Boeing joins fray to oppose EU airline emissions fees

GlobalPost

Boeing joined a growing chorus of governments and airlines Thursday that oppose a new scheme by the European Union to charge for pollution created during flights.

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme, or ETS, will charge airlines fees for emissions, a move which Brussels believes will help curb climate change, according to Reuters.

"I don't think the European ETS approach is the right one," Jim Albaugh, Boeing's chief told Reuters. "We need to have a standstill on this and work with (UN aviation agency) ICAO and get some international rules in place that everyone can sign up to, and ones that will drive us to make the investments we need to improve the efficiency of airplanes."

Boeing's decision not to back the scheme allies it with rival Airbus, which has opposed the plan citing airline jitters about purchasing new planes, reported the Wall Street Journal.

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Bloomberg reported that China blocked 10 orders from Airbus due to the EU carbon emissions plan last week.

China, India and the US have criticized the plan, saying that it infringes on their airspace.

Critics say that a more global plan should be created to deal with carbon emissions from airlines.

Yet, according to Reuters, the EU has stated that it decided to enact the scheme after years of international inaction.

Albaugh spoke in a joint appearance with Airbus head, Tom Enders, "This is not about Boeing and Airbus; it is about what is best for our customers and how we are going to get the whole industry to reduce its environmental footprint."

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