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Which airlines / flights are concerned?

Aviation ETS concerns all aircraft operators of all origins operating flights to, from and within the EU.


Commercial operators that are below the threshold ("De Minimis" rule) are excluded from ETS. This concerns commercial operators operating:
 
  • Fewer than 243 flights per three consecutive four-month periods (i.e. fewer than an average of one round-trip flight to / from the EU per day),
  • Or flights with total annual emissions lower than 10,000 tCO2 per year.

Non-commercial operators that are below this threshold are included in the ETS, but as small emitters can use simplified monitoring procedures.

Non-commercial and commercial operators that emit between 10,000 and 25,000 tCO2 per year are also considered as small emitters and can use the simplified monitoring procedures.

Some flights are excluded from the scheme:
 
  • Flights operated by aircraft of less than 5.7 tonnes MTOW
  • Flights carrying non-EU Heads of State, Monarchs, Government Ministers
  • Military flights
  • Search and rescue, fire fighting flights, humanitarian flights and emergency medical service flights
  • Visual flight rules (VFR) flights
  • Circular flights
  • Training flights
  • Flights performed exclusively for scientific research
  • Flights for the purpose of checking, testing or certifying aircraft or equipment
  • Public Service Obligations (PSO) routes within outermost regions, or on PSO routes where the capacity offered does not exceed 30,000 seats per year.

Flights to/from and within Norway and Iceland are included in the scheme.

Flights to/from Switzerland are not included for the time being.
ETS will not apply to flights arriving from 3rd countries that have comparable measures in place.

Each operator is assigned to an administering Member State. Back to all F.A.Q.