Cut carbon emissions or face Europe-wide ban by 2012, EU warns around 4,000 airlines

The European Union (EU) has warned nearly 4,000 airlines that they could be banned from airports across Europe if they fail to cut considerably their carbon footprints by the year 2012.  These airlines – which include commercial airlines, operators of private jet as well as military aircraft – will have to sign the new emissions-reduction scheme, called the European Union Emission Trading Scheme, by 2012.

Those failing to sign up face fines or a ban by the European Union.

According to aviation experts, the warning of punitive action – appearing in the latest issue of the European Union’s official gazette – is aimed at highlighting new legislation that will pressurise airlines to comply with regulations on emissions of carbon dioxide.

The new piece of legislation is set to take effect on January 1, 2012.

The European Union has named many of the world’s major commercial airlines in its warning – including United Airlines, US Airways,  Lufthansa, Qantas Airways, Aeroflot, Emirates, and KLM .

Those carriers that the European Union has not named in the warning include British Airways, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, and Cathay Pacific – probably because these four airlines have recently worked closely with the Climate Group, the eco-charity, to set up a global carbon trading scheme.

The European Union’s long list also includes the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industries and Dassault as also military establishments like the Air Force of Israeli and the Air Force of Russia.

According to the terms of the European Union’s new emissions-reduction scheme, airline operators are required to submit, by January 2010, plans to monitor their
emissions.

And, those airline operators which do not satisfy the EU’s norms face fines – from 2012 onwards – could even be banned from all airports in Europe.

Meanwhile, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global group of airline operators, has advised airlines to comply with the European Union’s directive “to avoid being penalised.”

However, the International Air Transport Association asked the airlines to submit their emission reports “under protest” and only after “consulting their legal departments” about the matter.

According to data given out by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, the air transport sector at present accounts for 2% of the worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide.

The website avionews.com quoted Katharina von Schnurbein, a spokeswoman for the European Union, as explaining that the aviation sector has been included in the emissions trading scheme and that the EU’s new list is a part of a directive that was adopted in 2008 with a view to including the aviation sector in that scheme.