Executive Summary

Traffic

²All departures and arrivals in EU27+EFTA.
³All departures from EU27+EFTA.

Noise

⁴98 major European airports.
⁵All EU27+EFTA airports.

Emissions

⁶All departures from EU27+EFTA.

Overview of Aviation Sector

• The number of flights at EU27+EFTA airports increased by 15% between 2005 and 2019 to 9.3 million, while passenger kilometres almost doubled (+90%). However, flights declined to just 5.1 million in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• At 98 major European airports during 2019, 3.2 million people were exposed to L_den 55 dB aircraft noise levels and 1.3 million people were exposed to more than 50 daily aircraft noise events above 70 dB. This is 30% and 71% more than in 2005 respectively.
• The top 10 airports in terms of L_den 55 dB population exposure in 2019 accounted for half of the total population exposure across the 98 major European airports.
• The CO₂ emissions of all flights departing from EU27+EFTA airports reached 147 million tonnes in 2019, which was 34% more than in 2005.
• Long-haul flights (above 4,000 km) represented approximately 6% of departures during 2019 and half of all CO₂ and NO_X emissions.
• Single-aisle jets had the larger share of flights and noise, but twin-aisle jets had the larger share of fuel burn and emissions.
• The average grams CO₂ emitted per passenger kilometre went down by an average 2.3% per annum to reach 89 grams in 2019, equivalent to 3.5 litres of fuel per 100 passenger kilometres.
• In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, emissions reduced by more than 50% and population exposure to noise fell by about 65%, while the average grams CO₂ emitted per passenger kilometre increased back to 2005 level.
• Fleet renewal could lead to reductions in total noise exposure at European airports as measured by the L_den and L_night indicators over the next twenty years.
• In 2050, it is predicted that in-sector measures could reduce CO₂ emissions by 69% to 59 million tonnes compared to a business-as-usual “technology freeze” scenario (19% from Technology/Design, 8% from ATM-Ops, 37% from SAF and 5% from electric/ hydrogen aircraft).  

Aviation Environmental Impacts

• To mitigate adverse effects from aircraft noise on EU citizens’ health, the World Health Organisation Europe recommends reducing aircraft noise levels below L_den 45 dB and L_night 40 dB.
• Air pollutant emissions from aviation have increased within the EU. Effective action requires better characterisation of aviation’s specific contribution compared to other sources of emissions, especially on particulate matter.
• The growth in aviation CO₂ emissions was accelerating prior to COVID-19, with almost half of global CO₂ emissions between 1940 and 2019 having occurred since 2000.
• In 2018, the estimated Effective Radiative Forcing from non-CO₂ emissions accounted for more than half (66%) of the aviation net warming effect, although the level of uncertainty from the non-CO₂ effects is 8 times larger than that of CO₂.
• Environmental certification standards already exist for aircraft engine non-CO₂ emissions, including NO_X and nvPM, and further mitigation policy options are being considered.
• Where specific mitigation measures incur trade- offs between CO₂ and non-CO₂ emissions, a robust assessment methodology is essential to ensure an overall reduction in climate impact. In addition, ‘win-win’ options that reduce both simultaneously should be supported (e.g. appropriate sustainable aviation fuels).
• In 2022, the IPCC 6^th Assessment Report noted that immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are needed to limit warming to 1.5°C and that the aviation sector is still in the earlier stages of adaptation to increased climate hazards.  

Technology and Design

• New aircraft designs certified during the last 10 years (e.g. Airbus A320neo, A350 and Boeing 737MAX, 787) have a cumulative margin of 5 to 15 EPNdB below the latest Chapter 14 noise standard.
• While certification activities have recently reduced for conventional aircraft, they have increased in new market segments (e.g. Drones, Urban Air Mobility).
• EASA is developing dedicated noise certification standards for Drone and Urban Air Mobility aircraft that take into account their specific characteristics.
• In-production engine types were designed prior to the new non-volatile Particulate Matter (nvPM) standards and manufacturers are evaluating how to mitigate nvPM emissions in new engine designs.
• The engine NO_X/nvPM standards, and the aircraft noise/CO₂ standards, define the design space for products to simultaneously address noise, air quality and climate change issues.
• Pipistrel Velis Electro became the first fully electric general aviation aircraft to be certified by EASA in 2020 and is now being used by pilots to learn to fly.
• In 2021, the Airbus A330-900neo was the first aircraft to be approved worldwide against the new aeroplane CO₂ emissions standard, although certified aeroplane CO₂ data remains limited.

