The EU wants to make air traffic more climate-friendly. Flights in the Union are to be awarded an environmental label in the future. In addition, it is planned to prescribe the addition of sustainable fuels to kerosene.
The measures are intended to help achieve the EU climate targets, said the European Parliament and member states after the agreement was reached at night. With the label, consumers can get better information and there is an incentive for more climate friendliness.
According to Parliament, the expected CO2 footprint per passenger and the expected CO2 efficiency per kilometer should be specified from 2025. “This allows passengers to compare the environmental performance of flights from different companies on the same route.”
EU: Significant reduction in CO2 emissions
Parliamentary and state negotiators also agreed on the blending of sustainable fuels. According to Parliament, these include synthetically produced fuels such as e-kerosene, but also hydrogen produced with renewable energies or certain biofuels. “Compared to a scenario of doing nothing, this measure alone should reduce annual CO2 emissions from aircraft by around two-thirds by 2050,” the Commission said.
According to Parliament, from 2025 at least 2 percent of aviation fuel should be environmentally friendly. This share is to be increased every five years: to 6 percent in 2030, 20 percent in 2035, 34 percent in 2040, 42 percent in 2045 and finally 70 percent in 2050. The agreement still has to be formally confirmed by Parliament and the EU states. “The level of the quotas that have now been set gives the industry a concrete roadmap,” said the E-Fuel Alliance interest group.
Criticism from Lufthansa
Lufthansa criticized the project. The group argued that the planned obligation to add sustainable fuels to kerosene in ever larger quantities would lead to a structural disadvantage for internationally active European airlines. In addition, according to his own statements, he assumes that the plans will have no benefit for the environment, as they could lead to more flights via unaffected hubs such as Istanbul. This puts EU airports at a disadvantage, where passengers have priority transfers. There is a risk that greenhouse gas emissions will only be shifted abroad.
Specifically, Lufthansa and the BDL industry association criticize that, for example, a flight via an EU hub would be disproportionately more expensive. Because the specifications do not apply to flights between two third countries. In other words: On a flight from Frankfurt via Istanbul to Hong Kong, fewer of the more expensive sustainable fuels would theoretically have to be mixed in than on a direct flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong.
The CDU MEPs Jens Gieseke and Hildegard Bentele see a lot of potential in the EU unification. Gieseke emphasized that Germany could become an important production location for sustainable fuels. Bentele said manufacturers now have planning security.
