European aviation sector fears CO2 rules could clip its wings

European airlines fear losing out to rivals based outside the EU that can ignore the bloc’s emissions-reduction rules to become carbon neutral by 2050. The “Fit for 55” package sets out an initial goal of reducing emissions by 55% in 2030 compared with the 1990 level. This involves bloc-level obligations to scale up the use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to be blended with fossil fuels in all flights departing from European airports. SAFs come from sources such as municipal solid waste, leftovers from the agricultural and forestry industry, used cooking oil, crops and plants, and hydrogen. These technologies are still developing and the end product is more expensive, thereby placing additional costs on airlines obliged to use them while passengers will have to pay more for flights. The aviation sector is growing in Asia and the Middle East and companies based there could benefit greatly as they are not subject to these constraints, industry experts say. “The European airline industry has to live with the fact that it’s cheaper to bypass environmental reduction ideas if you hop outside of Europe,” Carsten Spohr, CEO of German carrier Lufthansa, said at the Airlines for Europe (A4E) aviation summit in Brussels on Wednesday. Spohr said an airline flying from Brussels to Singapore via Paris, for example, must pay through a carbon emissions trading plan for the European leg of the trip. “If you want to go via Doha, you don’t need to pay emission trading, you also don’t need to be part of blending (SAF and traditional fuels),” Spohr said. Carbon dioxide emissions from aviation have been included in the EU emissions trading system since 2012.<br/>