Will Only Charge For Portions Of Flights Occurring In European Airspace

The European Union is reportedly ready to bend on its rigid stance on airline emissions by charging airlines only for the portion of their flights that occur in European airspace.

That's a major shift in the controversial policy, which originally would have charged airlines for every mile of a flight, regardless of where it originated. Airlines all over the world protested the implementation of what they said was a tax on air travel. Any flight arriving or departing from an EU member country airport was subject to the surcharge.

Buying Business Travel cites multiple media reports that indicate the compromise was reached in concert with the ICAO, which hopes to craft a global solution that would be acceptable to the world's airlines on an emissions fee.

The EU had imposed its ETS earlier this year, however many airlines, including some in the U.S. and China, simply refused to report their estimated emissions to the EU. There were rumblings of trade wars, and China delayed the purchase of some Airbus airplanes because of the row.

BBT reports that the EU is already charging airlines flagged to EU countries for flights within Europe ... over those airline's objections.

The ICAO hopes to have the global scheme ready for implementation by 2020, with the EU limiting the scope of the ETS until then. The compromise will have to be approved by the ICAO at a meeting in Montreal later this month, and also will be subject to the approval of European governments.

FMI: http://europa.eu/index_en.htm