Emissions from flying in Europe have officially surpassed pre-pandemic levels, and Ryanair is leading the charge with a carbon footprint 50% higher than in 2019. Because nothing says 'post-pandemic recovery' like single-handedly emitting as much CO₂ as a small European country.

According to analysis by thinktank Transport & Environment (T&E), Ryanair's CO₂ emissions alone hit 16.6 megatonnes in 2025 - roughly the same as Croatia's entire annual output. The airline carried over 200 million passengers last year, up from 140 million in 2019, proving that low-cost carriers are expanding faster than polar ice caps are melting.

Total European aviation emissions reached 195Mt of CO₂ from departing flights, a 2% increase on pre-Covid levels. The EU and UK have tried to manage environmental costs through the Emissions Trading System (ETS), but T&E notes it only covers intra-European flights. That means long-haul flights on legacy carriers - the ones burning fuel like it's going out of style - are conveniently exempt. Ryanair pays an average of €50 per tonne of carbon, while Lufthansa pays about €20. The London-New York route alone generated nearly 1.4Mt of CO₂ in 2025, entirely outside the ETS.

T&E wants the carbon market extended to all departing flights, which could quadruple the €4.1bn raised for EU states by 2030 and fund sustainable aviation fuel and contrail reduction. Meanwhile, the aviation industry has been lobbying to suspend or weaken ETS during the Middle East crisis, claiming it's too costly. But the report found that jet fuel prices - roughly doubled from pre-Iran war levels - add €90 per passenger on long-haul flights, compared to just €3 from the sustainable aviation fuels mandate.

“Ticket prices are rising because of Europe's reliance on fossil fuels, not because of the climate measures intended to steer the sector away from them,” said Giacomo Miele, author of the T&E analysis. “Aviation emissions hitting a new high is a clear signal that the industry has no intention of cleaning up its act.”

Ryanair, naturally, has a response: its greenhouse gas emissions are rising because it's Europe's fastest-growing airline. A spokesperson noted that all this growth happens on new fuel-efficient aircraft, so emissions per passenger are falling. Oh, and they're also displacing travel on less-efficient legacy airlines. Ryanair also called the ETS figures 'completely discredited' because they exclude flights from airlines exempted from 'their fair share of enviro taxes' - a system that taxes only intra-EU flights while exempting the most polluting long-haul ones. When all flights are included, Ryanair says it ranks behind Lufthansa, Air France/KLM, and British Airways owner IAG for total emissions, while boasting the lowest CO₂ per passenger kilometre at about 64g.