EUROCONTROL has released a new long-term air traffic forecast, looking at how aviation in Europe will grow over the coming decades. For the first time, the report includes estimates of net CO2 emissions and charts how aviation can achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. “We expect the number of flights to grow by 44% between now and 2050, taking us up to 16 million a year – compared to 11 million in 2019. Our ground-breaking report shows that we can achieve net-zero by 2050 with a series of tangible measures requiring coordinated action by aircraft manufacturers, airlines, airports, fuel companies, ANSPs and, crucially, governments and regulators. Key will be the wide availability and uptake of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) as they will cover 41% of emissions in our base scenario. (....)