MEPs: Airlines must pay for emissions

The European Parliament voted this week to include aviation in the European Union (EU) Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), one year earlier than previously planned.

MEPs overwhelming backed the new proposals, which mean that from 2011 airline operators will be legally obliged to purchase a license for every tonne of CO2 they emit.

This includes flights to EU and non-EU countries.

Previous proposals allowed the aviation industry to be exempt from the legislation until 2012.

MEPs also voted to reduce the emissions cap for the ETS to 90% of 2004-2006 levels, 10 percentage points lower than the previous cap of 100%.

Peter Liese, the German MEP who drafted the revised legislation, has estimated that passengers will have to pay around £8 extra for flights in the EU, and around £32 extra for transatlantic flights.

Friends of the Earth have welcomed the plans, adding that the proposed legislation shows Europe’s ‘genuine commitment’ to tackling climate change.

The aviation industry, however, has been left fuming, as the news adds to the woes of already harried airlines who are suffering heavily from increasing oil prices.

Many airlines have been forced to lay off staff and to cut back on flight numbers.

The International Air Carrier Association is so angry that it condemned the legislation as ‘destructive extremism.’

The final vote on the legislation is expected in July.