There’s a fine line between saving the planet and grounding the planes—and Europe, some would argue, is beginning to wobble across it.
The International Air Transport Association has stepped into the fray this week with a message that is equal parts warning and reality check: if Brussels doesn’t take a long, hard look at its Emissions Trading System, Europe may succeed in decarbonising aviation—by making it unaffordable to operate.
That, as any airline executive will tell you (usually after a strong coffee and before a stronger drink), was never the plan.
When Good Intentions Get Expensive
The EU ETS has long been held up as Europe’s climate crown jewel—a market-based mechanism designed to reduce emissions by putting a price on carbon. In theory, elegant. In practice, increasingly costly.
And that cost is rising just as airlines are being asked to invest heavily in their green transition.
Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General and not a man known for gilding the lily, put it plainly: aviation policy must support competitiveness while pursuing decarbonisation.
In other words, don’t fix one problem by creating another.
Because right now, the industry is being squeezed from both sides—expected to decarbonise at speed while simultaneously absorbing escalating compliance costs that, frankly, don’t always translate into meaningful emissions reductions.
One Sky, Too Many Rules
Aviation is gloriously global. Aircraft don’t stop at borders to check regulatory fine print, and nor should climate policy.
Which is why the industry keeps returning to CORSIA—the global carbon offsetting scheme agreed through the International Civil Aviation Organization—as the sensible baseline.
IATA’s view is refreshingly direct: Europe should stop layering its own measures on top and instead fully implement CORSIA across all international flights, including those within the European Economic Area.
Because when you stack regional schemes on top of global ones, you don’t get better outcomes—you get duplication, confusion, and a rather impressive bill.
And in a business where margins are notoriously thin, “impressive” is rarely a compliment.
SAF: The Future… That Needs a Present
If there’s a universal truth in aviation sustainability, it’s this: Sustainable Aviation Fuel is the answer. Or at least, the most credible one we’ve got.
The trouble is, it’s not yet available at scale, and it certainly isn’t cheap.
Enter the industry’s latest proposal—a “book-and-claim” system that would allow airlines to buy SAF and claim its environmental benefits, regardless of where the fuel is physically loaded.
It may sound like accounting gymnastics, but it’s actually common sense.
Right now, access to SAF is uneven. Major hubs might have supply; regional airports often don’t. Without flexibility, airlines based outside those hubs are effectively penalised—not for lack of intent, but for lack of geography.
A well-structured book-and-claim system would fix that. It would create a proper market, attract investment, and—crucially—give airlines a fighting chance to meet their obligations without flying halfway across Europe just to tank up.
Follow the Money—Or Lose the Plot
Then there’s the small matter of where all the money is going.
As free allowances disappear, airlines are expected to hand over billions under the EU ETS. Between 2026 and 2030, the sector will surrender close to 330 million allowances.
That’s not loose change.
Yet only a fraction of that revenue is making its way back into aviation’s decarbonisation efforts. The SAF allowance scheme, designed to soften the financial blow, covers just a sliver—around 4 to 5 per cent—of what’s needed.
If that sounds underwhelming, it is.
The industry’s argument is hardly radical: if aviation is paying for the transition, aviation should benefit from it.
Particularly when the investment required is eye-watering—tens of billions in the next decade, and hundreds of billions beyond that.
Without meaningful reinvestment, the risk is simple. Airlines spend more complying, and less investing. And that, as any economist will tell you, is a recipe for stagnation rather than progress.
The Competitiveness Question No One Can Ignore
For all the talk of carbon and compliance, the real issue lurking beneath the surface is competitiveness.
Europe doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Airlines compete globally, and passengers—particularly long-haul travellers—are not known for their loyalty to higher fares.
Push costs too high, and traffic shifts. Routes are reconsidered. Investment flows elsewhere.
IATA’s concern is that a sharp rise in ETS-related costs, particularly from 2026 onwards, could weaken Europe’s connectivity at precisely the moment it needs to be strengthening it.
Fewer routes. Higher fares. Reduced choice.
Not exactly a winning tourism strategy.
A Balancing Act Worth Getting Right
None of this is to suggest that Europe should ease off its climate ambitions. Far from it. Aviation must decarbonise—and quickly.
But as with most things in this industry, execution matters.
Too much regulation, poorly aligned with global frameworks, risks doing more harm than good. Too little support for emerging technologies risks slowing the transition entirely.
The EU ETS review is, therefore, more than a policy tweak. It’s a moment of strategic clarity.
Get it right, and Europe can lead the world in sustainable aviation. Get it wrong, and it may simply make itself a more expensive place to fly.
And in aviation, as history has shown time and again, passengers have a habit of voting with their feet.
by Sandra Jones – (c) 2026.
Read Time: 6 minutes.
About the Writer.
Sandra has spent a working lifetime quietly rescuing journeys, one itinerary, one anxious caller, one impossible connection at a time. Years in Australia’s finest travel agencies taught her the art of calm, how to find a flight in a fog of cancellations, how to soothe a traveller when luggage wanders, how to turn nine frantic days in Europe into something resembling sense. Qualified, seasoned, endlessly patient, she learned that good travel advice is part logistics, part listening.
But the storyteller in her was always waiting its turn. Writing offered a new map, a way to turn experience into reflection, detail into delight. At Global Travel Media, Sandra now writes the truths only insiders know: the mishaps, the laughter, the grace found between gates and goodbyes. She reminds us that travel, for all its fuss, is still one of life’s better ideas.
