EU:Greenhouse gas emissions from air transport, which are increasing faster than any other sector, are to be brought into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), according to legislation proposed by the European Commission.
The proposed directive will cover emissions from flights within the EU from 2011 and all flights to and from EU airports from 2012. At present, emissions from the aviation sector are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change.
Aviation fuel has historically been exempted from taxation, as the commission noted.
"Bilateral air agreements between EU member states and third countries are being changed to allow this possibility, but it will take time to implement".
Though the measure is being vigorously opposed by US and Far East airlines, the commission said the rapid growth in aviation emissions - up by 87 per cent since 1990 - threatens to undermine progress in implementing Kyoto.
Without action, the growth in emissions would cancel out more than a quarter of the 8 per cent reduction in overall emissions which the EU must achieve under the protocol.
And by 2020, aviation emissions are likely to more than double.
The commission said the inclusion of both EU and foreign airlines in the ETS was a cost-effective way for the sector to control its emissions and was also an approach endorsed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
"Like industrial companies already covered by the ETS, airlines will be able to sell surplus allowances if they reduce their emissions and will need to buy additional allowances if their emissions grow," it explained.
Spelling out the environmental costs of cheaper air travel, it said someone flying from London to New York and back generates roughly the same level of emissions as the average person in the EU does by heating their home for a whole year.
However, the commission insisted that any increase in ticket costs resulting from the scheme would be significantly lower than rises due to oil price changes in recent years.
A typical return flight within the EU would be up to €9 dearer under the scheme.
