Emirates to 'cough up' carbon tax

Emirates Airline, the biggest international airline by traffic, expects the European Union’s program limiting carbon emissions to cost the carrier $500 million to $1 billion. Emirates flights will be subject to EU limits from 2012, Andrew Parker, senior vice-president of environmental affairs at the airline, told reporters in Dubai today. In fact, Emirates Airlines will not be the only gulf airline in the region that will be subjected to paying this ‘tax’ on carbon emissions. While a few airlines have supported this decision openly claiming that they need to be greener and more environmentally aware, others are complaining that this will set them back a pretty penny. With the economy in a slow path of recovery, airline traffic has not been as strong as it used to be but the decline isn’t noticeable. In fact, in some cases, the air traffic has increased dramatically and more airlines are adding new routes on a daily basis.