The European Commission has confirmed that airlines must operate within an emissions cap from 2012 in order to boost air quality across the continent.
Chiefs at the authority made the announcement yesterday (March 7th), after air monitoring results from 2004 to 2006 were published.
From 2012, airlines will be granted an annual allowance of 212,892,052 tonnes of aviation emissions, which is around 97 per cent of the average output registered between 2004 and 2006.
This will then be reduced by two per cent from 2013 to 208,502,525 tonnes.
Airlines will receive 82 per cent of this carbon dioxide allowance for free, while 15 per cent will go to the highest bidders.
European Commission chiefs have denied that the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has been affected by the 2010 ash cloud, which was caused by an Icelandic volcano.
The body also suggested that air fares should not be significantly altered by the legislation.
Having been launched in 2005, the EU's ETS is aimed at reducing emissions across Europe by 21 per cent by 2020.
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