Study: Airlines avoided paying €10,3 billion for their emissions in the EU ETS for 2023

A new study published by the environmental group Transport & Environment (T&E) revealed that airlines paid just €3 billion under the EU ETS for their emissions from intra-European flights in 2023. However, the study extended to all flights departing from Europe “to allow for a more comprehensive picture of aviation-related emissions at the European level”.

The analysis discovered that in 2023 the 6,7 million flights departing from airports located in Europe emitted a total of 164,85 mt CO2, a growth of around 13,2% compared to the previous year. Despite the year-to-year rise, “European aviation as a whole is not back to its pre-Covid levels,” noticed T&E.

Furthermore, according to the study, from that total, around 102 mt CO2 were not covered by the European carbon market while 27 million allowances were given for free. Therefore, only 36 mt CO2 were priced in by the EU ETS, representing 22% of Europe’s total emissions from aviation.

As a result, airlines paid for their emissions last year just €3 billion and “avoided paying an estimated €10.3 billion for their emissions thanks to the free allowances and emissions not covered by the scope of a carbon market.”

Preliminary data published by the European Commission this month revealed that “aviation emissions increased compared to 2022, by around 10%,” unlike other sectors with significantly lower emissions such as power (-24%) and ceramics (-20,5%).