EU ETS reforms upset Ryanair but draw mixed reaction from airline bodies

A provisional agreement on reform of the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) with regards to aviation has prompted a mixed reaction from airlines. Notably, the deal announced on 6 December would see the ETS continuing to apply only to intra-European flights through to 2026, when the EU will assess whether ICAO’s global CORSIA offsetting scheme – which will cover international flights into and out of the bloc – is sufficient to meet the targets of the Paris Agreement. The proposal states that should the EU deem CORSIA unfit for purpose in 2026, the ETS will be extended to cover all flights departing the bloc. That prompted an angry response from Ryanair, with the giant European low-cost carrier again claiming that short-haul operators are being unfairly targeted by ETS costs. “While the richest Americans, Europeans and Asians on long-haul flights pay zero [environmental] taxes, Europe’s most price sensitive passengers and their families travelling on short-haul flights, many to the peripheral member states such as Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus, and who have no alternative to flying, are forced to pay all of Europe’s ETS taxes, while they generate less than half of EU aviation emissions,” says Ryanair group CE Michael O’Leary. “This is clearly unfair,” he adds. But airline industry association IATA had earlier in the week said during its Global Media Day that it continued to oppose the idea of the ETS applying to international flights out of the bloc, in line with its belief that CORSIA should be sufficient and that such measures risk putting local carriers at a competitive disadvantage. <br/>