TIM v3.0.0

Overview

The Travel Impact Model (TIM) evolves to Version 3.0.0, introducing significant functionality enhancements focused on transparency, regulatory alignment, and climate impact completeness. This version incorporates contrail warming impact estimation, supports the Flight Emissions Label (FEL) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), and introduces optional logistics hub emissions in line with ISO 14083.

⚠️ TIM 3.0.0 applies to future flight estimates only. Historical emissions reporting continues to use TIM 2.0.0.

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Key Updates in TIM 3.0.0

1. Contrail Impact Buckets

• New output: contrails_impact_bucket

• Values:

  • "NEGlIGIBLE" (0–20% relative to fuel burn warming impact)

  • "MODERATE" (20–100%)

  • "HIGH" (>100%)

  • "USNPECIFIED" (unknown impact)

• Contrail impact reflects the risk of additional climate warming from persistent contrail formation, modeled based on historical meteorological and flight path data.

• Contrail impact is not converted to CO₂e. It is displayed as a relative indicator and is not combined with fuel burn emissions.

• Multi-leg aggregation method:

  • Negligible = 0.1

  • Moderate = 0.6

  • High = 1.2

• The aggregated contrail impact for a journey is calculated as the weighted average relative to fuel burn across flights.

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2. Flight Emissions Label (FEL) Support

• New column: source

  • If source = "EASA", the CO₂ estimate comes from the official EASA Flight Emissions Label, not TIM.

• Additional metadata fields when FEL is used:

  • label_version

  • issue_date

  • validity_date

  • saf_discount_percent (if applicable)

• FEL replaces the TIM estimate when available and is used for display and audit purposes.

• A disclaimer and link must be provided: https://www.flightemissions.eu

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3. Logistics Hub (Airport) Emissions (Optional)

• Based on ISO 14083 recommendation, emissions from airport facilities are now optionally included.

• New parameter: logistics_hub (Boolean, default = false)

• If logistics_hub = true, add:

  • 1.71 kg CO₂e per airport visited (arrival + departure → 3.42 kg CO₂e per flight)

• This accounts for emissions from airport operations like baggage handling, terminal services, and passenger movement.

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API Response Example

{
  "carbon_quantity": 78709,
  "carbon_unit": "gram",
  "items": [
    {
      "carbon_quantity": 78709,
      "carbon_unit": "gram",
      "external_reference": "test",
      "type": "flight",
      "methodology": "TIM",
      "distance": 706.0,
      "distance_unit": "kilometer",
      "algorithm_specifics": {
        "dataset_type": "google_tim",
        "contrails_impact_bucket": "MODERATE",
        "logistics_hub": true
      },
      "audit_trail": {
        "source": "TIM",
        "label_version": null,
        "issue_date": null,
        "validity_date": null,
        "saf_discount_percent": null
      }
    }
  ]
}

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API Request Additions

• Optional parameters:

  • "logistics_hub": true | false (default false)

• Response additions:

  • contrail_impact_bucket

  • source ("TIM" or "EASA")

  • FEL metadata if source = "EASA"

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Default Values

Parameter	Default
logistics_hub	false
source	"TIM"
contrails_impact_bucket	Calculated

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Best Practices

• Contrail Impact:

  • Display as "Risk of high contrail impact" or "Moderate contrail warming likelihood".

  • Never convert to CO₂e.

  • Keep separate from fuel burn in reporting.

• FEL Source:

  • Always display the disclaimer and link when FEL data is used.

• Hub Emissions:

  • Apply only when clients explicitly request full end-to-end emissions per ISO 14083.

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Bibliography

• EN ISO 14083:2023 — Greenhouse gases — Quantification and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from transport chain operations.

• EASA Flight Emissions Label (2024) — https://www.flightemissions.eu

• Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) Annual Report 2024 — Emissions values for airport facilities.

• Google Travel Impact Model (TIM) Release Notes — June 2025.