At 6% of flights, long-haul services emit 51% of CO2: Eurocontrol

Long-haul air services departing European airports accounted for more than half of CO2 emissions from all operations in 2020, while making up just 6% of flights, according to Eurocontrol data. The figure is broadly in line with that from 2019 – when it was 48%, versus 51% for 2020 – despite the devastating impact of the pandemic on the sector, the aviation body says. At the other end of the spectrum from the 2,160nm-plus long-haul flights, the 31% of flights that were under 270nm had only a 4% share of CO2, Eurocontrol states. It points out that while short-haul flights are an “excellent candidate for early electrification”, data shows that even removing 100% of CO2 emissions from such services would have a small impact on the overall total. “Increasing, the supply of sustainable aviation fuel to cover just 10% of the needs of long-haul would do more than can ever be done in short-haul to reduce net CO2 emissions,” it suggests. Eurocontrol says the figures take into account all emissions for flights departing from European airports – whether those emissions occur inside or outside European airspace.<br/>