Climate change will shape many aspects of citizens’ lives in the 21st century and beyond. Major ATM changes, in the way energy is used or wasted, are required to limit global warming. 

HERON aimed to foster deployment of a set of ambitious targets to mitigate CO2 emissions from air transport and to develop meaningful and sustainable activities, including more efficient aircraft operations both in the air and on the ground.

The project carried out 23 large-scale demonstrations, addressing integrated 4D Trajectories and the newly developed ADS-C common services, enabling aircraft to share real-time flight data with the ground, allowing for smoother, greener descents and more predictable arrival management.

Significant attention was also given to green surface operations, where demonstrations showed how innovations like single-engine taxiing, automated aircraft parking aids, and hybrid towing vehicles (Taxitow) are drastically cutting emissions on the tarmac. Demonstrations also looked at optimised approaches and improved trajectory planning, proving that smarter runway delivery techniques and dynamic route management can simultaneously boost airport capacity, reduce fuel burn, and lower noise impact for local communities.