Key updates to EU ETS flight reporting and compliance for 2024 control period

Major updates to EU ETS flight reporting and compliance for the 2024 monitoring period

As the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) evolves to meet environmental objectives, significant changes will come into effect for the 2024 monitoring period in the scope of sectors covered by the scheme. The verified reports must be submitted to the authority by March 31, 2025, along with the first verified ReFuelEU reports for operators with obligations under ReFuelEU.

This article explains the changes to the scope of monitoring and its implications for flights within and outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It also introduces adjustments to the emission factors and number of seats for PSO flights.

See the table below for the outermost regions (OMRs) of EEA member states:

The main changes to the limited scope of the EU ETS are described below:

Flights between the OMRs of one member state and OMRs of different member states:

• Flights between the OMRs of one member state and the OMRs of another member state are now within the limited scope of the EU ETS. Examples include flights between the Canary Islands (OMR Spain) and the Azores (OMR Portugal).

Flights between the OMR of one Member State and another Member State (mainland EEA):

• Flights between aerodromes located in the OMR of a member state and aerodromes located in different member states must be reported. Examples are flights from the Canary Islands (Spain OMR) to Germany.

Flights between an OMR and the same Member State (mainland EEA):

• Flights between the airport in an OMR and the airport in the same member state are exempt from reporting. This means that, for example, a flight from a French OMR to mainland France does not have to be reported. For example, flights between the Canary Islands (Spain OMR) and Barcelona (Spain).

Flights between airports within the same OMR:

• Flights that both start and end within the same OMR, such as a flight within the Canary Islands, remain exempt from reporting.

Flights between different OMRs of the same member state:

• Flights between two different OMRs of the same member state will remain exempt from reporting under EU ETS. For example, flights between Guadeloupe (France) and Martinique (France) will be exempt from reporting under EU ETS.

Flights between Switzerland and the UK:

• All flights from Switzerland to an OMR will be reported under CH ETS and all flights from an OMR to Switzerland will be reported under the EU ETS.
• All OMR flights from an EEA member state to the UK must now be reported under the EU ETS. However, this requirement does not apply to flights from the UK to an OMR under the UK ETS.

Additional updates:

Update emission factor

• From the 2024 monitoring period, the emission factor for Jet A/Jet A1 fuel will be updated to 3.16 for flights reported under the EU ETS and CORSIA for aircraft operators (EEA and non-EEA operators) with EU ETS reporting obligations.

PSO number of seats:

In the European Union context, the public service obligation (PSO) is

established by governments to maintain air connections, especially in remote or less accessible areas. PSO thresholds are used to determine which flights or air routes qualify for this special regulatory treatment under the EU ETS, exempting them from the reporting requirement. These are:

• PSO flights on routes within outermost regions; and
• PSO flights on routes where the capacity offered does not exceed 50 000 seats per year.

In the latter case, the 50 000 seats offered per year replace the old figure of 30 000 from 2024. The number of PSO seats of 50 000 refers to the planned capacity, not the actual number of seats operated.

Surrender of allowances:

• The deadline for surrendering EU ETS allowances to the EU registry will be changed from April 30 to September 30 (N+1). This will apply for the first time on 30/09/2024. The deadline for entering emissions will remain unchanged at March 31 (N+1).

These updates are critical for aircraft operators involved in monitoring, reporting and verification under the EU ETS. Aircraft operators can verify the applicable PCA sectors, obtain the necessary approvals from competent authorities, and begin preparing their draft emissions reports under EU ETS and CORSIA.