A new report on the European aviation sector’s environmental performance sets out measures on how to reduce aviation’s impact on climate change, noise and air quality, and ensure Europe meets its goal of climate-neutrality by 2050. In particular, the report recommends focusing on measures such as increasing the use of sustainable aviation fuels, making the most of air traffic management optimisations and adopting more fuel-efficient technologies. By implementing these measures, emissions could be reduced by at least to two thirds by 2050.
Among its findings, the report notes:
- the average number of passengers (135) and distance (1 730 km) per flight continues to grow, as does the average fleet age (11.8 years)
- the number of flights arriving at and departing from EU and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) airports reached 8.35 million in 2023, which is 10% below the pre-COVID 2019 level
- in 2023, flights departing from EU and EFTA airports emitted 133 million tonnes CO2, which is 10% less than in 2019
- the average mass of CO2 emitted per passenger kilometre further reduced to 83 grams in 2023, equivalent to 3.3 litres of fuel per 100 passenger kilometres
- in 2022, flights departing from EU and EFTA represented 12% of total transport greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 4% of total GHG emissions in EU and EFTA
It also states that net CO2 emissions could be cut by at least 65 million tonnes (47%) in 2050 if the ReFuelEU Aviation supply mandate for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is met. However, with projected growth in air traffic demand set to reach 11.8 million annual flights by 2050, it stresses that further action in more fuel-efficient technology, optimisation of operations and use of SAF is required to prevent that such growth in traffic generates increased emissions.
The European Aviation Environmental 2025 report is produced by the European Commission, together with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, and with the support from the European Environment Agency and Eurocontrol.