Trajectory optimization methods have been successfully used to minimize pollutant emissions during departure and arrivals, and noise over communities near the airports. This has led to the development, within the CleanSky European research project, of a trajectory optimization framework capable of finding optimal flight paths that minimize emissions, flight cost and noise impact on the population, while still taking into account aircraft limitations and operational restrictions. While this can be very useful when the next generation of trajectory-based air-traffic management systems arrives, as being proposed by SESAR and NextGen, it can still provide benefits in the current context, if implemented taking into account the air navigation rules. This paper describes the optimal control based framework for on-board optimal flight planning, providing an overview of its preliminary human-machine interface, and demonstrates the trade-off that can be obtained by using such a tool when planning a full flight plan for distinct cost criteria.
