Brussels Contrails Conference
Join the Brussels Contrails Conference for in-person talks and networking on aviation and climate warming condensation trails!
Aviation’s climate impact goes far beyond CO₂ — and one of the biggest hidden drivers is flying above our heads every day.
Join policymakers, scientists, industry leaders and civil society in Brussels for two days of high-level discussions on contrails and aviation non-CO₂ emissions: what the latest science tells us, how mitigation can work in practice, and what Europe should do next.
As the EU prepares future aviation climate rules, the Brussels Contrails Conference 2026 will explore the solutions, policies and partnerships needed to cut aviation’s warming impact in the near term.
Alongside the policy debate, the conference goes deep on implementation — drawing on firsthand experience from ANSPs and airlines who have moved contrail avoidance from trial into operations, and examining what it will take for the rest of the industry to follow.
Agenda
Day 1: High-level policy day
Date: 19 October
Time: 10:45 – 19:00
Venue: BIP (Rue Royale 2-4, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)
10:00 – 10:45 | Registration & Welcome Coffee
Participants arrive, networking over coffee.
10:45 – 11:15 | Opening Keynotes: Setting the Political and Strategic Context
Speakers:
Video message - Mr Wopke Hoekstra, Commissioner for Climate, Net-Zero and Clean Growth
Mr Antony Froggatt, Senior Director for Aviation, Shipping and Energy, T&E
Description:
This opening session will frame the need of tackling aviation’s non-CO₂ impacts within the EU’s climate strategy. Speakers will outline the role of contrail mitigation in achieving climate neutrality, the policy momentum at EU level, and the need for coordinated action across stakeholders.
11:15 – 11:35 | Science Crash course: Understanding Contrails and their climate impacts
Speaker:
Mr Audran Borella, CTO & Co-funder, Klimaconsulting
Description:
This session presents in a short and easily digestible way the latest scientific understanding of contrail formation, their climate impact, and key uncertainties.
11:35 – 11:45 | Presentation: T&E Non-CO₂ Policy Roadmap
Speakers : Ms Krisztina Hencz (T&E)
Description:
Presentation of Transport & Environment’s roadmap for integrating non-CO₂ effects into EU policy, including regulatory options, timelines, and key recommendations for scaling contrail mitigation.
11:45 – 12:15 | Coffee break
12:15 – 13:15 | Session 1: High-Level Policy Roundtable - Discussion on the potential integration of aviation non-CO2 emissions to the EU’s climate and aviation policy framework
Format: Moderated roundtable followed by a Q&A
Speakers:
Ms Polona Gregorin, Head of Unit, DG CLIMA
Ms Ourania Georgoutsakou, Managing Director, Airlines for Europe
Mr Nikita Pavlenko, Director Fuels and Aviation Programme, ICCT
Mr Anthony Garcia, Environment expert, Airbus
Moderator : Mr Ian Johnston, EU correspondent, Financial Times
Description:
This roundtable will explore how aviation non-CO₂ impacts could potentially be reflected in the EU’s climate and aviation policy framework, and what this might mean for future policy development.
13:15 – 14:30 | Lunch Break
Buffet lunch and networking.
14:30 – 15:30 | Session 2: Panel discussion with regulators, airlines and solution providers on the ATM aspects of contrail avoidance
Format: Moderated roundtable followed by a Q&A
Speakers :
Ms Marylin Bastin,Head of Aviation Sustainability, Eurocontrol
Mr Enrico Parini, Director Europe, CANSO
Mr Maxime Meijers, CEO, Estuaire
Mr Maarten Tielrooij, Senior Aviation Consultant, To70
Moderator: Mr Vincent de Haes, Senior Policy Manager, T&E
Description:
This session will bring together key stakeholders to examine how air traffic management can enable contrail avoidance, the key bottlenecks to scaling it up, and the respective roles and responsibilities across the ecosystem.
15:30 – 16:00 | Coffee Break
16:00 – 17:00 | Session 3: Panel discussion with policy makers on how to regulate/incentivize contrail avoidance
Format: Moderated roundtable followed by a Q&A
Speakers:
Mr Vincent Etchebehere, Vice President Sustainability and New Mobilities, AFR
Mr Raimund Zopp, Director Innovation, Flightkeyes
Guillermo Rebollo De Garay, Legal and Policy Officer, DG MOVE
Guillame Lapeyronnie, AVS Innovation Director, Thales
Moderator - Matteo Mirolo, Strategic Advisor, Lydian and Director Mundus Volans Consulting
Description:
This session will bring together key stakeholders for a solution-oriented dialogue on how smart regulation, market incentives, and operational standards can make contrail avoidance mainstream in aviation—reducing climate impact without compromising safety and while securing industry buy-in.
17:00 – 17:15| Closing Remarks
Speaker:
Ms Krisztina Hencz, Aviation Policy Manager, T&E
Description:
Summary of key takeaways, next steps, and call to action for stakeholders.
