Airlines operating flights from European airports will soon be required to report the estimated climate impact of vapour trails from jet engines and the precise annual carbon dioxide emissions to the European Commission. The decision, made on 30 August during a closed-door meeting, has drawn significant discontent from aviation industry lobbyists.

Environmental groups have criticised the temporary exclusion of long-haul flights in the final version of the agreed regulations. The new rules, set to take effect in 2025, will apply only to flights between airports within the European Economic Area, which includes the EU, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.

Krisztina Hencz, aviation policy manager at the Brussels-based Transport & Environment Group, told euronews.com: "Once again, long-haul airlines are receiving preferential treatment from the EU. They have worked hard to undermine action and research on non-CO2, and they are being rewarded for their efforts."

For the first time, airlines will be required to provide detailed reports on emissions from contrails, which contain nitrogen oxides, black carbon, and other climate-harming substances. Contrails have been shown to contribute to cloud formation in the upper atmosphere, where, unlike lower-altitude clouds, they trap heat. Some estimates suggest their impact on global warming is at least as significant as the 2% of global carbon dioxide emissions attributed to aviation.

Condensation trails, or contrails, have also long attracted the attention of conspiracy theorists. Proponents of the 'chemtrails' theory believe these lingering trails contain deliberately added, non-standard chemicals. They speculate that these chemicals are released for purposes such as solar radiation management, weather modification, psychological manipulation, population control, or testing biological or chemical agents on the public.

Source: euronews.com