Lufthansa’s Airbus A340-300 registered D-AIGT has marked 15 years of participation in the European atmospheric research programme IAGOS. The aircraft, named after the German city of Viersen, has been collecting data during regular passenger flights since July 2011, supporting climate research, the development of climate models and improvements in weather forecasting.

The anniversary was marked during flight LH405 from New York to Frankfurt, operated overnight from July 7 to July 8, 2026. Exactly 15 years earlier, on July 8, 2011, D-AIGT departed on a flight from Frankfurt to Lagos with the additional task of collecting data for climate research for the first time.

At the time, Lufthansa, in cooperation with Forschungszentrum Jülich, became the first airline to introduce long-term monitoring of the Earth’s atmosphere on scheduled services using the measurement system developed under the IAGOS programme, or In-service Aircraft for a Global Observing System.

Lufthansa Group’s involvement in atmospheric research began even earlier. The previous MOZAIC system was installed on two Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 aircraft and collected data during cruise flights between 1994 and 2014. The Group has therefore supported atmospheric and climate research for more than three decades by using aircraft in regular passenger service.

The programme was later expanded to additional aircraft. A second IAGOS system was installed in February 2015 on an Airbus A330-300 registered D-AIKO, which now operates for Discover Airlines. In November 2022, another Discover Airlines A330-300, registered D-AIKE, was also equipped with the system.

Up to three Lufthansa Group aircraft now collect atmospheric data every day on routes around the world. In addition to Lufthansa’s A340-300 D-AIGT, the programme also includes two long-haul aircraft operated by Discover Airlines.

The compact measurement system is permanently installed beneath the cockpit, while outside air reaches the instruments through two probes fitted into the aircraft fuselage. After each flight, the collected data is automatically transmitted to the central database of France’s National Centre for Scientific Research, CNRS, in Toulouse.

The data is freely available to the international scientific community and is currently used by around 400 organisations worldwide. It supports the monitoring of long-term changes in the atmosphere, the refinement of climate models and improvements in the accuracy of weather forecasts. IAGOS is also one of the key elements of the World Meteorological Organization’s global aircraft-based atmospheric observation system.

Measurements are mainly carried out during cruise flight at altitudes between nine and 13 kilometres. This part of the atmosphere is particularly important for climate research because it is where processes take place that influence the Earth’s radiation balance and climate.

Using passenger aircraft makes it possible to collect a much larger volume of data and achieve broader geographical coverage than would be possible by relying solely on dedicated research aircraft or satellites. Regular scheduled services also allow measurements to be repeated on the same routes over extended periods.

Since 1994, Lufthansa Group has completed more than 37,500 measurement flights using aircraft equipped with MOZAIC and IAGOS systems. The collected data has made a significant contribution to the creation of one of the world’s most extensive datasets on ozone and water vapour concentrations in the atmosphere.

Today, ten aircraft operated by eight airlines are equipped with the IAGOS system. The programme is coordinated by Forschungszentrum Jülich and brings together research institutions, meteorological services, the aviation industry and airlines.

In addition to its involvement in IAGOS, Lufthansa Group says it is also working on research into aviation effects not directly related to carbon dioxide emissions, climate-optimised flight planning and the more precise use of weather data in daily operations.