Airbus and QC Ware Announce Quantum Computing Partnership for Flight Route Optimization
January 28, 2020
Aerospace Eyes Quantum Leap for Fuel-Efficient Routing
In a bold move that underscored growing momentum behind quantum computing in the logistics sector, Airbus announced a strategic research collaboration with QC Ware, a leading U.S.-based quantum software startup. The goal: to use emerging quantum optimization algorithms to transform how airlines plan flight paths across the globe.
This announcement on January 28, 2020, came amid a global push to reduce aviation emissions and improve operational efficiency across airline logistics networks. The project, operating under the Airbus Flight Operations department, specifically investigates how quantum algorithms can enhance route efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and increase real-time responsiveness to airspace and weather dynamics.
QC Ware: From Finance to Flight
QC Ware had previously made headlines for applying quantum algorithms to financial portfolio optimization and energy grid simulations. With the Airbus collaboration, the company transitioned its quantum expertise to transportation logistics — particularly focusing on flight trajectory optimization, a problem ripe for quantum-enhanced combinatorial solutions.
The company brought its Forge platform to the table — a cloud-agnostic quantum development environment compatible with major quantum backends, including IBM Q, D-Wave, and Rigetti.
According to QC Ware CEO Matt Johnson, “Airlines confront thousands of constraints when planning long-haul international flights — from wind conditions to restricted airspace to fuel limits. Quantum computing offers a way to find better routes faster, saving costs and reducing emissions.”
The Optimization Problem: Why Quantum Makes Sense
Flight routing is fundamentally a combinatorial optimization problem — a perfect candidate for early quantum advantage. In this domain, planners must balance numerous constraints:
Real-time weather forecasts
Geopolitical no-fly zones
Air traffic congestion
Aircraft performance and safety margins
Fuel consumption and environmental regulations
Traditionally, solving this requires complex simulations using classical algorithms that can take hours or even days for large-scale flight networks. The Airbus-QC Ware initiative aims to develop quantum-enhanced heuristics that deliver near-optimal routes in significantly less time.
Early simulations suggested quantum annealing and variational quantum eigensolvers (VQE) could reduce computation time for constrained pathfinding, even on today’s noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.
Toward Greener Skies: The Emissions Angle
Airbus framed the partnership not just as a computational experiment but as a climate initiative. Aviation accounts for about 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions, and even a 1% improvement in route efficiency could mean millions of gallons of fuel saved annually.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), quantum-assisted planning could help optimize cruise altitude adjustments and lateral deviations in real time, shaving both fuel burn and time from flights.
The quantum project aligns with Airbus’ Flight Lab sustainability roadmap and contributes to the Clean Sky 2 Joint Undertaking, an EU research initiative targeting green aviation technologies.
Global Collaboration, European Focus
Although QC Ware is based in Palo Alto, the Airbus collaboration was strongly rooted in European R&D ecosystems. The project received technical input from Airbus UpNext and was positioned to feed into ongoing EU quantum programs like Quantum Flagship and PASQuanS.
In parallel, Airbus also signaled interest in engaging French and German quantum research clusters, including:
CEA Saclay (France), focusing on quantum hardware acceleration
Fraunhofer IAF (Germany), working on materials and superconducting qubits
Airbus' own innovation hub in Munich, which connects logistics with quantum AI
This cross-border collaboration emphasized that aviation quantum logistics was no longer speculative — it was maturing into a globally coordinated innovation strategy.
QC Ware’s Hybrid Advantage: Bridging Classical and Quantum
An important feature of the Airbus-QC Ware project was the use of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms. These algorithms allowed classical computers to handle data pre-processing, constraint selection, and problem mapping — while handing off optimization-heavy components to quantum processors.
QC Ware’s Forge environment let Airbus simulate problems on both classical and quantum backends, allowing benchmarking and testing even in the absence of large-scale quantum machines.
This hybrid model is especially relevant for the logistics sector, where operational systems must deliver guaranteed reliability, and quantum errors cannot yet be fully mitigated. QC Ware’s modular design gave Airbus the flexibility to incrementally test use cases, reducing the risk of disruptive integration.
Looking Ahead: Real-Time Routing and Beyond
While the current research focused on static route planning, future iterations aim to enable real-time re-routing based on dynamic conditions, such as:
Sudden weather changes
In-flight fuel optimization
Emergency landings and redirection
Reactive airspace closures
These problems are computationally prohibitive for classical systems under time pressure. Quantum processing could allow flight operations centers to dynamically respond to new constraints mid-flight, a capability that could transform passenger safety and airline agility.
There’s also growing interest in applying similar quantum techniques to air cargo routing, including drones and autonomous aircraft. Airbus’ unmanned aerial logistics division, Skyways, is reportedly evaluating quantum simulations for urban drone delivery systems, though details remained under wraps in January 2020.
Challenges Ahead: Talent, Hardware, and Integration
While the Airbus-QC Ware partnership was lauded across the aviation and quantum communities, several challenges remain:
Workforce development: There are few logistics professionals trained in quantum programming or algorithmic modeling. Airbus has initiated internal training programs to address this gap.
Hardware scalability: The quantum processors available in 2020 still suffer from limited qubit counts and error rates, restricting problem sizes that can be run natively.
Certification standards: In safety-critical industries like aviation, quantum tools must pass rigorous verification. No industry-wide regulatory framework for quantum-enhanced decision-making exists yet.
Despite these hurdles, Airbus’ clear strategic interest signaled a long-term commitment to quantum logistics research. QC Ware’s expanding customer base in both aerospace and manufacturing sectors suggests broader applications are on the horizon.
Conclusion: Flight Planning Enters the Quantum Era
With its January 2020 announcement, Airbus joined the front ranks of aerospace firms embracing quantum computing as a practical logistics tool rather than an experimental curiosity. The partnership with QC Ware showcased the feasibility of applying today’s quantum technologies to real aviation constraints, laying the foundation for smarter, greener, and more responsive flight operations.
If successful, these efforts could radically change how airlines think about routing, efficiency, and sustainability — and catalyze a broader transformation across the entire aviation logistics chain.