The European Commission published a 5-year plan to integrate environmental concerns into the air transport industry, even while the UN-based International Civil Aviation Organization is working on a world-wide policy to be completed by 2001.
According to a recent study the EU cited, carbon emissions from the aviation industry are increasing by 3 percent annually and in 50 years, the industry’s emissions may account 15 percent of climate change. According to the European Environmental Agency, air transport is projected to grow by a whopping 182 percent in the period 1990-2010.
The EU plan employs three types of financial incentives to improve industry energy efficiency by 4-5 percent: a ticket surcharge, a charge based on distance and emissions per kilometer, and a take-off and landing charge. An energy tax on aviation fuel was omitted because a study showed that carbon emissions would only be reduced by a quarter of a percent.
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