Aviation is failing to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement on global warming, says German NGO Atmosfair at the United Nations Climate Change Conference.
" Lair traffic is almost back to pre-pandemic levelssaid Dietrich Brockhagen, Managing Director of Atmosfair. Unfortunately, the airlines have further reduced their efforts, which were already low compared with the pre-pandemic decade.. They do not even manage to meet the ICAO's environmental protection objectives. ".
The ineffectiveness of emission reduction policies
According to the NGO, in 2023, the first year without Covid distortion, airlines will have improved their carbon efficiency by just under 6 % compared with 2019. That's an average annual increase of 1.4 % of this efficiency. But with the volume of air transport continuing to rise, Atmosfair indicates that the average annual target should be around 4 % to achieve the Paris climate targets and at least halt the rise in CO₂ emissions.
The progress reported by airlines is not even in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization's (ICAO) objectives in terms ofenergy efficiency. Who recommends an annual increase of 2 % in CO₂ efficiency..
In 2023, global aviation reached load factors in excess of 80 %, which is close to 2019 levels, but efforts to modernise the fleet and optimise airspace routes have been mediocre at best. What the NGO does not explain is the difficulty in deliveries of new aircraft by the two main aircraft manufacturers, Airbus and Boeing.
Dietrich Brockhagen also criticises the fact that the airline index focuses on CO₂ efficiency - emissions per passenger/km - rather than absolute emissions. Atmosfair classifies airlines' climate performance into seven efficiency ratings (A to G).
For Atmosfair, no airline achieves an A ratingthe best index in terms of climate efficiency. Precisely because of this lack of large-scale fleet modernisation.
Only two airlines managed to reach B class, out of a total of 119 airlines.. Many major airlines are losing ground, with their rankings falling. This is particularly true of Delta Air Lines. It has risen from 45th to 87th place (F index). Lufthansa slipped from 66th to 97th place (F index) and Air China from 41st to 75th place (F index).
Mediocre results for European carriers
In Europe, the airlines achieving the best performance in terms of climate efficiency are the charter carriers. TUI Airlines Nederland is rated B, TUI Airways and TUIfly are rated C.
Among the major traditional companies, Iberia reached the C index, ranking twelfth. It is followed byAir Europaanother Spanish scheduled carrier ranked 18th (index C). Transavia France is doing better than its parent company. The low-cost carrier ranks 22nd (C index) ahead of KLM in 38th position (index D) and Air France in 57th position (index E).
Note that British Airways and Swiss are doing even worse than Air France. The British carrier ranks 74th (E index) and Swiss 100th (F index).
On the low-cost side, the best performance by a European airline was awarded to Wizz Air, which achieved a B. While easyJet and Ryanair have a C rating. The good news is that the Atmosfair index found no European airline with the worst rating, the G...
