EU Emissions Trading Scheme for Airlines Moving Forward

The next step in the ongoing saga of applying the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) to the airline industry came this week, as the European Commission partially activated the Single Union Registry for aircraft.

All aircraft operators subject to the EU ETS will be required to open accounts in the registry, through which they will receive permits and report their annual emissions. The first batch of allowances will be credited to each aircraft operator by 28 February 2012, with the first reporting requirement due by March 2013.

A number of third countries continue to resist the extension of the EU ETS to airlines, and it remains to be seen whether they or their airline industries will follow through on threats not to comply with the EU’s new rules. Stay tuned!