EU-ETS Could Cost Bizav Operators Dearly

A U.S. Part 91 corporate flight department flying a Gulfstream G450 could pay nearly $35,000 annually to comply with the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), according to a preliminary report released exclusively to AIN by UK-based EU-ETS consultants SustainAvia. This cost estimate assumes 15 long-haul (New York City to UK) round-trip flights per year; a carbon credit (also referred to as European Union Allowances, or EUAs) price of €25 ($32); free 27 allotted EUAs; and emissions monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) charges of $5,628 for aircraft assigned to the UK registrar for EU-ETS compliance. Costs would be similar for aircraft assigned to other European countries, with lower MRV charges in countries, such as France, offset by the need to buy more EUAs due to longer distances flown from the U.S., according to the report.

SustainAvia also asked 132 business jet operators to evaluate the administrative burden of EU-ETS. Not surprisingly, 80 percent of all respondents said the administrative burden is either high or very high. “This may serve as an indicator that total costs of emissions trading are far higher than costs related to the purchase of carbon credits alone,” the report’s authors said.

Commenting on the preliminary report, NBAA senior vice president for operations Steve Brown said, “NBAA has aggressively opposed the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, and we have worked with U.S. government officials and other industry groups to stop the program, because we know it is not just unlawful, but unwise for a host of reasons. This report speaks to just one of our concerns–the program’s cost–pointing out that EU-ETS will come at significant added costs to our industry, which is particularly troublesome, given that the revenue generated through the program won’t be applied to initiatives to strengthen aviation.”