Korean Air Lines and other domestic airlines are expected to shoulder 3.355 trillion won in additional costs. However, they have secured only 3.6 percent of the carbon emission allowances they need. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has decided on a global carbon offset and reduction system for international aviation, known as CORSIA. Under CORSIA, airlines will have to offset 2.5 percent of their 2019 emissions from 2024 and 62.5 percent by 2035. Korean Air Lines, Asiana Airlines, Jeju Air, Jin Air, T'way Air, and Air Busan are among the 37 airlines that fall under the plan. As of 2019, Korean Air Lines had 13.57 million tons of emissions, making it necessary to purchase 14.6 million tons by 2035. However, as of last month, Korean Air Lines had secured only 530,000 tons, or 3.6 percent, of the allowances it needs. Asiana Airlines had 7.58 million tons of emissions in 2019 and will have to purchase 8.2 million tons by 2035. Asiana Airlines has secured 240,000 tons, or 2.9 percent, of the allowances it needs. The six airlines in total had 32.83 million tons of emissions in 2019 and will have to purchase 35.49 million tons by 2035. However, they have secured only 1.29 million tons, or 3.6 percent, of the allowances they need. The airlines will have to purchase more allowances to make up for the shortage. The cost of purchasing the allowances is expected to be substantial. The price of allowances traded on the European Union's carbon market last month was 74.4 euros per ton. If the six airlines purchase the 34.2 million tons they need at this price, they will have to pay 2.54 trillion won. Adding 800 billion won in costs for the airlines to directly reduce their emissions makes a total of 3.355 trillion won. The airlines are complaining that it is unfair to apply the same rules to them as to European Union companies. The European Union's Emission Trading System (EU ETS) has been in place since 2005 and gives companies a sufficient lead time to prepare. In contrast, CORSIA will be implemented in phases, starting in 2024. The domestic airlines are requesting a transition period. However, the government has said it will not help with costs. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said last month that it will encourage airlines to gradually prepare for the implementation of CORSIA through education and consulting. The ministry said it will review whether to support the airlines in the future.

Domestic airlines were required to purchase emission rights to offset 2.75 million tons of carbon emissions in the first year under international aviation carbon emission regulations, but they were only able to secure 3.6% (100,000 tons) of the required emission rights.

With just over a year left to comply with the regulations, the cost of purchasing emission rights from 2024 to 2028 is estimated to be 335.5 billion won.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Rep. Park Ji-hye of the Democratic Party of Korea, 11 Korean airlines estimated that they would need to spend a total of 335.4 billion won to purchase emission rights to comply with the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The breakdown is as follows: 7.59 billion won in 2024, 10.78 billion won in 2025, and 15.17 billion won in 2026.

Korean Air's expected burden was the highest at 226 billion won, followed by Asiana Airlines at 32.6 billion won, T'way Air at 16.7 billion won, Jeju Air at 15.1 billion won, and Jin Air at 13.1 billion won.

CORSIA is a system that requires airlines to offset excess emissions by purchasing emission rights if the global international aviation sector's carbon emissions exceed 85% of the 2019 level.

Each airline measures its carbon emissions from the previous year and submits the data to the government, and the ICAO calculates the total global international aviation emissions and announces the increase rate compared to the baseline.

Countries then calculate the offset obligations for each airline based on this data.

The total offset obligation for Korean airlines in 2024 was 2.75 million tons, with Korean Air having the highest obligation at 1.546672 million tons, followed by Asiana Airlines at 706,430 tons and Jeju Air at 133,202 tons.

The total international aviation carbon emissions of Korean airlines in 2023 were approximately 22.9 million tons, but the offset obligations for 2025 and 2026 have not been finalized yet.

Airlines must comply with the offset obligations for the three years from 2024 to 2026 by the end of January 2028.

However, as of July this year, only one Korean airline, Eastar Air, had secured emission rights, with a total of 100,000 tons, which is only 3.6% of the total offset obligation for 2024.

The remaining 10 airlines, including Korean Air and Asiana Airlines, have not secured any emission rights yet.

Emission rights recognized under CORSIA are issued from foreign carbon reduction projects approved by the ICAO and cannot be obtained from the domestic emission rights market.

The supply of emission rights is also limited, and the price of emission rights may rise as the compliance deadline approaches.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is considered a means to reduce the burden of purchasing emission rights.

SAF is an alternative fuel made from waste cooking oil, household waste, and animal fat, which can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to traditional fossil fuels.

However, the current usage of SAF in Korea is minimal, with a total of 8.5 tons used in 2024 and 20.9 tons in 2025, according to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The government plans to make it mandatory to mix at least 1% of SAF with international aviation fuel from next year and increase the mixing ratio to 3-5% by 2030 and 7-10% by 2035.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport estimates that 7.12 million tons of aviation fuel will be needed next year, and if 1% of this is to be SAF, approximately 70,000 tons of SAF will be required.

However, the current production capacity of SAF in Korea is limited, and it is estimated that at least 700,000 tons of waste cooking oil will be needed to produce 70,000 tons of SAF, but the total amount of waste cooking oil generated in Korea in 2024 was only 213,688 tons.

Rep. Park Ji-hye said, "Korean airlines must prove their compliance with the ICAO by 2028, but the current emission rights secured by Korean airlines are severely insufficient."

She added, "Relying solely on purchasing emission rights from abroad will not be a fundamental solution."

She also emphasized that the government should consider expanding the mandatory mixing of SAF and prepare a plan to secure the necessary raw materials.

She concluded, "The National Assembly will provide the necessary institutional support."