17:30 – 19:00 | Networking Reception
Drinks and informal discussions.
Day 2: From science to operations
Date: 20 October
Time: 9:00 – 16:40
8:30 – 9:00 | Registration & Welcome Coffee
Arrival and networking over coffee.
9:00 – 9:15 | Welcome
Setting the scene for the day.
Speakers:
Alexander Bjørn Hansen, Advisor, Green Transition Denmark
Joachim Majholm, Founder, Blue Lines
9:15 – 10:00 | State of the Science
A contrails science update with a focus on operational relevance. Where are we? What has changed in the past 18 months? And what exciting work is still ahead? Followed by Q&A.
Speaker:
Dr. Marc Stettler, Professor, Imperial College London & Science Director, Contrails.org
10:00 – 10:25 | MUAC - Airspace Trial Over Brussels
The first live contrail avoidance trial was conducted by MUAC in 2021. In 2026, they concluded their second trial over Brussels. Here, they will present fresh results. Followed by Q&A.
Speakers:
Anja Diesing, Air Traffic Controller, EUROCONTROL MUAC
Rüdiger Ehrmanntraut, Senior Project Manager, EUROCONTROL MUAC
10:25 – 11:15 | Operation Blue Skies - Ambitious New Airspace-Wide Trial Over the North Atlantic
“Operation Blue Skies” aims to minimize contrail warming over the Shanwick airspace in the North Atlantic by redirecting hundreds of flights beginning this winter. What are the ambitions, the methods, the hard questions, and the hopes?
Speakers:
Sian Andrews, SESAR Environmental Lead, NATS
Dr. Jessie Smith, Research Associate, University of Cambridge, AIA
Kemal Armada, Project Contrails lead, Google
Dr. Marc Stettler, Professor, Imperial College London & Science Director, Contrails.org
Moderated by Adam Morton, Head of Technology - Sustainability and Strategy, ATI
11:15 – 11:45 | Coffee Break
Break & Networking
11:45 – 12:30 | Uncertainties - How Do We Deal with Them?
The contrail prediction models are imperfect, and we are not sure exactly how much each contrail warms the planet. So, should we stop all contrail mitigation action now, or are there ways to deal with the uncertainties? What happens if we don’t do anything?
Speakers:
Dr. Jonathan Itcovitz, Research Associate, Imperial College London, and Affiliated Research Scientist, Contrails.org
Carlos López de la Osa García, Sustainable Aviation Manager, T&E
Moderated by Dr. Larissa Houston-Steiner, Head of Research and Development, Flightkeys
12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch
Fuel & Networking
13:30 – 14:15 | Contrail Avoidance in Practice
From prediction to cockpit: the tech partners behind airline contrail avoidance trials discuss how forecasts become operational decisions, how to handle uncertainty and post-flight validation, the importance of visualizations, and what must be standardized to scale.
Speakers:
Audran Borella, CTO, Klima Consulting
Omar Nuruzade, CEO & Co-Founder, Nexus Lab
Tomas Panek, Head of Contrail Partnerships, Google
Eóghain Mitchison, Director of External Affairs, Contrails.org
Moderated by Joachim Majholm, Founder, Blue Lines
14:15 – 14:40 | Roadmap to Implementation
The University of Cambridge’s Aviation Impact Accelerator shares the latest results from recent stakeholder meetings and outlines what is needed to implement a fully operational contrail avoidance system.
Speakers:
Edmund Dickens, Senior Project Manager, Aviation Impact Accelerator
Dr Samual Gabra, Director, Aviation Impact Accelerator
14:40 – 14:45 | Rewarding the Leaders: How Passengers and Workers Can Drive Contrail Action
Speaker:
Katie Thompson, pilot and founder, Bumprints
14:45 – 15:15 | Coffee Break
Break & Networking
15:15 – 15:45 | Long-Haul Contrail Avoidance with Satellite Validation: Cargolux’s Practical Experience
This session presents the results of the 2026 contrail avoidance program conducted by Cargolux Airlines International and Nexus Lab, focusing on long-haul operations and satellite-based validation of contrail avoidance.
Speakers:
Tertius Beneke, Chief Sustainability Officer, Cargolux
Omar Nuruzade, CEO & Co-Founder, Nexus Lab
15:45 – 16:35 | What Does Contrail Mitigation Really Cost?
We often hear about extra fuel costs for contrail avoidance, but what other cost levers matter if contrails need to scale over the next decades? Contrails.org has built a cost calculator, T&E talks about costs in a new operational roadmap, and Flightkeys has changed the contrail module in its flight planning tool to be primarily centered around cost.
Speakers:
Diane Vitry, Aviation Director, T&E
Alejandra Martín Frías, Head of Contrail Research and Sustainability, Flightkeys
Eóghain Mitchison, Director of External Affairs, Contrails.org
Moderator: Vincent de Haes, T&E
16:35 – 16:40 | Closing Remarks