Brussels: The European Commission announced the release of the 4th edition of the European Aviation Environmental Report, which provides a comprehensive review of the aviation sector's environmental performance and progress made since the previous 2022 edition. The report offers recommendations on reducing aviation's impact on climate change, noise, and air quality. It also recommends focusing on measures such as increasing the use of sustainable aviation fuels, leveraging air traffic management optimisations, and adopting more fuel-efficient technologies.

According to Emirates News Agency, the European Commission stated that by implementing these measures, emissions could be reduced by at least two-thirds by 2050, compared to a business-as-usual scenario. The remaining gap to achieve net zero can then be bridged through out-of-sector initiatives. Since the previous report, there have been significant developments in the areas of sustainable aviation fuels and improvements in air traffic management related performance. However, projected growth in air traffic demand, at European and global levels, calls for further action.

The report indicated that aviation, like all other transport modes, must play its part and contribute to the EU's ambitious goal of achieving a climate-neutral future by 2050. Air traffic is expected to grow and reach 11.8 million annual flights by then. This growth does not necessarily need to come at the expense of increased emissions. Decoupling air traffic from environmental impact is not only crucial but also achievable.