Supporting climate change adaptation and resilience in the aviation sector
Anticipating future climate impacts, assessing infrastructural risks, and strengthening the operational resilience of air transport assets.
While the aviation industry continues to focus on decarbonisation and emissions mitigation, accelerating climate change poses immediate physical risks to global air transport infrastructure. This sustainability white paper by Airbus Protect addresses the critical need for climate adaptation alongside mitigation strategies. Drawing on predictive modeling—including CMIP6 climate trajectories and a dedicated case study of top U.S. airport hubs—the paper evaluates how rising temperatures, changing wind dynamics, sea-level rise, and intense storm events threaten aircraft performance, runway capacity, and supply chain continuity. By defining clear operational thresholds and vulnerability indicators, Airbus Protect outlines actionable frameworks to help aviation stakeholders future-proof critical assets and maintain long-term competitive advantage.
What you will find
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Predictive Climate Modeling: Insights into CMIP6 emission scenarios to project how extreme heatwaves, shifting winds, and intense precipitation will affect future flight operations.
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Airport Infrastructure Vulnerability: A comprehensive risk assessment mapping operational and structural threats across major aviation hubs and transport nodes.
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Adaptation vs Mitigation Strategies: Guidance on balancing long-term decarbonisation goals with immediate adaptation measures to safeguard high-value, multi-decade assets.
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Proactive Risk Thresholds: Actionable frameworks to help stakeholders identify critical environmental triggers, transition from reactive disruption management, and build lasting operational resilience.
Authors
Alessandra Treviso
Sustainability Consultant
Sylvain Gravoulet
Sustainability Consultant
Annunziata Chiacchiera
Sustainability Consultant