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European Aviation Environmental Report Launched

15 Feb 2016
european-aviation-environmental-report-2016-300dpi-1European Commission Transport Commissioner Violeta Bulc, today launched the first ever European Aviation Environmental Report, produced by the EC, EUROCONTROL, the European Aviation Safety Agency and the European Environment Agency.

Click here to read the report.

With a foreword from Bertrand Piccard, of Solar Impulse fame, the Report presents a first comprehensive overview of the past and predicted environmental performance of Europe’s aviation sector.

The report shows that the environmental impact of European Aviation has increased over the last 25 years; the number of flights increased by 80% in the EU between 1990 and 2015, while CO2 emissions and fuel burn grew by the same amount. Looking more closely at the 2005-2014 period, however, the Report shows that the decoupling of impact from growth is beginning to happen. Thus, while EU air traffic stayed almost constant (-0.5% to 8.85 million flights), average distances flown, load factor and passenger numbers all grew (by 12%, 25% and 9.3% respectively).  Compared to 2004, although fuel burn and CO2 emissions did increase by approximately 5%, the average fuel burn per passenger flown went down by 15%. Encouragingly, the number of people exposed to noise at 45 major European airports decreased very slightly by 2% to 2.52 million.

The report also shows that traffic, fuel burn and greenhouse gas emissions are all expected to grow out to 2035. There are the first indications however, that the number of people impacted by aircraft noise will not necessarily grow with traffic. Indeed, if the reasonable assumptions in the forecast on technological improvements are realised, the report predicts a gradual decoupling of environmental impact from traffic and passenger growth. This is key to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the aviation sector, one of the goals of the Aviation Strategy for Europe presented in December 2015.

The report details many innovative measures that Europe and industry are taking to reduce fuel burn, emissions and noise per flight, many of which are described by stakeholders in their contributions to the report. These include driving ATM improvements through SESAR development and deployment; airframe and engine design improvements, many of which the Clean Sky initiative will deliver; initiatives at airports such as ACI’s Airport Carbon Accreditation Programme; and the introduction of market-based measures, including the EU Emissions Trading System. Meanwhile the Network Manager continues to enhance overall ATM performance, which is itself monitored under the SES Performance Scheme.

“One of the key aspects of this report is that all the different actions that are being taken in aviation are viewed from the environmental perspective so that awareness of aviation actions in environmental matters increases. As a result, citizens, politicians, policy makers, regulators and the industry now have a first overall picture of how European aviation is performing environmentally,” said Frank Brenner, Director General of EUROCONTROL.

“EUROCONTROL was delighted to work with its partner organisations and contribute its unique data gathering, processing and analytical capabilities to this first report, using its long-standing expertise in environmental matters. We hope that this will be one of many such reports in the future, and we will be delighted to work with our partners on even more comprehensive forthcoming editions.”

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