Airlines in the EU will have to pay more for CO2 emissions in the future.

German aviation criticized an agreement between the EU Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers.

Jost Lammers, President of the industry association BDL, said it put European airlines at a “blatant disadvantage” compared to international competitors.

However, according to the environmental organization Transport & Environment (T&E), the regulation does not go far enough.

Another decade of climate protection will be lost through inaction.

Henrik Kafsack

Business correspondent in Brussels.

  • Follow I follow

Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

Negotiators from Parliament and the Council of Ministers had agreed on Wednesday night that airlines in the EU would no longer receive free emission certificates from 2026 - a year earlier than proposed by the Commission.

As early as 2024 they should pay for at least 25 percent of the CO2 rights, and in 2025 for 50 percent.

The BDL criticized the fact that the agreement provides for the possibility of including flights to destinations outside the EU in emissions trading from 2027.

This “contradicts the commitment of the EU states to a climate protection policy in air transport that is as neutral as possible in terms of competition”.

Deutsche Lufthansa called on member states not to accept the compromise, saying it would create a “two-tier society”.

Ryanair misses what German airlines don't want

For trips to the Far East, Turkish Airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways would only have to hold certificates for the leg up to the changeover in Istanbul or on the Gulf, but EU companies for the entire journey.

Low-cost airline Ryanair, which does not offer long-distance flights, complained that these were exempt from emissions trading.

"Once again, the Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, has failed families in Europe," said Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary.

They would be fully charged on flights in the EU, and long-distance travelers would not have to pay any environmental taxes.

"This is clearly unfair." According to T&E, 58 percent of emissions from Europe's aviation are caused by flights over the EU's external borders.

The Corsia system developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) will apply to these flights until 2027.

However, the EU should take stock in 2025 as to whether Corsia is sufficient to achieve the Paris climate protection goals.

If this is not the case, the Commission should submit a proposal to include long-distance flights in emissions trading.

CDU parliamentarian sees injustice eliminated

The CDU MEP Peter Liese welcomed the agreement: "For far too long, however, there have been free certificates for air travel, while rail customers have long been paying because the railways are mainly operated with electricity - this was a blatant injustice, and it is good that it will now be eliminated."

At least part of the income from the auctioning of emission allowances should be used again for aviation.

Around 20 million certificates - at the current CO2 price of 80 euros per tonne, this corresponds to 1.6 billion euros - are reserved to promote the use of more expensive alternative fuels (SAF), which have to be mixed with kerosene.

Airlines are to receive certificates for fueling SAF.

The FDP MEP Jan-Christoph Oetjen described this as a great success: "The market for e-fuels in particular must be boosted and a secure investment opportunity created.

The foundation for this was laid today.”

The BDL sounds less satisfied: 20 million certificates are "not even close to enough" to cover the additional costs arising from SAF.

Before the EU talks, associations and trade unions had written to German ministers and EU parliamentarians in vain to tip the lid on 20 million certificates.