From July 6 to 10, 2026, Toulouse hosted the World Conference on Transport Research (WCTR) 2026, a major global event organized by the Toulouse School of Economics and chaired by Prof. Marc Ivaldi. This triennial event serves as a global platform for the exchange of ideas among transport researchers, policymakers, industry leaders, and educators from around the world.

The conference is designed to foster a multimodal, multisectoral, and multidisciplinary dialogue, offering a unique opportunity to present and discuss the latest advancements in transport research and practice.

The Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA) was proud to contribute to the discussions, with Laurent Joly, ISA Director, joining a high-level roundtable and four researchers presenting their latest findings.

ISA Director Joins Key Roundtable on Sustainability and Competition

On the second day of the conference, Laurent Joly participated in the panel « Global Air Transport: Can Sustainability and Fair Competition Be Aligned? », alongside Lucie Muniesa, Secretary General of Air France-KLM. The debate tackled critical issues for European aviation, including intensified global competition, mature markets, fossil fuel dependence, and the challenges of SAF mandates and cost pass-through rates.

Laurent Joly highlighted the essential role of ISA-driven scientific research in designing effective policies and industrial strategies. He emphasized the need to balance economic resilience with environmental efficiency, a core mission of ISA’s work.

ISA Researchers Present Cutting-Edge Work

Four researchers also shared their insights at WCTR 2026:

• Thomas Bétous (ADEME-ISAE-SUPAERO-Lille University): « Cleared for descent? Analysis of two regulatory policies to moderate air traffic in France and their effects on passengers »
• Antoine Salgas (ISAE-SUPAERO): « Comparing air transport decarbonisation policies using a sectoral assessment model »
• Ian Costa Alves (ISAE-SUPAERO): « Modeling and calibration of aggregate aviation demand for climate mitigation scenarios »
• Paco Viry (ISAE-SUPAERO): « Studying air travel technological scenarios with a multinomial aircraft assignment model »

Their presentations showcased ISA’s commitment to rigorous, data-driven research that addresses the most pressing challenges in aviation sustainability.

Aviation decarbonisation scenarios rely on highly uncertain assumptions: technology maturity, demand evolution, public policies, and action levers. How can we better quantify these uncertainties to strengthen confidence in projections?

Since June 1st, Suzanne Salles—supervised by François Gallard and Matthias De Lozzo (IRT Saint Exupéry) as well as Christian Gogu (ISAE-SUPAERO)—has been working on modeling uncertainties, their propagation in scenario tools (such as AeroMAPS), and the identification of key assumptions that drive results. The goal is to inform decisions with quantified confidence.

This 18-month post-doctoral project is funded by ISA (through a grant from the Occitanie Region).

Welcome to Suzanne as she joins the ISA teams as part of this collaboration with IRT Saint Exupéry!

The Institute for Sustainable Aviation will hold its upcoming workshop dedicated to “The Vulnerability of Air Transport to Weather and Climate Change”,

which will take place on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, at Météo-France (International Conference Center). This event will bring together speakers from academia, public institutions, and industry to foster interdisciplinary discussions on the challenges of aviation safety, resilience, and transition.

The day will begin with a welcome address by Pierre Tabary, Head of the Aeronautical Department at Météo-France (Directorate of Meteorological Services), followed by a series of presentations dedicated to the challenges of adapting the aviation sector to climate change. Discussions will notably address the impacts of climate change on aircraft performance and airport infrastructure, research activities and operational services developed for aviation, as well as the economic and regulatory issues associated with climate uncertainty.

You can view the full program here: ISA – Programme – workshop#7

To register, please follow the link (subject to availability) 

Last Friday marked the conclusion of the first Research School organized by the ISA, under the theme « Pathways to Sustainable Aviation ».

For a week, the most active and renowned researchers— Rafael Balderas, Joana Albano, Daniel Kan, Chantal Roucolle, Jens Friedrichs, Lynnette Dray, Sara Laurent, Junzi Sun, Stefan Gossling, Camila Gonzalez-Marin, and Nicolas Bellouin—shared their disciplinary approaches with a new generation of young researchers. The latter thus benefited from privileged access to state-of-the-art research aimed at generating knowledge and shedding light on the levers for mitigating aviation’s environmental impacts.

A huge thank you to them for the quality of their presentations, and to the participants for their unwavering commitment, particularly during the group work and the creation of the Gigamap—a visual mapping of their collaborative work.

