SAF producers urge EU to extend emissions trading to departing flights

More than 20 sustainable aviation fuel producers and electric-flight proponents on June 18 urged the European Commission to extend the European Union Emissions Trading System to flights departing the 27-member bloc. The group wants a wider carbon price signal to reach more of the market, which it argues would strengthen commercial incentives for low-carbon aviation and long-term supply investments.

At present, only flights within the EU fall under the aviation emissions trading scope. Transport & Environment says that covers about 64 million tonnes of CO2. Extending the system to all flights departing the EU would add about 80 million tonnes of CO2 to the carbon market, a shift that would materially broaden the pool of airlines facing compliance costs and the demand pool for lower-carbon fuels.

The push lands as the EU is already leaning on fuel mandates to force SAF uptake. EASA says the ReFuelEU Aviation regulation begins minimum SAF supply obligations in 2025 for flights departing from EU airports above certain traffic thresholds. The European Parliament has also said the EU will address the future of ETS1 in 2026, alongside the wider emissions trading architecture.

For SAF producers, the argument is straightforward: if more departing traffic sits inside the ETS, more airlines have a direct financial reason to buy lower-carbon fuel. The coalition’s letter to EU officials including climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra and transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas says the 2026 ETS revision is a critical chance to close a longstanding gap, since extra-EEA flights are still covered mainly through ICAO’s CORSIA system rather than the EU carbon market.

The proposal also widens the fight over who pays for cleaner aviation. Major airlines warned on June 8 that expanding carbon costs could raise fares, a reminder that any broader ETS scope would flow through airline procurement, ticket pricing and fleet planning. Destination 2050 has separately argued that ETS revenues should be reinvested to make SAF offtakes viable and help fund new aircraft and engine technologies, underscoring the industry’s push to turn emissions trading into a demand-creation tool rather than a pure compliance burden.