The airline industry needs to move faster if it is going to reach net zero emissions by 2050, the EU’s aviation agency has warned.

The EU has mapped out a range of measures to reduce aviation emissions. This year, airlines will be mandated to blend kerosene with two percent of so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF).

EU officials admit that SAF is “several times” more expensive than airline fossil fuel, but they expect the cost to come down as demand increases.

The European Commission has calculated that SAF will add 1 percent to the price of airline tickets by 2030. Officials believe that is a small price to pay for the environment.

The EU is betting on greener fuels to make the biggest step towards decarbonisation.

By 2035, SAF will make up 20 percent of airline fuel.

The EU admits that at the moment there isn’t enough production capacity to produce that much SAF. They are counting on the industry ramping up to meet the demand.

And they hope airline manufacturers will be able to make planes more efficient and airports will be able to make ground operations slicker. These will also cut emissions, the EU believes.

Electric planes and hydrogen-powered planes are only estimated to have a small impact because the technology has not yet been fully developed. But EU officials hope to see that improve.

“If you have a little bit of technology optimism” much more can be achieved, these numbers for hydrogen and electric are a “prudent, conservative minimum”, an EU source insisted.

All of these measures together – more efficient operations, greener fuel, better planes – would only solve two-thirds of the airline industry’s emissions. The rest will have to be met by what the EU calls “market based measures”.

These include carbon offsetting and possibly carbon capture and storage.

The report by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is produced once every three years and this latest edition takes into account a raft of new EU green deal laws.

The agency’s director, Florian Guillermet, admitted “we need to move faster.”

“A concerted effort is required now to turn sustainability goals into concrete action.”

The report was produced in consultation with an advisory group of industry including Ryanair.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) was also involved.

The EEA’s director, Leena Ylä-Mononen, urged the industry to be proactive now.

“European aviation, like other transport sectors, has a key role to play in helping us shift to a sustainable future, implementing solutions that support progress in each of the elements of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.

In line with existing climate objectives, airlines, airports, and other sector operators must make their contribution by embracing technologies and practices to reduce their carbon footprint as well as by mitigating environmental impacts from noise and air pollution, including the risk from ultrafine particles.”