Europe Aviation Emissions Rise 2% Above 2019 Levels as Passenger Numbers Recover

Emissions from flying in Europe passed pre-pandemic levels in 2025, according to analysis by thinktank Transport & Environment. The entire European aviation sector emitted 195Mt of CO₂ in departing flights in 2025, a 2% increase on 2019 levels. 6 megatonnes of CO₂.

Ryanair carried just over 200 million passengers in 2025, up from 140 million in 2019. The low-cost carrier’s expansion helped drive the sector-wide rise even as airlines introduced more fuel-efficient planes. 4Mt of CO₂ in 2025.

The EU and UK emissions trading system only includes flights entirely within Europe. That leaves long-haul routes, which typically burn more fuel, outside the scheme’s scope. Ryanair pays an average of €50 a tonne of carbon under the ETS, while Lufthansa pays about €20 a tonne.

1bn for EU states. 1bn raised for EU states by 2030. Such an expansion would bring in revenue that could support sustainable aviation fuel production and measures to avoid contrails.

Jet fuel prices have roughly doubled from pre-Iran war levels. Those increases add €90 a passenger on long-haul flights. The sustainable aviation fuels mandate adds just €3 per passenger. “Ticket prices are rising because of Europe’s reliance on fossil fuels, not because of the climate measures intended to steer the sector away from them,” Giacomo Miele said.

A Ryanair spokesperson said its greenhouse gas emissions were rising as it was Europe’s fastest-growing airline. “All of this growth takes place at lower fares but on new fuel-efficient aircraft, so our GHG per passenger are falling,” the spokesperson added.

Ryanair’s growth is displacing air travel on less-efficient legacy airlines whose GHG per passenger is much higher than Ryanair’s, the spokesperson said.

Ryanair says that when all flights are included it ranks behind Lufthansa, Air France/KLM and British Airways owner IAG for total emissions. Ryanair has the lowest CO₂ emissions per passenger kilometre of the big European airlines at about 64g. The Guardian reported that the airline described the ETS emissions figures as “completely discredited” because the system taxes only intra-EU flights while exempting long-haul routes.

The T&E analysis noted that although the EU and the UK have tried to manage environmental costs via the emissions trading system, the scheme does not price in most of the sector’s pollution. Long-haul flights on legacy carriers’ aircraft remain outside its scope. The report comes as the aviation industry has lobbied to suspend or weaken the ETS and other measures during the Middle East crisis.