 This immersive programme entitled “Pathways to Sustainable Aviation: An Interdisciplinary Research School” offers a unique opportunity to dive into the latest scientific advances and the most innovative research shaping the future of zero-emission aviation. Designed for PhD candidates, postdoctoral researchers, research engineers from both engineering disciplines and the human and social sciences, the Research School fosters a truly interdisciplinary learning environment where multiple perspectives meet and enrich one another.
Throughout the week, participants will engage with an outstanding line-up of international experts who will share cutting-edge insights into technological, environmental, economic, and societal dimensions of sustainable aviation.

The programme features:
– Plenary lectures
– Two parallel course tracks, one dedicated to engineering and the other to humanities and social sciences
– Collaborative projects carried out in small, mixed-discipline teams
– A flagship activity of the program, the collective Gigamap enables participants to confront the complexity of the aviation sustainability transition by jointly constructing a scientifically grounded, peer-discussed representation of the aviation system

Hosted in the inspiring and peaceful environment of Toulouse, the aerospace capital at the heart of Europe, the programme also offers exclusive visits to Airbus and the Aeroscopia Museum, immersing participants in the rich past, present, and future of aviation and offering the ideal backdrop for deep reflection, meaningful conversations, and new professional connections.

We warmly invite enthusiastic PhD students, postdocs, and early-career researchers passionate about shaping the future of sustainable aviation to join us for this exceptional learning experience.
As the number of places is limited to 30 participants, applicants should pre-register directly on the dedicated website by joining their curriculum vitae, the duly completed pre-registration form, and a copy of their passport (for non-Europeans applicants).

We very much look forward to welcoming you to the first ISA research school!

The Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA) invites applications, by March 30, 2026 (8:00 PM), to its call for projects supporting three 18-month postdoctoral positions.

This call for projects aims to support research initiatives benefiting both from ISA funding (through a grant from the Occitanie Region) and from integration into the Institute’s scientific community. It is open to the entire research community in Occitanie.

For more information on conducting impact-driven scientific research on a specific aspect of the transition toward sustainable aviation, download the call.

AAP post-doc ISA 2026

The Institute for Sustainable Aviation will hold its upcoming workshop dedicated to “SAF Futures: Innovations, Challenges and Social Dimensions”, which will take place on Friday, December 12, at ISAE-SUPAERO.

This full-day event brings together leading experts from research institution and industry, to explore the technological, economic, and policy challenges shaping the SAF landscape.

The day will begin with a welcome address by Marie-Hélène Baroux, General Manager of ISAE-SUPAERO, followed by several presentations on SAF adoption, production pathways, and their financial and regulatory challenges. Each talk will be followed by a Q&A session, and networking moments will encourage dialogue among participants.

You can view the full program here: ISA – Programme – Workshop#6

To register, please follow the link (subject to availability) 

On Friday, June 27, the Institute for Sustainable Aviation (ISA) held its 5ᵗʰ workshop on the TBS Education campus, dedicated to the topic: “Contrails and Sustainability – Challenges and Strategies for the Development of Sustainable Airways.”
Warmly welcomed by Stéphanie Lavigne, General Manager of TBS Education, and Laurent Joly, Director of ISA, participants had the opportunity to engage in open discussions with the speakers after each presentation and during the concluding roundtable.
This workshop featured presentations by Nicolas Bonne (Climaviation), Céline Demouge (DGAC-DSNA), Catherine Mackay (Airbus), Antoine Joulia (ONERA), Valérie Guénon (Safran) and brought together Christophe Peiron (Air France), Chris Deseure (Thalès), Jérôme du Boucher (Transport & Environnement) et Philippe Mattéi (Airbus) for a round-table discussion led by Nicolas Gourdain.
Based on rational and in-depth dialogue between researchers and industry players, ISA continues its mission of fostering interdisciplinary research that reflects the realities of aviation.

Please find the program and presentations below :

Workshop Program

Contrail modeling activities in Climaviation project by Nicolas Bonne

Consideration of contrails by air navigation services and their impact on the network by Céline Demouge

Persistent contrails can we predict them by Catherine Mackay

Climate impact assessment using ATMLab preliminary results by Antoine Joulia

Non-CO2 climate effects Safran Group’s perspective by Valérie Guénon