Costs of airline climate deal may be peanuts for passengers

The proposed UN accord to limit pollution from international flights could cost airlines billions. For passengers, the price may be less than an in-flight glass of pinot noir. The UN’s aviation organization has estimated the measure being debated this week in Montreal may cost airlines between $2.9b and $12.4b annually by 2030. That could add between 31 cents and $12.10 per seat, according to Bloomberg calculations. The deal, which would be the first global climate accord for a single industry, calls for companies to offset their emissions growth after 2020 by funding environmental initiatives. While the price of that effort is forecast to grow to as high as $23.9b by 2035, the amount would be a tiny fraction of airlines’ budgets. It will be up to individual companies to determine how to recover the costs. The expense is so low that customers may never notice. “This is a highly competitive industry,” said Haldane Dodd, a spokesman for the Air Transport Action Group. “Some airlines might pass the cost onto consumers, others won’t.’’<br/>