The continued emission of greenhouse gases presents an existential threat to civilization on our planet. Although the aviation sector of the global economy contributes only a small percentage of the total greenhouse gas emissions it will become increasingly important to decarbonize this sector no later than 2050 if the danger of irreversible climate change is to be averted. In this special issue an attempt is made to provide the readers of ‘‘Progress in Aerospace Sciences” with easy access to the views of twentyfive active researchers in the field of sustainable aviation in eight comprehensive review papers on the current status and the challenges to achieve the transition to green aviation by mid-century.

温室气体的持续排放对我们星球上的文明构成了生存威胁。尽管航空业在全球经济中只占温室气体排放总量的一小部分，但如果要避免不可逆转的气候变化的危险，最晚在 2050 年使该行业脱碳将变得越来越重要。在本期特刊中，我们试图让《航空航天科学进展》的读者轻松了解可持续航空领域二十五位活跃研究人员在八篇综合评论论文中的观点，内容涉及可持续航空的现状和挑战到本世纪中叶向绿色航空过渡。