NATS environmental initiative GAIN-ing momentum

GAIN – Green Aviation is the NATS-led initiative designed to spearhead action on aviation’s contribution to climate change.

Made up of a coalition of leading ANSPs, the initiative centres around the development of the GAIN tool, the first globally collaborative data and analytics application designed specifically for ANSPs to measure airspace efficiency in a standardised way.

GAIN is designed to enable ANSPs around the world to benchmark performance, share insights, and drive more sustainable airspace management. In Europe alone, routing inefficiencies are thought to cause roughly 5-11% additional fuel burn per flight, translating to tens of millions of tonnes of CO₂ annually. By leveraging cutting-edge analytics and complex algorithms, GAIN equips ANSPs with the tools to identify airspace hotspots, set actionable targets, and benchmark performance.

NATS, alongside CAAM, skeyes, and AZANS, officially launched GAIN as a not-for-profit initiative in May this year, and with ATNS now joining the collaboration, over 10% of the world’s air traffic falls under the jurisdiction of the Founding Members. Together they have the potential to achieve annual savings of at least 450,000 tonnes of CO2 through airspace and aircraft routing improvements.

On joining GAIN, the acting CEO of ATNS,Matome Moholola said: “I believe that collaborative programs such as the GAIN initiative will assist the industry in understanding their contribution and defining measures in improving operational efficiency and reducing aircraft emissions to meet the global target of Net-Zero by 2050”.

Rachel Gardner-Poole OBE, GAIN Steering Group Chair & NATS Sustainable Aviation Consultant​, added: “I’m thrilled to welcome ATNS as a GAIN Founding Member. Their passion, expertise and commitment will benefit the entire membership and help widen our global coverage. Tackling climate change requires collaboration across industries and across borders, that’s why ANSPs like ATNS and the other founding members can play a leading role, and why I believe GAIN is such a vital initiative on our journey to Net Zero.”