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UK ETS

About UK ETS

Effective 1 January 2021, UK Government entered into force Ordinance to institute an emission trading scheme for the United Kingdom. UK ETS for aviation is a mandatory regulation impacting aircraft operators flying to, from and within the UK and EU region.  It is designed to provide continuity with EU-ETS while funneling the reporting and offset of UK-specific aviation activities directly to the UK.

Who needs to participate in UK ETS?

UK-ETS is applicable to Commercial and Private operators.  Requirements and processes are based on volume of activity against annual thresholds.

What are the thresholds for UK ETS?

Non-commercial (Private) transport threshold for full-scope flights is 1,000 tCO2 annually.  Commercial air transport has a threshold of 10,000 tCO2 threshold for full-scope flights annually.

If you exceed a threshold – and at least one of these flights is a UK aviation activity flight – then you are required to comply with UK ETS monitoring, reporting, and surrender obligations.

What flights are UK ETS full-scope?

Flights that depart from, or arrive in the UK, Gibraltar, or an EEA State.

What flights are considered UK ETS Aviation Activities?

Any flight within the UK, flight to/from Gibraltar-UK, and any flight to/from EEA-UK. UK-ETS compliance requires applicable operators submit a Monitoring Plan, track flight data, filter applicable activity, compile annual reports, and if necessary, maintain a UK Registry Account to purchase and surrender Carbon Allowances.

Latest Updates

UK ETS Aviation Guides

These guides will help you populate key data sections of the ETSWAP emissions report form so that it can be submitted to us appropriately.

  • UK ETS Guide – Do I have UK ETS compliance obligation?
    This document explains the process an Aircraft Operator needs to go through to check if they have a UK ETS compliance obligation for a particular Scheme Year.
  • Reporting Guide No.1 – Simplified Reporting
    This guide is for an aircraft operator with annual emissions of <25,000 tCO2 based on their UK ETS full-scope flights, or with annual emissions of <3,000 tCO2 from their UK ETS Aviation Activities, and who is electing to by-pass verification by using Eurocontrol Support Facility (ETS-SF) data.
  • Reporting Guide No. 2 – Reporting through Verification
    This guide is for an aircraft operator with annual emissions of ≥25,000t CO2 based on their UK ETS full-scope flights AND with annual emissions of ≥3,000t CO2 from their UK ETS Aviation Activities, or an aircraft operator with annual emissions below one of these thresholds, but who elects to submit their report for verification.

UK ETS Annual Timeline

Annual tasks and compliance deadlines for aircraft operators falling under the UK ETS.

Time frameActivities to complete
1 JanuaryStart monitoring your emissions.
28 February (2022 onwards)Receive your free allowances for the current scheme year (if eligible).
31 March (2022 onwards)Submit your verified annual emissions report for the previous scheme year using ETSWAP; your verified annual emissions figure will then be entered into your AOHA by the Registry Administrator following instruction from your regulator.
30 April (2022 onwards)Surrender allowances that are equivalent to your reportable emissions.
30 June (2022 onwards)Submit an improvement report (if applicable).
JulyConsider appointing your verifier (if applicable).
DecemberConsider starting to prepare your annual emissions report.
31 DecemberNotify your regulator of any non-significant changes to your emissions monitoring plan.
31 DecemberComplete your monitoring for that scheme year.

Need help complying with UK ETS?

We’ve got a simple, turnkey solution to help you out! Contact our Regulatory Services Team.
Call Worldwide +1 (713) 378-2734 or N. America +1 (866) 864-8415.

REQUEST UK ETS HELP NOW