Europe’s airports call for greater EU decarbonisation support

Airports association ACI Europe is urging future EU leaders to dedicate more funding to support the future of aviation and the sector’s sustainability goals.

ACI Europe has joined a coalition of more than 40 organisations across the transport sector calling for a greater slice of the budget pie ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.

Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe director general, said greater EU financing is a “prerequisite” for the sector’s ability to decarbonise by 2050.

“There is no escaping that transport modes incurring harder-to-abate emissions, such as aviation, do require more policy and financial support commensurate to the challenge they face.

“While ACI Europe joins the wider transport sector’s call for more EU budget for transport, we believe that there should also be a fairer allocation of the funds amongst different transport modes,” he said. 

This follows a similar move this week by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which set out its policy priorities for the next European Parliament, urging for greater digitalisation and the removal of “unnecessary” red tape.

ACI Europe said aviation stakeholders are “fully committed” to the objectives of the EU Green Deal, and have “embraced” the Fit for 55 legislative package, but warned that fully decarbonising air transport by 2050 will require funding in excess of €820 billion – which the sector alone will not be able to finance.

“A successful, on-time decarbonisation requires sufficient access to finance and public investments, which in turn depend on supportive and fully aligned policies,” the association said in a statement.

“If Europe is to strengthen its resilience, be a leader in the transformation to net-zero economy and finally complete the Trans-European Transport Network, it must translate its words into deeds and reflect these ambitions in the new EU budget for transport,” the statement continued.