CEO at Victor stated: “One misconception is that private jets fly above contrail regions, our report proves this isn’t always the case. We want our private jet clients to have the option to avoid contrail formation by choosing progressive operators that are proactively making small adjustments to their flight paths to avoid contrail-forming regions, thereby lowering their environmental impact. Operators that are working on contrail avoidance using smart flight management software, which is already readily available, would be transparently recommended to clients. Such an offering would be a natural extension to our existing product, which includes aircraft estimate fuel-burn data and Neste sustainable aviation fuel.”

Victor’s transparent Contrails Report, the first of its kind from a private jet charter broker, and set to be republished annually, analysed 2,987 flights across a mixed fleet worldwide. The findings revealed that just 1% of contrails accounted for 48% of total warming impact, highlighting how a small number of high-impact contrails are disproportionately responsible for climate effects, which demonstrates that meaningful change is achievable by targeting specific flight profiles.

A similar previous study by 4AIR also showed the concentration of a majority of the contrail impact emerging from a small minority of flights, underscoring the opportunity to cut climate impact substantially by addressing just a fraction of flights.

Results from the comprehensive analysis by 4AIR, who used the open-source Contrail Cirrus Prediction model from Contrails.org and hindcast weather data plus ADSB data within a flight, shines the spotlight on the non-CO2 impact of Victor’s charter flights and highlights the alarming impact of contrails by the growing commercial airline sector, reinforcing calls to accelerate the deployment of known mitigation techniques that could quickly reduce these effects.

Kennedy Ricci, President of 4AIR points out this is an industry wide aviation issue, not isolated to business aviation. “Avoiding atmospheric regions likely to create big hit contrails represents a very large opportunity to reduce the impact from aviation. But effectively mitigating these regions will require pro-active flight planning by operators as well as coordination with Air Traffic Control. As we look at meeting aviation’s climate goals, it is critical to raise awareness of both the impact and opportunity of non-CO2 impacts and encourage operators to understand their contrail footprint”.

Victor is a subsidiary of Serenity Aviation Holding of Abu Dhabi. Founded in 2011, with offices in the UK and USA and its headquarters now in Abu Dhabi in the UAE, Victor is a global leader in on-demand aircraft charter, enabling clients to search, compare and book private air travel quickly, efficiently and with confidence. The company is renowned for challenging the private jet industry by giving customers a complete view of the market through fully transparent quotes. Access to more than 7,000 aircraft via a global network of 200 partner operators means that any private aviation requirement can be expertly fulfilled, with the support of Victor’s specialist services for Group Charter, Sports, Music & Entertainment and Medical. As part of the company’s award-winning approach to climate action, Victor is the first business aviation company to offer Sustainable Aviation Fuel for every booking worldwide, thanks to an industry-leading partnership with Neste. Victor is also a member of Project SkyPower, a committed collective of 13 CEOs and 50 companies from across the European aviation and energy value chains, working together to make eSAF a commercial reality this decade. Victor also participates in the Aviation Transition Strategy MPP (2022): Making Net-Zero Aviation Possible – an industry-backed, 1.5°C-aligned transition strategy.

4AIR is an aviation industry pioneer offering sustainability solutions beyond just simple carbon neutrality. Its innovative framework provides turnkey voluntary sustainability programs available by the hour, and its full-service compliance program helps set environmental regulatory obligations on autopilot. From verified carbon offsets and removals to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), contrail mitigation and new technologies, 4AIR has a framework in place to comprehensively support all pillars of aviation sustainability. For further details, visit www.4air.aero. READ MORE