Sustainable Aviation Fuels

• Current SAF supply remains low at less than 0.05%  of total EU aviation fuel use.
• The European Commission has proposed a SAF blending mandate for fuel supplied to EU airports, with minimum shares of SAF gradually increasing from 2% in 2025 to 63% in 2050, and a sub-mandate for Power-to-Liquid SAF.
• To achieve this mandate, approximately 2.3 million tonnes of SAF would be required by 2030, 14.8 million tonnes by 2040, and 28.6 million tonnes by 2050.
• Drop-in SAF will play a key part in decarbonising the aviation sector as they can be used within the existing global fleet and fuel supply infrastructure.
• Currently certified SAF are subject to a maximum blending ratio of 50% with fossil-based jet fuel depending on the feedstock-production pathway considered, but industry and fuel standard committees are looking into the future use of 100% SAF by 2030.
• SAF are certified by Sustainability Certification Schemes against criteria defined at EU level in the Renewable Energy Directive and at global level in the CORSIA framework.
• While SAF are currently more expensive than fossil- based jet fuel, cost savings are expected notably through future production economies of scale. SAF prices can vary depending on the production pathway, associated production costs and fluctuations in the energy market.  

Air Traffic Management and Operations

• The European Green Deal requires a more ambitious,  comprehensive and holistic approach involving all stakeholders to accelerate solutions to enable greener operations in the short term.
• In 2019, excess fuel burn on an average flight by flight basis within the Network Manager area was estimated to be between 8.6% (XFB10)⁷ to 11.2% (XFB5), with excess fuel burn decreasing as the flight distance increases.
• The European ATM Master Plan, managed by SESAR 3 Joint Undertaking, defines a common vision and roadmap for ATM stakeholders to modernise and harmonise European ATM systems, including an aspirational goal to reduce average CO₂ emission per flight by 5-10% (0.8-1.6 tonnes) by 2035 through enhanced cooperation, compared to 2017.
• Single European Sky (SES) union-wide environment targets were not reached during the entire Reference Period 2 (RP2) (2015-2019), with performance worsening in the second part of RP2. In 2020, whilst performance did improve, several Member States still did not achieve their environment targets despite the dramatic drop in traffic due to the pandemic.
• The KPI reflecting the relationship between flight routing and environmental impact is considered inadequate and needs to be re-evaluated, taking into account environmental indicators based on actual CO₂ emissions.
• As traffic returns to pre-COVID levels, efficiency improvements observed in 2020 should be maintained through ‘green’ recovery principles such as dynamic use of airspace constraints that are only applied when justified and the use of optimised flight planning by aircraft operators.
• It was estimated that, in 2018, 21% of European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) flights performed fuel tankering, representing a net saving of €265 million per year for the airlines, but burning an unnecessary 286,000 tonnes of additional fuel (equivalent to 0.54% of ECAC jet fuel used).   

⁷ The 10^th percentile (XFB10) reference means in effect that for a city pair / aircraft type combination 90% of flights burnt more fuel than the reference and 10% of lights burnt the equivalent or less fuel.

Airports

• In 2020, EASA launched the Environmental Portal to facilitate sharing of Aircraft Noise Certificate information together with the ANP Database for sharing Aircraft Noise and Performance data.
• During 2020, approximately 50% of operations in Europe were by aircraft compliant with the latest Chapter 14 noise standard.
• There are significant delays in approving and implementing the Performance Based Navigation transition plans, which in turn delays the achievement of environmental benefits.
• As the aviation sector evolves to respond to environmental challenges, and new market segments are created, airport infrastructure also needs to adapt accordingly.
• By 2030, the European Green Deal’s Zero Pollution Action Plan aims to reduce the share of people chronically disturbed by transport noise by 30% and improve air quality to reduce the number of premature deaths caused by air pollution by 55% (compared to 2017).
• In 2020, the Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme added Levels 4 (Transformation) and 4+ (Transition) to support airports in achieving net zero CO₂ emissions and to align it with the objectives of the Paris Agreement.

Market-Based Measures

• During 2013-2020, the EU Emissions Trading System led to a total reduction in aviation net CO₂ emissions of 159 Mt (approximately equivalent to the annual emissions of the Netherlands in 2018) through funding of emissions reductions in other sectors.
• Monitoring, reporting and verification of CO₂ emissions under the ICAO Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) began in 2019. 88 States volunteered to participate in the CORSIA offsetting pilot phase from 2021, including all EU and EFTA States. This has increased to 107 States in 2022 and represents a majority of ICAO Member States.
• The environmental integrity of offsets depends on their ability to demonstrate that the emissions reductions would not have occurred in the absence of the market mechanism that funds the offset.
• At COP26 in 2021, accounting rules under the Paris Agreement were agreed for international transfers of carbon market units, including the avoidance of double-counting of emission reductions in respect of CORSIA and nationally determined contributions by countries under the Climate Change Convention.
• International cooperation is key in building capacity to address the global environmental and sustainability challenges facing the aviation sector. EU funded action has enhanced the relationship with partner States on implementing CORSIA and other areas of environmental protection.
• Other measures linked to carbon pricing initiatives that are relevant for the aviation sector are being discussed in Europe.