Airlines advised to rally against EU plan

BEIJING - A new report has advised China's airlines to form a coalition and launch a lawsuit against a European Union plan that requires global airlines to buy carbon emission permits.

China should start legal procedures against the plan as soon as possible, and take actions in assembling submissions by aviation associations and enterprises in the lawsuit, said the report published Friday by the Social Sciences Academic Press under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The EU plan requires airlines flying to or from its territory from January 2012 to buy permits for 15 percent of the carbon emissions they generate during the entire flight, with large fines for noncompliance.

The EU plan was challenged by US airlines in the European Court of Justice in July for breaching international law.

The report follows comments Tuesday by an official from China's aviation regulator supporting a resolution adopted by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization, which opposes the EU plan to force non-EU airlines to take part in the bloc's Emissions Trading Scheme.

The China Air Transport Association (CATA) will join several major Chinese airlines to file a lawsuit against the EU over the issue, CATA Deputy Secretary General Chai Haibo was quoted as saying by China Economic Weekly in a story published Monday.

In addition to its ambition to raise its airlines' competitiveness,other core interests were behind the EU plan, according to the report titled "Green Book of Climate Change: Annual Report on Actions to Address Climate Change (2011)." The bloc seeks more say in setting the agenda as the world strives to combat global climate change, it said.

While proposing that Chinese airlines oppose the EU plan, the report suggested that China's aviation industry develop in a more sustainable manner through researching and utilizing bio-fuels, improving the efficiency of airplane engines and better arranging airline routes.